[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 171 (Tuesday, December 11, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   SPEECH BY COUNTY COMMISSIONER RON RANKIN OF KOOTENAI COUNTY, IDAHO

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                       HON. C.L. ``BUTCH'' OTTER

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 11, 2001

  Mr. OTTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of the 
House a recent speech by County Commissioner Ron Rankin of Kootenai 
County, Idaho. Ron is a veteran of the United States Marines and is a 
tireless defender, like all Idahoans, of the rights our veterans 
preserved for us through their devotion. This speech was given by 
Commissioner Rankin on the occasion of the dedication of a new 
veteran's memorial. I urge my colleagues to read this speech and 
remember the sacrifices our veterans made for us and the continued 
sacrifices being made today by our men and women in uniform. With the 
consent of the House I would like to insert that speech for the record.

  Kootenai County Veterans Memorial Wall Dedication, November 10, 2001

                   (By Commissioner Ronald D. Rankin)

       Once there was a nation of patriots, men, women, and 
     children who loved their country, their flag, and their 
     freedom, and the independence guaranteed by their divinely 
     inspired United States Constitution. They honored their 
     soldiers who fought to preserve their freedom and 
     independence.
       Then came the Korean War, the first war our country fought 
     that we were politically prohibited from winning. This was 
     followed by the Viet Nam War where hoards of drug crazed 
     traitors cursed and spat upon combat veterans returning from 
     a war that cost over 50 thousand casualties. Our fighting men 
     and women were pilloried for the treasonous political 
     decisions that protracted that war far longer than any other 
     in our history.
       That ``hippie generation'' is now being replaced by a 
     generation which has never witnessed a war like those of the 
     20th Century--a generation that will determine the future of 
     our country, our United States constitution, and our freedom.
       They must be taught and reminded what American veterans 
     have sacrificed for them to be able to live in freedom.
       To that end, and through most generous private 
     contributions, Kootenai County citizens are carving 
     highlights of history into stone. A remembrance of some of 
     the great moments in history that have molded and formed our 
     futures.
       Each of the fourteen laser-etched stone photo panels on 
     this wall will represent a major military mark in history.
       On the inside of the foyer/gallery, will be found separate 
     pamphlets each describing a great event of military history.
       One will describe in detail the infamous attack on Pearl 
     Harbor, not the entire World War II but only Pearl Harbor. 
     Another will describe in detail the barbaric Bataan Death 
     March, where American prisoners of war were tortured, 
     murdered and taken to Japan to work as slaves in the mines; 
     another, the turning point of World War II in the Pacific--
     the Battle of Midway, where the sinking of so many Japanese 
     aircraft carriers effectively broke the back of the Japanese 
     fleet.
       Iwo Jima; how that well known flag photograph came to be, 
     and at what terrible cost.
       The Navajo Code Talkers; American Indian patriots who saved 
     the lives of thousands of their fellow Marines, sending and 
     receiving combat messages in their ancient tongue that was 
     undecipherable by Japanese intelligence.
       A detailed account of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in 
     1950 in North Korea--an epic in Marine Corps history.
       The epic landing at Normandy on ``D'' Day--1944.
       The heroic 2nd Rangers scaling a 100 ft. cliff to take a 
     German pill box at the top of the coastal cliffs of Normandy.
       The Battle of the Bulge. The hard fought heroic battles 
     that were the turning point in the war in Europe.
       The air war over Europe and the heroes of the B-17's.
       The emergence of helicopters and river gun boats as weapons 
     of choice in Vietnam. These and more to be added, will be a 
     source of unrevised history for our youth of future 
     generations as well as some of our adults of today who have 
     little knowledge of the sacrifice of our combat veterans past 
     and present.
       It is our resolve here today in dedicating this memorial 
     wall, that our veterans will retake their places of honor and 
     respect in the minds of those so blessed by the freedom they 
     enjoy. A legacy of the sacrifices of the generations of 
     patriots past and present who have worn the uniform of our 
     country with pride and dedication to the principles we all 
     hold dear.
       May God Continue to Bless America in all of her righteous 
     endeavors.
       This I ask humbly in the name of Jesus Christ--Amen.

       

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