[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 75 (Wednesday, June 2, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E979-E980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             FALLEN HEROES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 20, 2004

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in the history of our great 
Nation the cause of freedom has not come easily, but it has come to 
those who have the will to attain for themselves and for their 
countrymen. Our Nation has been blessed to have great leaders and 
visionaries who crafted the Constitution on a new independent Nation. 
Later, similar strength was needed to eliminate the scourge of slavery. 
Today, we continue the struggle to make sure that all men and women can 
taste the sweet nectar of freedom. While we rightfully praise and 
celebrate the great leaders and visionaries who created and shaped this 
Nation, let us never forget that even their great work would have 
fallen short had it not been for the millions of soldiers willing to 
surrender their life to give the cause of freedom to others.
  It was Edmund Burke who once aptly stated: ``The only thing necessary 
for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.'' The birth of 
our Nation itself was due to good men who refused to submit to an 
unjust rule. Time after time, in battle after battle American men and 
women have not fled from mortal danger, no instead they have rushed 
towards it. Our brave soldiers built this Nation, first with 
independence, then with the righteousness of eliminating slavery, and 
finally in the last century they built this Nation in the eyes of the 
world, not only as a superpower, but as a Nation that values humanity 
and kindness over the tyranny of others. It has been said that the 
generation that came back from fighting World War II was in fact the 
`greatest generation' and I would be hard pressed to disagree. Our 
brave soldiers went to Europe and the Far East to save massacred 
peoples; they had no choice but victory. Even now, we look back in pain 
and imagine the horror that could have been had they not been 
successful. They came back from this war to end all wars and raised a 
new generation of Americans. They created the greatest middle-class 
ever seen in the history of the world. Their domestic success ensured a 
great future for our Nation, their success abroad ensured life and 
liberty for millions around the world.
  I see this same courage and strength in the eyes of our current 
generation of soldiers. They bear the burden of a new world, in which 
the greatest threats against our life and freedom are often unseen. 
They also bear the hope of a Nation and a world that clings to the hope 
of peace and stability. It was the great statesman Adlai Stevenson who 
said: ``Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but 
the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.'' It is clear that 
the torch has been passed from the `greatest generation' to a new 
generation of men and women willing to dedicate their lives to 
protecting ours. Our Nation is truly blessed in so many ways, but our 
soldiers continue to be the greatest protectors of our blessings.
  Perhaps the greatest literary reminder we have of the sacrifice our 
soldiers make in battle is the poem In Flanders Field written by 
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD of the Canadian Army:

     In Flanders fields the poppies blow
     Between the crosses, row on row,
     That mark our place, and in the sky
     The larks, still bravely singing, fly
     Scarce heard amid the guns below.

     We are the Dead. Short days ago
     We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
     Loved and were loved, and now we lie
     In Flanders fields.

     Take up our quarrel with the foe:
     To you from failing hands we throw
     The torch; be yours to hold it high.

     If ye break faith with us who die
     We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
     In Flanders fields.

  This poem describes the feelings of Lieutenant Colonel McCrae after 
the battle of Ypres in 1915. Our soldiers go to war knowing that they 
may not come back; they go to war knowing their comrades may not come 
back with them, and yet they do not relent. The courage of our 
Armed Forces can not be questioned, their dedication can not be taken 
lightly; truly their sacrifice must be honored dearly.

  During this Moment of Silence I want to acknowledge the brave 
soldiers from my home city of Houston who died fighting for our nation 
in Iraq and Afghanistan:
  Spc. Adolfo C. Carballo, 20, Houston, Texas, Died: April 10, 2004, 
Baghdad, Iraq; Pfc. Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, 21, Houston, Texas, 
Died: October 1, 2003, Tikrit, Iraq; Spc. John P. Johnson, 24, Houston, 
Texas, Died: October 22, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq; Spc. Scott Q. Larson, 22, 
Houston, Texas, Died: April 5, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq; Sgt. Keelan L. 
Moss, 23, Houston, Texas, Died: November 2, 2003, Al Fallujah, Iraq; 
Pfc. Armando Soriano, 20, Houston, Texas, Died: February 1, 2004, 
Haditha, Iraq; Cpl. Tomas Sotelo Jr., 20, Houston, Texas, Died: June 
27, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq; Staff Sgt. Brian T. Craig, 27, Houston, Texas, 
Died: April 15, 2002, Afghanistan.
  The names of those brave soldiers and all soldiers who have died 
fighting for our nation will always be synonymous with the cause of 
freedom. It takes that rare individual, who in fact does not see 
themselves as an individual, but as a piece of a greater mission. I 
hope and pray for the safe return of our soldiers fighting abroad, I 
cherish and honor our veterans who served before. Let us take this 
Memorial Day to heart, for everything we love and hold dear in this 
great nation of ours was

[[Page E980]]

possible because our brave soldiers were willing to defend it. I leave 
you now with an powerful poem on the subject of our brave soldiers and 
veterans from the great American poet Walt Whitman:

                         Dirge for Two Veterans

     The last sunbeam
     Lightly falls from the finish'd Sabbath,
     On the pavement here, and there beyond it is looking,
     Down a new-made double grave.

     Lo, the moon ascending,
     Up from the east the silvery round moon,
     Beautiful over the house-tops, ghastly, phantom moon,
     Immense and silent moon.

     I see a sad procession,
     And I hear the sound of coming full-key'd bugles,
     All the channels of the city streets they're flooding,
     As with voices and with tears.

     I hear the great drums pounding,
     And the small drums steady whirring,
     And every blow of the great convulsive drums,
     Strikes me through and through.

     For the son is brought with the father,
     In the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell,
     Two veterans son and father dropt together,
     And the double grave awaits them.

     Now nearer blow the bugles,
     And the drums strike more convulsive,
     And the daylight o'er the pavement quite has faded,
     And the strong dead-march enwraps me.

     In the eastern sky up-buoying,
     The sorrowful vast phantom moves illumin'd,
     `Tis some mother's large transparent face,
     In heaven brighter growing.

     O strong dead-march you please me!
     O moon immense with your silvery face you soothe me!
     O my soldiers twain! O my veterans passing to burial!
     What I have I also give you.

     The moon gives you light,
     And the bugles and the drums give you music,
     And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
     My heart gives you love.

     

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