[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 74 (Friday, June 7, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING OUR D-DAY VETERANS

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                          HON. SAXBY CHAMBLISS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 2002

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the brave 
sailors and soldiers of D-Day. Fifty-eight years ago on this date young 
Americans joined by Allied forces undertook the most massive amphibious 
assault in the history of modern warfare, code-named ``Operation 
Overlord''. This direct assault on Hitler's Atlantic Wall was the first 
step in liberating occupied Europe.
  Led by General Dwight David Eisenhower, more than 150,000 men along 
with thousands more providing air and artillery support invaded the 
beaches of Normandy and although suffering heavy casualties pressed on 
into the heart of occupied France.
  We can only imagine what went through their minds as these brave men 
watched the gates open and they stepped into the cold Atlantic and onto 
those beaches. There were mortars' exploding all around them; sounds of 
bullets and planes flying overhead, but these men pressed on, while 
many around them fell and they helped secure the eventual Allied 
victory.
  I am here today to pay tribute to those brave Americans, ones who 
came home and those who remain there, buried, overlooking the beaches. 
It was these men who answered the call of duty and saved liberty from 
the jaws of unspeakable evil.
  Never had the world seen citizen soldiers come together and fight as 
brave and loyal as these men did. They left the comfort of home and 
were sent halfway around the world to preserve freedom, democracy, and 
liberty for the free world. These men showed the utmost courage in 
taking up the call of duty to defend freedom and for that our country 
is eternally grateful.
  So today, as we confront a new tyranny in waging the war on 
terrorism, let these brave men be our model. I am honored to have the 
opportunity to commend them and I pray that we will never forget the 
sacrifices that these men put forth so that they and generations to 
come could live in freedom.

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