[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 14, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8116-S8117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF EDWARD F. MILES

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I memorialize the life of Edward 
``Ed'' Miles, a decorated Vietnam veteran who heroically turned his war 
experience into a mission of compassion for victims of conflict around 
the world. Ed Miles died on January 26, 2004.
  I first met Ed through his advocacy on behalf of war survivors--work 
that embodied the ideals of the Leahy War Victims Fund, which was 
established in 1989 to respond to the needs of innocent victims of 
conflict in developing countries. Despite painful injuries suffered 
during the war in Vietnam that left him a bilateral amputee, and the 
challenges of working in a country reeling from Pol Pot's genocidal 
Khmer Rouge regime, Ed persevered and set up a rehabilitation clinic 
for landmine survivors and other war victims that was the first of its 
kind in Cambodia. Today it is recognized as Cambodia's national 
rehabilitation center and a model for others around the world.
  Ed is perhaps best remembered for this work through his involvement 
with Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, VVAF, and the 
International Campaign to Ban Land Mines, which received the Nobel 
Peace Prize in 1997 for its advocacy to eliminate the scourge of 
landmines.
  As an associate director of VVAF, Ed traveled throughout the world 
raising funds, generating medical research and support, and, finally, 
building and staffing a prosthetics clinic for amputees at Kien 
Khleang, outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1991. Since its inception, 
this project has produced 15,000 prosthetics, orthotics and wheelchairs 
for landmine survivors and other war victims. In addition, since Ed's 
initial pioneering and humanitarian efforts in Cambodia, VVAF has 
opened rehabilitation clinics in Vietnam, Angola, Ethiopia, Kosovo and 
elsewhere in Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Thousands of 
people with disabilities, many of whom had been treated as social 
outcasts, recovered their mobility and their dignity because of Ed 
Miles.
  Ed's personal mission to help war survivors was undoubtedly the 
result of his own war experience. In April 1969, as a Captain and 
Military Advisor, Special Forces, United States Army, Ed was wounded in 
an ambush outside Cu Chi near the Cambodian border. He stepped on a 
landmine and lost both of his legs above the knee, suffered severe 
bone, nerve and muscle damage to his arm and later lost one of his eyes 
to infection.
  As a result of his service in Vietnam, Ed received the United States 
Army Silver Star for Bravery, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the 
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, the Vietnamese Campaign Medal, the Air 
Medal, the Good Conduct and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.
  After returning home, Ed became an active critic of the Vietnam War, 
co-founding Veterans Against the War. Yet despite the severity of his 
injuries, years of hospital treatment and his enduring disabilities, he 
also completed his education, receiving his Masters of Public 
Administration from New York University. Ed worked as an Outreach 
Counselor for Vietnam veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In 
1989, he was one of the first Americans to return to Vietnam since the 
war ended. In fact, he was featured on ``Nightline'' visiting the site 
where he was wounded.
  Ed continued his quest for peace and reconciliation with America's 
former enemy through VVAF, continuously lobbying the United States 
Congress and the White House to normalize diplomatic and trade 
relations with Vietnam, which ultimately occurred in 1995. He was a 
featured speaker throughout the United States, and a visiting guest 
speaker at local schools where he described his Vietnam experience and 
the historical significance and lessons of the Vietnam War.
  For the 35 years since being wounded and up until his life's end, Ed 
exhibited a selflessness, determination and compassion beyond compare. 
Despite the daily struggles and pain from his injuries, I never once 
heard Ed complain about his own misfortunes. He was soft spoken and 
unassuming to a degree rarely seen, but he also harbored a fiery 
passion for ridding the world of injustice and senseless conflict. Ed 
was an inspiration to me in my efforts to ban landmines, and to 
everyone who knew him.

[[Page S8117]]

  Family, friends and colleagues throughout the world responded with 
shock and deep sadness for the loss of this true humanitarian and hero. 
In his gentle but powerful way, Ed touched the world one person at a 
time, and I consider myself very fortunate to have been one of them.
  Ed was born in Brooklyn, NY, and was buried there with his parents 
and Irish ancestors dating from 1860. He grew up in Manhasset, NY and 
throughout his free-spirited life, had homes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 
Augsburg, Germany, Kinsale, Ireland, Greenwich Village, Sag Harbor, 
Southhampton and Stamford, New York, Wyoming, Colorado, and Wilton, 
Connecticut. He is survived by sons Ed, of Boulder, Colorado, and 
Daniel of Southhampton, New York; a daughter, Sarah of New York City; 
sisters Mary Teresa Jackson of Raleigh, North Carolina, Michele Dunn of 
Wilton, Connecticut, and Christine Kuhl of Southhampton, New York.
  The world is a better place because of Ed Miles, and his generous 
heart and many contributions will always be remembered.

                          ____________________