[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 55 (Monday, May 8, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H2636]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         COMMEMORATING MEN AND WOMEN WHO FOUGHT IN VIETNAM WAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gutknecht). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Isakson) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, May 7, a celebration of sort, a 
commemoration of sort, took place in all 50 States in this country as 
we commemorated the 25th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
  Between 1958 and 1975, over 8 million Americans, 228,000 of whom were 
Georgians, fought in Southeast Asia on behalf of freedom against 
communism and totalitarianism. That was the war of my generation. It 
was the legacy that I remember.
  America was divided throughout that war and remains, in some cases, 
divided today over whether we should have been there and our resolve 
was never what it should have been. But tonight, I rise not to debate 
that, but to commemorate the men and women who fought and died on 
behalf of the United States of America, 58,000 of them, 2,042 who 
remaining missing in action today.
  While we debate the positive nature of issues we believe in and 
condemn others today in contemporary times, we must continue to pause 
and reflect on the sacrifice made on behalf of all of us.
  To that end, I want to commend five individuals from Georgia, Susie 
Ragan, who founded the MIA/POW force in Georgia and now has moved to 
Maryland and is doing the same thing so we do not forget those 2,042; 
Tommy Clack, a triple amputee who returned to a divided America and has 
committed the rest of his life to see to it that Vietnam veterans get 
the attention and services that they deserve and their Government 
promised; Ron Miller, who served as the former executive director of 
the Georgian Veterans Leadership Program; and Colonel Ben Purcell of 
Georgia, a member of the Georgia legislature, but 25 years ago a man 
who ended more than 8 years as a prisoner of war, over 5 in solitary 
confinement.
  We must never forget the sacrifice made by those men and women for 
our Nation and for our country and the duty and honor and commitment 
they made to this country and to their God.
  And that fifth person to me is a person by the name of Jack Elliott 
Cox. Jack died in Vietnam in 1968. But Jack was a volunteer. He 
volunteered when we graduated from college to go to OSC. And like 70 
percent of those who died in Vietnam, he was not drafted, he was a 
volunteer.
  In fact, what is so often not talked about is that 25 percent of 
those who fought were drafted, 75 percent were people who volunteered 
for the service in a divided war and a divided time. But they were 
committed to their country.
  Let us not forget the Jack Coxes, the Susie Ragans, the Tommy Clacks, 
the Ron Millers, and the Ben Purcells, those who fought and live today 
to fight on for the veterans of that war, and those who died for you 
and I.
  As Members of this Congress, when we go to the 26th anniversary next 
year, may it be a time that we continue our commitment to the veterans 
of the United States of America and the men and women who, regardless 
of conflicts at home, fought and served and, in some cases, died for 
their country, for our Nation, and for those of us here tonight.

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