[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 170 (Friday, November 21, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2368-E2369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               VETERANS' DAY SPEECH BY MG ROBERT SHIRKEY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 20, 2003

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, Major General Robert Shirkey, USA, Retired, 
delivered the following address at a Veterans' Day Memorial Service at 
the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, MO. This is an excellent address 
by a highly decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean War. His 
speech is set forth as follows:

  Major General Shirkey, USA, Ret., Veterans' Day Observance, Liberty 
              Memorial Kansas City, MO--November 11, 2003

       I am an American--Let me tell you why:
       Years ago persons from Ireland, Norway, Poland, Germany, 
     and other locations, hugged their families for the last time 
     and left their ancestral homes. These people boarded old, 
     crowded ships to sail to America, leaving behind everything 
     and everyone they knew in search of only one thing: Freedom.
       These people crossed the ocean with the determination to 
     stand firm in their new home and fight for the freedom which 
     had been denied them for centuries. America was born from a 
     union of courage and passion for freedom. This is my 
     heritage.
       My ancestors, under a new flag, represented a country that 
     came to be known as the United States of America.
       One Irishman, O'Sharkey, went through the Revolutionary 
     War. As indentured servants from Norway, my grandmother's 
     family worked out the $36.00 passage to become Americans. A 
     Polish girl in Poznan, Poland, saved the life of a Prussian 
     soldier being chased by Germans by hiding him in a haystack 
     during the Prussian Revolution of 1848. He returned after 
     peace was declared, married her and together with his parents 
     migrated to the United States. He also then

[[Page E2369]]

     served with the 27th Wisconsin Cavalry during the Civil 
     War. Another part of my heritage who served with the South 
     during that long war was General Wade Hampton. These men 
     were the Privates, Captains, Majors, Colonels and 
     Generals. When the Revolutionary and Civil Wars were over, 
     they were once again free.
       They had paid the price with their lives, bloodshed, 
     hardship and poverty. One of my ancestors, a second cousin, 
     still lies in France, having paid the supreme sacrifice on 
     September 27, 1918, for such freedom.
       I am an American--Let me tell you why:
       My patriotism can neither be contained nor displayed within 
     the span of four (4) designated days every year. When I look 
     at my country's flag, I see not only the Revolutionary War 
     and Civil War, but ancestors who fought against injustice. I 
     also see my ancestors who were on opposite sides of the 
     Battle of the Wilderness, Chickamauga, and others. They 
     smelled the gunpowder and heard the roar of musketry. Some of 
     these men would never see another beautiful sunset, yet in 
     each of their eyes were these same dreams of freedom and 
     independence and a willingness to fight to the death for what 
     they believed in.
       Lest we forget: For those who have fought for it, freedom 
     has a taste the protected will never know. As General 
     Pershing said at this Memorial dedication:
       ``. . . there are many forces trying to destroy this 
     freedom, so band together and dedicate yourselves to 
     protecting that freedom you have so valiantly won on the 
     battlefield.''
       Never forget that the Ancient Romans sought freedom from 
     responsibility and, as a consequence, lost all freedom.
       My flag has flown over ancestors and fellow soldiers in 
     distant parts of the world who were slain giving all their 
     tomorrows for our todays. My flag flew over my best friend's 
     hastily dug grave at Legaspi, Luzon, following his untimely 
     death April 15, 1945. He gave his life to save five wounded 
     comrades by crawling up under machine gun fire. An attempt to 
     save a sixth man was rewarded with death. For my symbolic 
     flag he knew he was expected to die. Like many others, my 
     life was spared by the controversial atomic bomb. I came home 
     carrying my flag. My best friend came wrapped in my country's 
     flag. My flag went to Viet Nam and returned with some of my 
     dear friends wrapped in it. My flag is the same flag that 
     belongs to victims of the Bataan Death March as well as 
     survivors. The attitude of those men is epitomized in the 
     gallows humor of war correspondent Frank Hewlett which still 
     echos amongst the jungle foliage:

     ``We're the battling bastards of Bataan.
     No mamma, no papa, no Uncle Sam.
     No uncles, no aunts, no nephews.
     No nieces, no pills, no planes, no artillery pieces.
     And nobody gives a damn.''

       These are the men who have carried my flag. Later, in 
     fighting on Luzon, I walked that hallowed ground on Bataan. I 
     saw the refuse of war and the fox holes-many of which had 
     been dug with bayonets. In the words of William Lindsay 
     White, author of They Were Expendable, ``Where do we get such 
     men?''
       Tribute on this day is paid to those fellow Americans who 
     served in the Korean War, which ended fifty years ago. Over 
     one hundred thousand men were wounded; fifty-six thousand two 
     hundred forty six killed; nine thousand were captured; three 
     thousand five hundred eight were repatriated; six thousand 
     died as a result of criminal acts of the enemy. By the peace 
     agreement in 1953, not one of the enemy was prosecuted. The 
     odds of death of those of us in the front lines in Korea were 
     one in nine. By contrast the odds were one in eighteen in 
     World War II and in Viet Nam the odds were one in twenty-
     three, a striking example of the dangers in Korea.
       I fought through the Pacific War with one of the more noted 
     Infantry Units the 158th RCT ``Bushmasters.'' We were 
     comprised of twenty-two Indian tribes, Hispanics, Chinese, 
     Japanese and men from thirty-eight different states. General 
     MacArthur opined that ``no greater combat team has ever 
     deployed for battle.'' Little known is the fact that Indians 
     were finally given the right to vote in 1946. Strangely 
     enough, not one black soldier was in our Infantry units!
       I am an American--Let me tell you why:
       To those Korean Veterans present and those of you who may 
     read or hear what I have to say today, I want you to know as 
     one soldier to another, we fought not for glory, for there 
     was none, not for loot, for there was none. No crusading zeal 
     drove us on. Our homeland was not threatened. Our countrymen 
     at home made no comparable sacrifice. We fought and endured, 
     while not understanding the geopolitics of that distant war 
     and at a time when thousands of our fellow countrymen said we 
     were engaged in a senseless war. We kept on much as we did in 
     World War II. The real answer as to why we--the living and 
     the dead--did this lies deep in the tissue of the substance 
     which keeps America from becoming unstuck. It has to do with 
     our parents, teachers, 4-H Clubs, Scouts, 
     neighborhood centers, and belonging to a team; an 
     implicit, unreasoned belief in our country and a natural 
     belief in ourselves. To those present, to those now 
     living, I bow to your patriotism. Many like myself were 
     asked to again serve our country. I left behind two sons, 
     one six months old and one three years old. Forty-eight 
     hours after leaving Kansas City, I was again in the Korean 
     front-lines.
       Let me say now, for all to hear and know, as a rifle 
     company commander of one hundred fifty to two hundred men, I 
     personally led one of the first integrated companies in 
     Korea. The twenty to twenty-five black soldiers I led served 
     with honor, distinction and bravery. We cry the same salty 
     tears and bleed the same red blood. Equally important, in our 
     hour of need on the battle field, we do not care who rescues 
     us or carries our stretcher. I shall never forget Lovell Page 
     who gave his life at the Inje River. His beautiful smile is 
     etched in my memory and will be throughout eternity.
       These are the men who have carried my flag.
       That same flag gave comfort and hope to those who endured 
     horrors including war camp. It is the same flag the men and 
     women carry who came home crippled and maimed so that the 
     social class into which I was born would not determine the 
     limits of my potential.
       It is the flag that is seared into my memory as it lay 
     draped over my dearest friends coffins while the echos of 
     Taps were carried Heavenward on a windy day. It is the same 
     flag that will someday drape over my coffin. I trust that you 
     are as proud of that flag as I am. Protect it well. Protect 
     it as I have.
       Forty-Five million of us have served our Nation since 1776. 
     We have never, ever, let our nation down. We took the Hill!!
       I quote the last stanza of the poem by Billy Rose, which 
     reflects the dedication of every American in their commitment 
     to serve their country.
       ``I am the unknown soldier and maybe I died in vain, but if 
     I were alive and my country called, I'd do it all over again. 
     While I fought with and along side of the elite American Army 
     troops, lest we forget, I should like to pay tribute to the 
     troops of the twenty-one nations that comprised the United 
     Nations forces in Korea. The undaunted courage and bravery of 
     the Turks, British and Ethiopians, to mention a few that I 
     witnessed, shall forever be with me. Likewise, the bravery of 
     Republic of Korea soldiers like Chung Mun Joe, who served in 
     my company, will never be forgotten as they fought for the 
     freedom we Americans almost take for granted. To those who 
     have not served and to those who never will, I quote Prophet 
     Micah, as is etched in stone on the North side of this 
     Monument, that all God requires of us is that ``we should do 
     justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God.''
       You now see that:
       I am an American--I have told you why.
       In closing, I quote the Unknown Confederate Soldier's 
     words:

     ``I asked God for strength that I might achieve; I was made 
           weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
     I asked for health that I might do great things; I was given 
           infirmity that I might do better things.
     I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty 
           that I might be wise.
     I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; I was 
           given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
     I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given 
           life that I might enjoy all things.
     I got nothing I asked for, but everything that I had hoped 
           for, almost despite myself.
     My unspoken prayers were answered. I am, among all men, 
           richly blessed.''

       I am indeed an American.

                          ____________________