[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 98 (Thursday, July 18, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING JEANNIE SWEENEY AMBROSE FOR HER COMMITMENT TO VETERANS IN HER 
                               COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL F. DOYLE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 18, 2002

  Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor United States Air Force 
Captain Jeannie Sweeney Ambrose, a Vietnam veteran and fellow 
Pittsburgh Irish-American. Captain Ambrose has served seven years on 
active service with the Air Force as a nurse and has dedicated much of 
her life to caring for and honoring all veterans.
  Born in Ireland, Captain Ambrose immigrated to the United States in 
the early 1960s and joined the Air Force after becoming a United States 
citizen. Captain Ambrose served a tour in Vietnam at Camrahn Bay in a 
MASH unit, where in her time off, she volunteered her skills as a 
midwife for impoverished Vietnamese civilians. Following her Vietnam 
tour, she continued to serve our country in an Air Force Hospital in 
London where she met her husband, Eddie Ambrose, who has also served 
his country as a C-131 pilot in Europe.
  In addition to compassionately caring for our soldiers during the 
Vietnam War, Captain Ambrose continues her work of honoring veterans 
through her poems. Every Memorial Day, veterans gather to hear her 
touching rendition of a poem she wrote, Flanders Field. Captain 
Ambrose's efforts on behalf of those who have served our country should 
be recognized, thus I have included one of her poems ``Take My Hand'' 
so that my colleagues in Congress and all Americans may share in her 
compassionate views. I believe that by honoring Captain Ambrose, we are 
recognizing not only her efforts, but also the efforts and importance 
of nurses who serve during wartime.
  As a son of a World War II veteran, I would like to extend my 
gratitude to Captain Jeannie Sweeney Ambrose for her kindness and 
compassion towards our servicemen and women. She is to be commended for 
her efforts on behalf of Pittsburgh veterans.

                              Take My Hand

                      (By Jeannie Sweeney Ambrose)

     Here--take hold of my hand, Lad,
     I'll try to kill the pain,
     You've had your share of fighting this day,
     We'll get you well and home again.

     Here--take hold of my hand, Lad,
     Don't go away from me now,
     I'll stop the blood and fix your wounds
     But you must stay with me and fight the pain.

     Here--take hold of my hand, Lad,
     I can't lose more of you now,
     We've all come so far, the lot of us,
     And I've got to get you to your home again.

     Ah--Lad, you must not quit on me now,
     I'll not let you go, you hear,
     Come, fight with me just once more,
     Your mom must not be left to cry.

     He had looked at me with one brief smile,
     And had asked me my name.
     I said call me Jeannie, or call me your mom,
     Today it will all be the same.

     My lad squeezed my had one more time,
     He smiled and then he died,
     I closed my eyes to remember his face, and said,
     I'll see you each year as we call out the names.

     Ah Lad, I still see your face,
     And all those we tried to save,
     Your face and smile were all we had,
     To help get us through those days.

     I still remember those lads, they were
     Our country's best
     They had fought and died for all of us,
     In a land so far, far away,
     Now they were all gone, now all at rest.

     My lads are here and everywhere today,
     We must never forget what they gave,
     They cannot smile or laugh at war anymore,
     But then neither can we who stay.

     Ah Lad, if I could just hold your hand once more,
     It would help me remember this day,
     I cannot forget their faces anymore,
     Nor the reasons they died in such pain.

     I go to the Wall each year to find my lads,
     There are so many of them now,
     The Wall grows warm under my hand
     As I find and touch their names.
     Here Lads, hold my hand,
     We're all together again.

     

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