[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 14, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S8529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        A TRIBUTE TO FRED GYLFE, LEGION OF HONOR AWARD RECIPIENT

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute a 
veteran from Maine who this week will have bestowed upon him high 
honors from the French Government for the sacrifices he made during 
World War I.
  Fred Gylfe will receive the most prestigious honor that France 
bestows, the award of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, in 
gratitude for the valor he displayed serving in France during the First 
World War.
  Last year, the French Government announced Project 1918-1998, which 
honors the 80th anniversary of the armistice of World War I. As part of 
this undertaking, France is awarding the Legion of Honor Award to 
surviving American veterans who served in France between 1914 and 
1918--in recognition for the crucial support American veterans lent to 
French soldiers fighting to defend French soil.
  It is estimated that as many as 1,000 American veterans who served in 
France during World War I may still be living, and there is a search 
underway to locate as many of these men and women as possible.
  Fred Gylfe was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on August 14, 1897. 
His parents emigrated from Sweden, and he was their first child born in 
the U.S. He entered the U.S. National Guard in 1916 and departed for 
France on May 16, 1918. He fought in Ypres/Lys and Saint Quentin Tunnel 
in the French province of Somme. He was a Sergeant in Headquarters 
Company for the 108th Infantry 27th division of the New York National 
Guard. He is the father of two children, and three grandchildren.
  I have nothing but the utmost respect for those who have served with 
courage, honor and distinction, answering the call to duty when their 
country--and the world no less--needed them so desperately. Indeed, it 
is no small challenge to put into words the enormous pride I feel for 
the opportunity to represent men like Fred Gylfe as Maine's senior 
Senator.
  On November 11, 1918, almost 81 years ago, at the eleventh hour, the 
Armistice was signed in France that silenced the guns and ended the 
carnage of World War I. From the War for Independence, to World War I, 
through the Persian Gulf War and the Balkans more than two hundred 
years later, Americans have answered the call to duty--not for the 
glory of conquest or empire, but to ensure that the flame of liberty 
burns ever brightly.
  The debt of gratitude owed to our veterans can never be fully repaid. 
What we can and must do for the men and women who, like Mr. Gylfe, 
answered the call to duty is keep alive the values of freedom and 
democracy they have defended, and honor them as the guardians of those 
ideals.
  This occasion reminds us that winning freedom is not the same as 
keeping it. The cost of safeguarding freedom is high. It requires 
vigilance and sacrifice. Time and gain when freedom has been 
threatened, men like Fred Gylfe emerged as heroes, America's veterans 
have served our country and the world ably in times of need, and know 
well the personal sacrifices which the defense of freedom demands. It 
is a true honor to congratulate this Maine hero today on such as well-
deserved recognition.

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