[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 111 (Thursday, September 5, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S8294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING EARLEEN ALLEN FRANCIS

 Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I have the privilege and honor of 
rising today to recognize Ms. Earleen Allen Francis of Clinton, KY. 
Last month, Ms. Francis was presented with a certificate of honor for 
her military service as an Army Nurse during WWII by the Kentucky 
Department of Veteran Affairs.
  Ms. Francis, now 91 years young, is among fewer than 20 survivors of 
the group of about 60 Army and Navy nurses captured by Japanese forces 
after the fall of Corregidor, a small fortified island in the 
Philippines.
  In 1942, Japanese troops advanced on the Bataan peninsula. The Army 
and Navy nurses stationed at Bataan were evacuated to Corregidor as a 
safety precaution. However, shortly after being moved, Japanese troops 
stormed the small island and captured 20 of the 85 nurses, including 
Earleen Allen Francis. For three long and grueling years, Earleen and 
the 19 other nurses were starved and locked up by their captors. Their 
freedoms were stripped from them in the blink of an eye. In many ways, 
Earleen never quite recovered from this horrific time period in her 
life.
  Ms. Francis' story has been told in books and on television and she 
was even honored by President Reagan in 1983 for her service to 
America. It is important that her story continues to be told.
  I believe it is vital that we as a nation never forget about heroes 
like Earleen Allen Francis. Sometimes, we are forced to fight and die 
for our freedom and the continuation of our unique way of life. Ms. 
Francis personally sacrificed a large portion of her life to ensure 
that future generations of Americans are able to enjoy the freedoms she 
had stripped away from her for 3 years.
  Now more than ever, we must learn from the sacrifices others have 
made. Terrorist states and organizations around the globe are striving 
to take the word freedom out of America's vocabulary. These terrorists 
view the world in simple terms of black and white; Islam is on the good 
side, and the infidels--America, Israel, and the entire Western World--
are on the bad side. Freedom and democracy don't always come easy. We 
sometimes have to fight for what we believe in and stand for.
  I ask that my fellow Senators join me in honoring Earleen Allen 
Francis for her sacrifice and commitment to America--the land of the 
free.

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