[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 78 (Friday, May 23, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7116-S7117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              MEMORIAL DAY

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, this coming Monday is the last Monday in 
May. Since the adoption of the National Holiday Act, Public Law 90-363, 
the last Monday in May has been celebrated as Memorial Day. The origins 
of Memorial Day extend far earlier than 1971, stretching back to the 
Civil War, when the practice of decorating the graves of fallen 
soldiers became widely practiced in the United States. And in the 
earlier years, the people, particularly the people of the southern 
states, celebrated this as Decoration Day.
  Honoring the fallen in battle is an ancient custom, extending at 
least to the ancient Greeks. Thucydides provides us with one example. 
It was the custom in Athens to conduct an elaborate funeral for all 
those killed in battle. A sacrifice would be made, the fallen laid to 
rest with ceremony, and then a funeral oration would be given. After 
the first battles of the Peloponnesian War, the brilliant politician 
and general, Pericles, was the orator. He used his speech to honor the 
dead but also to pay homage to the state for which they had fought. His 
love and admiration for Athens reflects the feelings of patriotism, 
pride, and love for the United States that have swelled in our breasts 
since the terrible events of September 11, 2001, and since the brave 
performance put on by U.S. forces in Iraq this spring.
  Pericles said, in part:

     . . . fix your eyes upon the greatness of Athens, until you 
     become filled with the love of her; and when you are 
     impressed by the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this 
     empire has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had 
     the courage to do it, who in the hour of conflict had the 
     fear of dishonor always present in them, and who, if ever 
     they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues 
     to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives as 
     the fairest offering which they could present at her feast. 
     The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually 
     repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself 
     praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs, I 
     speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but that 
     in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and 
     on every fitting occasion both in word and in deed. For the 
     whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they 
     commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own 
     country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten 
     memorial of them, graven not on stones but in the hearts of 
     men.

  So in the hearts of every family reunited, every child now free to 
attend school, everyone of every faith now allowed to worship freely, 
dwell the unwritten memorials to American fighting men and women. In 
France, in Flanders field, in Belgium, in Austria, Sweden, all across 
Europe, in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia, still beat hearts 
that remember the faces of American G.I.s who liberated them.
  At home, as well, the fallen live on. In the hearts of their 
families, in the caring hands that place poppies on graves in military 
cemeteries, in the flags snapping proudly in the breeze at doorsteps 
around the Nation, the Nation's fallen heroes are remembered. Without 
them, our Nation and our history would be forever altered. Without the 
heroes of Bunker Hill and Lexington and Yorktown, we might still be a 
British colony. Without the heroes of Gettysburg and Appomattox, we 
might not be a United States but two separate nations. Without the 
heroes of the Ardennes and Ypres, of Normandy and Tarawa, the globe 
would be redrawn in very different shapes. Without the heroes at the 
Yalu River and at Da Nang, the Iron Curtain might have encircled the 
globe.

  To each generation of heroes, we offer our silent thanks. And to the 
Creator, we must offer our prayers that the succeeding generations will 
be equally brave and equally patriotic, as ready to meet the rigors and 
challenges to come as are our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines 
today. We must hope that we bequeath to our future generations a nation 
worthy of such sacrifice, a nation, as Pericles proclaimed of Athens 
``. . . for whose sake these men nobly fought and died; they could not 
bear the thought that she might be taken from them; and every one of us 
who survive should gladly toil on her behalf.''
  The United States' guiding philosophy, our signal principles of 
freedom, liberty, opportunity, of government by the people--these are 
the enduring monuments of America's greatness. They are our greatest 
treasure, to be guarded most jealously and defended most zealously. For 
them have the fallen filled our military cemeteries. Even as we 
continue the so-called ``war on terror,'' we must guard against 
undermining our principles for the sake of some gossamer illusion of 
security.
  Our government must operate openly, before the view of the people. 
The people's branch--here it is. The people's branch, the Congress, 
must defend its prerogatives lest the Executive assume the powers of a 
tyrant. We must deal freely and fairly and honestly on the world stage, 
using our strength for the common good and maintaining the friendship 
built upon freely spilled blood and shared sacrifice. And we must treat 
our people as citizens, not

[[Page S7117]]

potential terrorists, to be profiled and bugged and tapped and taped 
and held indefinitely without the full protections of the law. All the 
law enforcement techniques and technologies in the world will not 
eliminate all risk. If we are to honor the greatness of our Nation and 
the sacrifice of all those who have laid down their lives in her 
defense, we must be careful not to frighten ourselves into some kind of 
quasi police state.
  This Memorial Day, we honor the fallen from our wars by marking their 
graves with flowers and flags. In life, they were just like us. They 
came from all walks of life, from every State and territory, from farms 
and city streets. They were young, and funny, and brave. They were our 
children, our brothers and sisters, our fathers and mothers. They were 
members of many families and members of the American family. In death, 
they are a silent reminder of the high price some must pay so that the 
rest of us might enjoy the benefits of living in this great Nation. Put 
a flag or a flower down this weekend, but for the rest of the year, 
guard dearly the principles of the Nation they fought and died for. The 
greatest and most lasting memorial to our Nation's dead is to cherish 
and pass what is best about our Nation.
  I close with the words of Van Dyer in his poem ``America For Me.''
  As schoolchildren, we all memorized this poem and others like it:

     'Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
     Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
     To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings,--
     But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

     So it's home again, and home again, America for me!
     My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be
     In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,
     Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of 
           stars.

     Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;
     And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
     And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study 
           Rome,
     But when it comes to living, there is no place like home.

     I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled;
     I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains 
           filled;
     But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day
     In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!

     I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack!
     The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
     But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,--
     We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

     Oh, it's home again, home again, America for me!
     I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling 
           sea,
     To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
     Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of 
           stars.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sununu). The Senator from Missouri.

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