[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 29, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S10138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO DR. VICTOR WESTPHALL

 Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a wonderful 
man, Dr. Victor Westphall, who passed away July 22. Dr. Westphall 
dedicated his life to recognizing and celebrating the service and 
sacrifice of our Vietnam veterans.
  Dr. Westphall's dedication to fallen heroes was not surprising 
because he too was a veteran. He entered the United States Navy in 1943 
as an Ensign and served in the South Pacific during World War II. 
During this time, he was responsible for setting up message centers to 
allow front-line communication. After 3 years and two full stripes in 
the Navy, Dr. Westphall moved with his wife and his two sons to New 
Mexico. He earned his doctorate in history at the University of New 
Mexico and eventually became a leading author and expert on Southwest 
American history.
  On a most painful day in May of 1968, Dr. Westphall received word 
that his son, David, had been killed in Vietnam. David, a Marine 
lieutenant, died with 12 of his men in an ambush near Con Thien. Soon 
after, Dr. Westphall was determined to draw some good out of this 
tragic event. He decided to use the life insurance payment from his 
son's death to build the Vietnam Veterans Peace and Brotherhood Chapel 
in Angel Fire, NM. Although Dr. Westphall struggled to find financial 
support to help build the memorial, he remained dedicated to the 
project, and in 1971, the first monument to pay homage to Vietnam 
veterans in the United States was formally dedicated.
  The Vietnam Veterans Peace and Brotherhood Chapel stands as a 
majestic tribute to our veterans who served in Vietnam. Dr. Westphall 
hired a Santa Fe architect to design a beautiful white chapel with 
gentle curves sweeping 50 feet upward toward the sky. This serene 
memorial overlooks the sacred Moreno Valley, just below New Mexico's 
13,000 foot Wheeler Peak. It offers visitors the opportunity to 
remember those who served their Nation proudly in the Vietnam War in a 
peaceful and spiritual setting. The Chapel's eternal flame illuminates 
this hallowed place for quiet meditation.
  I often remember a touching story that Dr. Westphall occasionally 
recounted about the Chapel. When the memorial was first opened, the 
Chapel would close nightly. However, one morning Dr. Westphall found a 
message left by a young veteran on the door: ``I needed to come in and 
you locked me out.'' Since then, the Chapel remained open every hour of 
every day.
  Like the Chapel, Dr. Westphall was always there for our Nation's 
veterans. I salute Dr. Westphall's lifetime of service and devotion to 
our veterans, and I am proud and honored to have had him as a friend. 
He gave his son, his time, his money, his property, and life to honor 
our fallen heroes.
  As a fitting tribute, I end with the inscription at the entrance to 
his son's Chapel, now called the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial:

     The Ultimate Curse
     Greed plowed cities desolate
     Lusts ran snorting thru the streets
     Pride reared up to desecrate
     Shrines, and there were no retreats.
     So man learned to shed the tears
     With which he measures out his years.

  --Victor David Westphall III

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