[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 6, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5881-S5882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DEDICATION OF THE D-DAY MEMORIAL IN BEDFORD, VIRGINIA

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today along with Senator George 
Allen and two Members of the House, Representatives Bob Goodlatte and 
Virgil Goode, to place in today's Record a moving speech delivered by 
President George W. Bush in recognition of the 57th anniversary of the 
historic landing by U.S. and Allied Forces on the beaches of Normandy, 
France.
  The Commonwealth of Virginia was honored when the President selected 
the small town of Bedford, where a magnificent memorial has just been 
completed in honor of the extraordinary bravery and sacrifice of the 
military men and women at Normandy, as the site to deliver this very 
important speech.
  This memorial will serve as an eternal salute to those who so bravely 
and selflessly fought for freedom. It is often said that June 6, 1944, 
D-Day, forever changed the course of history. So it is only fitting 
that such a magnificent structure be erected to remind future 
generations of that epic chapter in the long European struggle to 
restore freedom.
  The citizens of and soldiers from Bedford earned a unique, but tragic 
place in history that day. In 1941, the 29th Infantry Division, a 
National Guard division, was mobilized largely with citizen-soldiers 
from Virginia and Maryland. Although the division changed over three 
years, by D-Day, many Virginians took part in the Normandy landing.
  The 29th Division's 116th Infantry mounted the first wave together 
with the 1st Division's 16th Infantry Regiment. They suffered 
extraordinary casualties. The State of Virginia sustained nearly 800 
casualties during the overall landing sequences.
  The Bedford National Guard component had formed ``A'' Company of the 
116th and by D-Day, 35 Bedford soldiers were still in the 170-man unit. 
Nineteen of those young men gave their lives in the first assault wave, 
and several more died shortly thereafter from wounds. The devastating 
loss of these young men from a small town of 3,200 left Bedford with 
the highest per-capita loss on D-Day from any single community not only 
in Virginia, but the entire United States.
  Bedford is a living example of our Nation's many communities who 
share a common heritage of ``Homefront'' roles, sacrifices and stories. 
This community and its citizens serve as a particularly fitting home to 
this national memorial in recognition of all who participated in this 
battle and their loved ones back in the United States.
  Today's dedication of the National D-Day Memorial was a truly moving 
ceremony that will long be remembered by those in attendance and those 
who viewed it by television. The President delivered thoughtful, 
heartfelt words, truly befitting this solemn, reverent day. On behalf 
of the Virginian delegation, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the 
President's remarks be printed in the Record for all America to share.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

 Remarks by the President at Dedication of the National D-Day Memorial

       The President. Thank you all very much. At ease. And be 
     seated. Thank you for that warm welcome. Governor Gilmore, 
     thank you so very much for your friendship and your 
     leadership here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Lt. Governor 
     Hager and Attorney General Earley, thank you, as well, for 
     your hospitality.
       I'm honored to be traveling today with Secretary Principi, 
     Veterans Affairs Department. I'm honored to be traveling 
     today with two fantastic United States Senators from the 
     Commonwealth of Virginia, Senator Warner and Senator Allen. 
     (Applause.) Congressman Goode and Goodlatte are here, as 
     well. Thank you for your presence. The Ambassador from 
     France--it's a pleasure to see him, and thank you for your 
     kind words. Delegate Putney, Chaplain Sessions, Bob 
     Slaughter, Richard Burrow, distinguished guests, and my 
     fellow Americans.
       I'm honored to be here today to dedicate this memorial And 
     this is a proud day for the people of Virginia, and for the 
     people of the United States. I'm honored to share it with 
     you, on behalf of millions of Americans.
       We have many World War II and D-Day veterans with us today, 
     and we're honored by your presence. We appreciate your 
     example, and thank you for coming. And let it be recorded 
     we're joined by one of the most distinguished of them all--a 
     man who arrived at Normandy by glider with the 82nd Airborne 
     Division; a man who serves America to this very hour. Please 
     welcome Major General Strom Thurmond. (Applause.)
       You have raised a fitting memorial to D-Day, and you have 
     put it in just the right place--not on a battlefield of war, 
     but in a small Virginia town, a place like so many others 
     that were home to the men and women who help liberate a 
     continent.
       Our presence here, 57 years removed from that event, gives 
     testimony to how much was gained and how much was lost. What 
     was gained that first day was a beach, and then a village, 
     and then a country. And in time, all of Western Europe would 
     be freed from fascism and its armies.
       The achievement of Operation Overlord is nearly impossible 
     to overstate, in its consequences for our own lives and the 
     life of the world. Free societies in Europe can be traced to 
     the first footprints on the first beach on June 6, 1944. What 
     was lost on D-Day we can never measure and never forget.
       When the day was over, America and her allies had lost at 
     least 2,500 of the bravest men ever to wear a uniform. Many 
     thousands more would die on the days that followed. They 
     scaled towering cliffs, looking straight up into enemy fire. 
     They dropped into grassy fields sown with land mines. They 
     overran machine gun nests hidden everywhere, punched through 
     walls of barbed wire, overtook bunkers of concrete and steel. 
     The great journalist Ernie Pyle said, ``It seemed to me a 
     pure miracle that we ever too the beach at all. The 
     advantages were all theirs, the disadvantages all ours.'' 
     ``And yet,'' said Pyle, ``we got on.''
       A father and his son both fell during Operation Overlord. 
     So did 33 pairs of brothers--including a boy having the same 
     name as his hometown, Bedford T. Hoback, and his brother 
     Raymond. Their sister, Lucille, is with us today. She has 
     recalled that Raymond was offered an early discharge for 
     health reasons, but he turned it down. ``He didn't want to 
     leave his brother,'' she remembers. ``He had come over with 
     him and he was going to stay with him.'' Both were killed on 
     D-Day. The only trace of Raymond Hoback was his Bible, found 
     in the sand. Their mother asked that Bedford be laid to

[[Page S5882]]

     rest in France with Raymond, so that her sons might always be 
     together.
       Perhaps some of you knew Gordon White, Sr. He died here 
     just a few years ago, at the age of 95, the last living 
     parent of a soldier who died on D-Day. His boy, Henry, loved 
     his days on the family farm, and was especially fond of a 
     workhorse named Major. Family members recall how Gordon just 
     couldn't let go of Henry's old horse, and he never did. For 
     25 years after the war, Major was cherished by Gordon White 
     as a last link to his son, and a link to another life.
       Upon this beautiful town fell the heaviest share of 
     American losses on D-Day--19 men from a community of 3,200, 
     four more afterwards. When people come here, it is important 
     to see the town as the monument itself. Here were the images 
     these soldiers carried with them, and the thought of when 
     they were afraid. This is the place they left behind. And 
     here was the life they dreamed of returning to. They did not 
     yearn to be heroes. They yearned for those long summer nights 
     again, and harvest time, and paydays. They wanted to see Mom 
     and Dad again, and hold their sweethearts or wives, or for 
     one young man who lived here, to see that baby girl born 
     while he was away.
       Bedford has a special place in our history. But there were 
     neighborhoods like these all over America, from the smallest 
     villages to the greatest cities. Somehow they all produced a 
     generation of young men and women who, on a date certain, 
     gathered and advanced as one, and changed the course of 
     history. Whatever it is about America that has given us such 
     citizens, it is the greatest quality we have, and may it 
     never leave us.
       In some ways, modern society is very different from the 
     nation that the men and women of D-Day knew, and it is 
     sometimes fashionable to take a cynical view of the world. 
     But when the calendar reads the 6th of June, such opinions 
     are better left unspoken. No one who has heard and read about 
     the events of D-Day could possibly remain a cynic. Army 
     Private Andy Rooney was there to survey the aftermath. A 
     lifetime later he would write, ``If you think the world is 
     selfish and rotten, go to the cemetery at Colleville 
     overlooking Omaha Beach. See what one group of men did for 
     another on D-Day, June 6, 1944.''
       Fifty-three hundred ships and landing craft; 1,500 tanks; 
     12,000 airplanes. But in the end, it came down to this: 
     scared and brave kids by the thousands who kept fighting, and 
     kept climbing, and carried out General Eisenhower's order of 
     the day--nothing short of complete victory.
       For us, nearly six decades later, the order of the day is 
     gratitude. Today we give thanks for all that was gained on 
     the beaches of Normandy. We remember what was lost, with 
     respect, admiration and love.
       The great enemies of that era have vanished. And it is one 
     of history's remarkable turns that so many young men from the 
     new world would cross the sea to help liberate the old. 
     Beyond the peaceful beaches and quiet cemeteries lies a 
     Europe whole and free--a continent of democratic governments 
     and people more free and hopeful than ever before. This 
     freedom and these hopes are what the heroes of D-Day fought 
     and died for. And these, in the end, are the greatest 
     monuments of all to the sacrifices made that day.
       When I go to Europe next week, I will reaffirm the ties 
     that bind our nations in a common destiny. These are the ties 
     of friendship and hard experiences. They have seen our 
     nations through a World War and a Cold War. Our shared values 
     and experiences must guide us now in our continued 
     partnership, and in leading the peaceful democratic 
     revolution that continues to this day.
       We have learned that when there is conflict in Europe, 
     America is affected, and cannot stand by. We have learned, as 
     well, in the years since the war that America gains when 
     Europe is united and peaceful.
       Fifty-seven years ago today, America and the nations of 
     Europe formed a bond that has never been broken. And all of 
     us incurred a debt that can never be repaid. Today, as 
     America dedicates our D-Day Memorial, we pray that our 
     country will always be worthy of the courage that delivered 
     us from evil, and saved the free world.
       God bless America. And God bless the World War II 
     generation. (Applause.)

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