[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 69 (Friday, May 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM H. PUTNAM

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 23, 2002

  Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, in 1868 Major General John A. Logan 
established a ``Decoration Day'' on May 30 as a day of remembrance for 
the dead of the Civil War. General Logan ordered his posts to decorate 
the local cemeteries ``with the choicest flowers of springtime'' to 
honor the thousands killed during those four terrible years. Today, 
some 2,847,200 veterans lie in honor in our national military 
cemeteries. Since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom last year, 22 
Americans killed in action in the Afghan theater have joined them.
  Freedom's latest hero was a member of the National Guard's 19th 
Special Forces Unit, Sgt. Gene Arden Vance Jr., 38, of Morgantown, W. 
Va., who was killed in action on May 19. Citizen-soldiers have always 
been the foundation of America's military strength, and Sergeant 
Vance's loss is a sad reminder that your neighbors who serve in the 
National Guard and Reserves play a unique role in our armed forces.
  Today, the men and women of the National Guard and Reserves serve 
America within and beyond our borders. Just this week National Guard 
soldiers left the Jacksonville Airport, successfully concluding their 
airport security mission in Florida. Since the September attack on our 
country the National Guard provided security at 19 airports in Florida 
for over nine months and did a magnificent job protecting our airports 
and other vital installations. Their professionalism, dedication and 
discipline reassured Americans and contributed mightily to repelling 
the economic attack the terrorists perpetrated against our country.
  General Logan's original Decoration Day proclamation called us to 
honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, ``We should guard their 
graves with sacred vigilance . . . Let no neglect, no ravages of time, 
testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have 
forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.'' I 
urge you to take this charge to heart and honor those who made the 
ultimate sacrifice for our country by stopping what you are doing at 
3:00 pm on Memorial Day to participate in the National Moment of 
Remembrance, but don't stop there.
  This year, once Memorial Day has passed, consider what the world 
might look like if not for the service of generations of Americans. 
Take time throughout the rest of the year to reach out to the members 
of our armed services who are fighting freedom's newest enemies. Tell 
them the citizens of our state and nation are grateful for their 
service, and thank them and their families for the daily sacrifices 
that allow them to serve.

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