[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 155 (Friday, November 9, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11653-S11654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN THE COMPANY OF HEROES

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the nights are growing chilly, though the 
days remain warm and dry--dry for too long, really, over in McLean. The 
brilliant crimson maple and bright yellow poplar leaves have nearly 
disappeared, replaced by the more somber late autumn tones of deep 
bronze oak and rich golden hickory leaves falling in swirling waves 
across the road to join the drifts of leaves awaiting the rake.
  The more subdued coloring is in keeping with the holiday that 
approaches this Sunday. For, despite any attempts to mask the nature of 
this holiday behind sales and pre-Christmas hype, Veterans Day remains 
true to its purpose. It was the old Armistice Day when I was a boy--
Armistice Day, November 11.
  To say Veterans Day is to hear the haunting echo of taps being played 
on a lone trumpet on a West Virginia hill far away--I can hear its 
tones being wafted by the autumn air to this Capital City--and the 
sharp report of a 21-gun salute ricocheting across a field of sad white 
crosses. Out of the corner of one's eye is glimpsed the silent rank and 
file of heroes who came home, some whole and some not, but all remade 
by the shared experience of warfare.
  On Veterans Day, we travel in the company of heroes. Veterans Days, 
Armistice Day. My mother died on the eve of Armistice Day 1918; my 
mother, whom I never saw, as far as my recollection is concerned--the 
11th hour of

[[Page S11654]]

the 11th day of the 11th month, the day on which the guns fell silent 
at the end of the war to end all wars, World War I.
  Today it honors the veterans from all wars, and, sadly, there have 
been far too many of those: World War II, the cold war, the Korean war, 
the Vietnam conflict, the Persian Gulf war, and none-too-peaceful 
peacekeeping missions around the globe. America has in the last century 
been embroiled in some form of conflict far more often than she has 
known peace.
  No conflict is ever truly finished. In addition to the troops we 
leave buried in foreign soil, a living guarantor remains behind to 
protect each fragile and precious truce. United States forces remain in 
Europe, in Korea, a legacy of this war or that war. United States 
troops stand at the frontier between the two Koreas. They were there 
when I looked with binoculars at the Communists just across the 
dividing line in Korea 46 years ago this month. They have been there 
since the 1950s.
  More United States troops remain in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, vigilant 
against further aggression from Iraq. In these last months, the United 
States has been thrust unwillingly but unhesitatingly into a conflict 
of a new and more ambiguous kind, the war against terrorism. Already 
this conflict has added new names to the honor roll of heroes whom we 
honor on Veterans Day. Already active-duty Reserve and National Guard 
troops have responded to this latest call to arms. Much rides on their 
shoulders, beyond an understandable thirst to avenge the senseless 
slaughter of innocent men and women, leaving innocent widows and 
orphans behind. This war on terrorism must succeed.
  The New Testament's--``testament'' meaning covenant--admonition to 
turn the other cheek does not work here. The New Covenant's admonition 
to turn the other cheek does not work here, but rather we must hew to 
the Old Testament's--Old Covenant's--harsh warning regarding an eye for 
an eye. This attack must be answered or the scope and scale of terror 
attacks worldwide will be forever increased. That universal 
understanding is reflected in the broad consensus supporting the 
current U.S. military action and in the concerted efforts to cut off 
funding for terrorists. So this year, as we honor the veterans of past 
wars, it is appropriate to salute those who are still in uniform and to 
give them our support.

  In 1961, a veteran of World War II gave his Inaugural Address, his 
first speech as the new President of the United States. He said, in 
part:

       Since this country was founded, each generation of 
     Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national 
     loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call 
     to service surround the globe. Now the trumpet summons us 
     again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not 
     as a call to battle, though embattled we are--but a call to 
     bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year 
     out, ``rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,''--a 
     struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, 
     disease, and war itself.

  To President Kennedy's list of the common enemies of man, we can now 
add terror.
  Though we may hope for a quick and conclusive end to this new 
struggle, we must be prepared for the long haul, for a ``long twilight 
struggle, year in and year out . . .'' and for eternal vigilance. We 
have but to look to our own history to know that we can muster the 
will, we can muster the determination, we can muster the perseverance 
to achieve our goal and to preserve the liberty that this Nation has 
held dear through long centuries.
  In the wake of September 11, Americans have rallied by proudly flying 
American flags on their homes, on their mailboxes, on their cars, yes, 
and on their lapels. On November 11, those flags fly in remembrance not 
only of those who so recently lost their lives in New York, Washington, 
and Pennsylvania, but also for all those men and women who have 
struggled or died to defend our freedom, our liberty, our Nation 
through the years. I am proud to salute them all, to remember them all, 
to honor them all. No amount of bloodshed and no amount of fear can 
turn this great Nation from the ideals that were forged in war in 1776, 
1777, 1778, 1779, 1780, and 1781, and defended ever since. Our flag--
there it is standing beside the presiding officer's chair, in all of 
its grandeur, in all of its stately magnificence, in all of its quiet 
beauty. It still flies!
  Mr. President, I close with one of my favorite poems, by Henry 
Holcomb Bennett, entitled ``The Flag Goes By.'' It eloquently puts 
words to the message being sent by the many, many flags now bedecking 
our Nation.

     Hats off!
     Along the street there comes
     A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
     A flash of color beneath the sky:
     Hats off!
     The flag is passing by!

     Blue and crimson and white it shines,
     Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.
     Hats off!
     The colors before us fly;
     But more than the flag is passing by:

     Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,
     Fought to make and to save the State;
     Weary marches and sinking ships;
     Cheers of victory on dying lips:

     Days of plenty and years of peace;
     March of a strong land's swift increase;
     Equal justice, right and law,
     Stately honor and reverend awe;

     Sign of a nation great and strong
     To ward her people from foreign wrong:
     Pride and glory and honor,--all
     Live in the colors to stand or fall.

     Hats off!
     Along the street there comes
     A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;
     And loyal hearts are beating high:
     Hats off!
     The flag is passing by!

  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, before proceeding, I wish to express on 
behalf of the majority leader and myself our profound gratitude to the 
Presiding Officer for his patience and for his equanimity and for his 
good humor always, for the work he has done on behalf of his country 
today, sitting in the Chair for longer than he should.

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