[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 147 (Thursday, November 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2034-E2035]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DR. DAVID ROMEI

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEVIN BRADY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. David 
Romei, a veteran and Executive Director of the Arts Council of Brazos 
Valley. Over the past two years Dr. Romei led the Brazos Valley 
community in the creation of a Veteran's Memorial dedicated to the 
preservation of the memory of all Brazos Valley Veterans and as a 
reminder of their sacrifice to future generations. This week I was 
privileged to share a speaker's platform with Dr. Romei at the 
dedication of this memorial and was so moved by his words that I felt 
compelled to relay them to you.

    Dr. P. David Romei's Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial Dedication 
                   Ceremony Speech, November 11, 2002

       Today, today upon this sacred site, blessed by all the 
     powers of our eternal and infinite Creator, we celebrate the 
     lives and mourn the deaths of America's heroes.
       We see in this bronze representation not only realistic 
     truth and imaginative power united that enwraps our hearts in 
     pangs of longing and suffering, but also an emotional 
     grandeur that gives new birth to our core foundation of 
     strength and courage.
       We see a soldier carrying his dying comrade from a field of 
     violent horror. We feel the warm and weakening breath of a 
     dying soldier upon the neck of his friend, the last friend he 
     will ever have, but for a greater friend no one could ask. We 
     imagine his eyes closing as his falling helmet fades, fades 
     away into the distant horizon of the unknown. And, then, then 
     his heart reaches out to his loved ones, slowly, painfully, 
     reluctantly, and says goodbye. Parting from those whom he 
     loves to join the ranks of America's eternal warriors, those 
     men and women who have died with the words DUTY, HONOR, 
     COUNTRY upon their lips; untainted by the cynicism of time.
       The gallant soldier may be felled by the enemy, but the 
     cause for which he fights shall never succumb. The American 
     soldier's soul is a fragrant garden, and his colors never 
     melt into the light of the moon. The freedom for which he 
     fights stands in glory before the mightly rays of the midday 
     sun and, and we call it America.
       We who survive have the ultimate responsibility. It is we 
     who must make immortal the memory of those who have 
     sacrificed all that they were, all that they are, and all 
     that they were promised to be. It is we who must allow no one 
     to ever say that the sun has set, that darkness possesses the 
     day, and time passes, time passes and these men of valor must 
     lie alone.
       To honor America's warriors is not a celebration of 
     military triumphs that some people falsely associate with 
     America's great victories. We are remembering. We are 
     expressing our gratitude; the gratitude of a grateful nation 
     to those who have served, suffered and died. But, even more 
     importantly, we are saying to every man and woman who has 
     served this nation that time does not pass on, life does not 
     go on, nothing is the same because of you. Your deeds and 
     sacrifices have altered our destiny and our lives are forever 
     entwined with your life and, indeed with your death.
       The goal of history is not to separate out events of 
     different dimensions at a particular point in time, but to 
     show their continuous interaction in an evolving story. There 
     are those who see history as something we paint on a canvas, 
     while others see history as something we record in a book and 
     store upon an old dusty shelf. History is neither; it is as 
     alive and as deep as the currents of the vast oceans. As 
     civilization evolves so does history, and as people evolve so 
     do nations.
       Today we speak of the history of individuals, not nations. 
     We speak of a fellow soldier, a friend, a brother wounded who 
     stretches out his hand for help, a bloodied hand that we 
     cannot reach, for duty demands we fight on, we cannot pull 
     him from death here, but in heaven we shall embrace him in 
     eternal life.
       It is the memories of those who live, the memory of holding 
     our dying buddy in our arms, of embracing his tired and 
     broken body, of closing his eyes as the last tears streak his 
     tender cheeks, because, because it is our duty.
       Our goal today is not to separate America's warriors from 
     Americans and hold them up as more important than others. 
     Every soldier knows that without a supporting nation, without 
     a loving family and without an ethical code of conduct his 
     actions and his mission are worthless. Our sacred purpose is 
     to demonstrate that it is only the soldier who is called upon 
     to give his life to ensure freedom. We soldiers are the 
     guardians of America's promise to the world. We show here 
     today that the will that permits one to lay down his life for 
     family and country separates those with pure souls fueled by 
     courage from those who have yet been given such an 
     opportunity and privilege.
       Those of us who have put on the military uniform of our 
     country have done so with the expectation of receiving no 
     reward. We have been privileged to serve in the defense of 
     freedom and liberty. There is no sense of entitlement; there 
     is only a sense that we have been honored that you, those 
     whom we serve with honor and love, the love of our entire 
     hearts, have entrusted us with your lives. It is your trust 
     that illuminates the soul of every American fighting man and 
     woman with pride. It is your trust that sees us through the 
     long, dark, cold and lonely nights as we stand watch. It is 
     your love and trust that gives us the courage to leave our 
     beloved parents, to say goodbye to our tender-hearted wives, 
     and to ask God in silent prayer to watch over our children 
     while we are away.
       Today we recall the countless graves of brave Americans 
     from the smallest islands in the great Pacific to the 
     unforgiving shores of Normandy. We also remember those who 
     froze to death at Valley Forge and who fought upon the 
     burning sands of the Persian Gulf. From our nation's birth 
     until this very moment, we have endured every cost and paid 
     every price to protect, to defend and to serve our beloved 
     nation.
       Hundreds of thousands of Americans have given their lives 
     in far away lands for us. Many are now interred in the earth 
     of those distant lands, but their memories, their memories, 
     we shall never yield, for those memories are our most valued 
     treasure. Wherever an American soldier is buried, there also 
     is a part of America.
       It is in the memory of our heroes, friends and loved ones 
     that we gather today. The Brazos Valley Veterans memorial is 
     a sacred tribute that commemorates for time immemorial the 
     sacrifice made by America's heroes. It honors those men and 
     women who will never return to bless us with their smiles, to 
     hold their children in their arms, and to share with their 
     wives and husbands joys and sorrows that we take for granted. 
     Indeed, even if some forget their names, no one must ever be 
     allowed to forget their sacrifice. By the labor of our hands 
     and hearts we have ensured that the generations that follow, 
     even for a thousand years, will recall with pride our 
     veterans' unselfish love for this light unto the world that 
     we call America.
       Some say our fallen heroes hear the grass growing over 
     their graves and the leaves of autumn rustling above in the 
     stilled heavens, finally bringing the loud guns of war to 
     silence, but those of us living will never know peace until 
     we pay in full the debt we owe them. This is the debt we 
     honor today.
       Do not look at the place where life has left an American 
     warrior, do not say how the smoke of dreams has risen. This 
     is the way one moment deserts another, and this is the way 
     that the all-powerful sun suddenly deserts the world. Do not 
     say this, for we shall always remember and our sun shall 
     never desert our world. It is our faith that keeps America's 
     flame of freedom alight.
       Let me challenge each of you today. Look upon this work of 
     art, an expression of Robert Eccleston's genius. Prepare your 
     hearts, open your minds and allow the better nature of your 
     souls to rise to a new level, a new level of historical 
     purpose. Try to wrap yourselves in these soldiers' 
     experience.
       Whose heart does not explode like a million stars when 
     looking upon this beautiful symbol of our love and respect 
     for America's fighting men and women? Witness the bullet hole 
     in the soldier's helmet and shudder, share the suffering of 
     the wounded soldier and bleed, and behold the valor of the 
     soldier who never leaves his friend behind--then, pray to God 
     that you would do the same. Dare if you will to touch the 
     name of a veteran, any veteran whose name is engraved in this 
     Texas granite, and know that you are united with an American 
     hero.
       Never forget that when the bow of God's wrath is bent, 
     America's fighting men and women are the arrow that finds 
     heartless evil and draws from it all life. We are the 
     instrument of God's justice, and we are the men and women who 
     preserve civilization itself.
       Now, as we dedicate this holy monument and leave it to the 
     generations that follow us, be assured that we have done our 
     duty.

[[Page E2035]]

     Let it never be said that we have forgotten those who have 
     given the ultimate for our freedom. Let it be said that we 
     have preserved their memories upon sacred ground.
       We shall forever toll the bells in their honor. We raise 
     our flags in their memory. We believe they have life eternal. 
     May flowers always bloom under the shade of these trees. Let 
     the sun break forth from tomorrow's sky and send its golden 
     rays upon all the rays of our lives and the lives of 
     generations upon generations that follow in the noble 
     American dream. Let us ask God from the depths of our most 
     prayerful souls to welcome our heroes and to hold them in His 
     loving arms. Let it never be said that we forgot those who 
     have given their all for our freedom--those whose courage and 
     sacrifice define this land we call America.
       To this we put our names.
       To this we pledge our honor.
       This is the sacred bond that makes us Americans.
       God Bless America.

       

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