[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 59 (Friday, April 11, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E744-E745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING FORMER PRISONERS-OF-WAR

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 2003

  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in 
recognizing National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day.
  As others have said, America's former POWs are national heroes. Their 
service to our country placed them in dangerous situations and led to 
their capture and imprisonment.
  Many suffered brutally at the hands of their captives. Many died.
  During this time of hostilities in Iraq, we particularly remember the 
service members held prisoners there and ask for their humane treatment 
as we seek their immediate release. We also ask for an accounting of 
all the missing.
  We take great pride in the successful rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch. 
We hope for her swift recovery.
  Mr. Speaker, we shall never forget the tens of thousands of Americans 
who endured the hardship of enemy confinement--individuals like Bob 
Brigham of Torrance, California.
  An Army private during World War II, Mr. Brigham was captured by the 
Nazis July 27, 1944 at St. Lo, France.
  Nine months to the day, he was liberated from the camp at Memmengin, 
Germany, but not after hard labor digging air raid shelters under the 
camps railroad tracks.
  Brian Ward of San Pedro was captured by the North Vietnamese when his 
F-4 bomber was shot down 2 days after Christmas 1972 while on a combat 
mission northeast of Hanoi.
  Both he and his pilot suffered broken arms and back injuries as a 
result of their ejection. They were immediately captured, stripped of 
everything but their underwear, and transported to the ``Hanoi 
Hilton''. Two weeks later, they were transferred to a prison known as 
the ``Zoo'' a few miles southeast of Hanoi.
  Mr. Ward was returned to the United States on March 29, 1973 as the 
next-to-last prisoner released from Hanoi.
  There are other former POWs among the residents of my District. I 
salute them all. Their physical and emotional scars remain a reminder 
of the high price of liberty.
  Mr. Speaker, I also join my colleagues in remembering those whose 
fate in time of war remains unknown.
  While patriotic ceremonies and speeches will commemorate this day, 
for the families of the missing, the war is never over. Their loved

[[Page E745]]

ones are still unaccounted for. Their hearts have a very big hole that 
will never be filled.
  The POW/MIA flag is posted in my federal offices and on the wall 
behind my desk. I am proud of the role I played in authoring 
legislation to require that flag to be flown at federal facilities on 
patriotic holidays.
  POW families will not forget their loved ones. Nor will this Nation. 
Wherever it takes us, for as long as it takes us, we will work to bring 
them home.

                          ____________________