[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 69 (Friday, May 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  A MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE--A TRIBUTE TO OUR BRAVE SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ANDER CRENSHAW

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 23, 2002

  Mr. CRENSHAW. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to share some thoughts with you 
today as the nation pauses to honor the men and women who fought and 
died to preserve our freedom. It is an especially meaningful Memorial 
Day as we so recently were reminded of the great country that we live 
in and the burden that goes with protecting our freedoms.
  Today, our military is fighting a new kind of war. A war not against 
a country but against an ideology that would try to destroy the 
liberties that we have come to enjoy. It is a war fought differently. 
It is a war fought with new technology in a land that is very old 
world. It is a war that has Forward Air Controllers riding horseback 
and calling in strikes from laptop computers. It is a war being fought 
from our ships stationed 700 miles from targets. It is a war that 
utilizes B-52s for precision targeting, but it is also a war that calls 
for our troops to go from cave to cave to seek out the enemy. It is a 
war whose enemy is difficult to identify. It may be a different kind of 
war, but war always brings casualties--and this war is no exception.
  September 11, 2001, gave us a wake-up call on our own soil not felt 
since Pearl Harbor. This time the victims were not just sailors and 
other military personnel. This time the victims were secretaries, 
clerks, stockbrokers, office workers, and, lots and lots of 
firefighters. These victims, like our military troops, were fathers, 
sons, mothers, daughters, aunts and uncles. Some died while performing 
heroic acts, but most were just ordinary people who perished during a 
brutal act of war.
  So this year, as we remember our war heroes, let us say a prayer for 
our newest casualties. Let us make room in our hearts for these new 
recruits to the battle for freedom and peace.
  But make no mistake; it will be the military that will shoulder the 
responsibility of trying to protect us against another attack. It will 
be our uniformed troops who will serve in distant lands, who will miss 
their children's graduations and birthdays, who will not be home for 
Christmas. And, as in the past, they will go into harm's way unafraid 
and with the determination that draws strength from those who fought 
and died before them.
  I thank you for your service to our country and to your fellow 
comrades, especially those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. I thank you 
for the leadership you have shown as you have lived your lives as 
stalwart soldiers in America's role as freedom's beacon. The young men 
and women serving today are fighting a new kind of war. But it will 
take the same type of soldier America has always produced--a soldier, 
like you, who is willing to put aside self interests for the good of 
the country. A soldier, like those we honor today, who is willing to 
die for those ideals.
  Thank you for all that you have done for your country and for the 
memory of those who are no longer with us.

                          ____________________