[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 135 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       DEDICATION OF CPL LARRY E. SMEDLEY MEDAL OF HONOR HIGHWAY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN L. MICA

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 19, 2004

  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, on October 30, a dedication ceremony was 
conducted in Orlando, Florida in honor of Corporal Larry E. Smedley at 
the Orange County Courthouse Plaza.
  Corporal Smedley who died in combat in Vietnam in December 1967 is 
Orlando's only recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor from that 
conflict. The ceremony conducted in our community was to commemorate 
the naming of a section of our Interstate 4 highway from Colonial Drive 
to State Road 436 in memory of this Central Florida hero. That section 
of our major thoroughfare was designated by an act of the Florida 
Legislature the ``Corporal Larry E. Smedley Medal of Honor Highway.'' 
It was my privilege to attend that ceremony and meet Corporal Smedley's 
mother Mary Smedley Smith, from Virginia Beach, his brother, Russell 
Smedley, from Orlando, Florida, and his sister, Valerie Smedley, from 
Orlando, Florida. I know I join all those in attendance at that 
ceremony and countless Americans who appreciate Corporal Smedley's 
heroism and his family's incredible sacrifice to our nation. It is my 
honor to include in the Congressional Record of the House of 
Representatives the outstanding and heartfelt remarks from The 
Honorable Anthony J. Principi, Secretary of Department of Veterans 
Affairs delivered at the dedication ceremony.

       Good morning.
       It has been said that ``True heroism is remarkably sober . 
     . . It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever 
     cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.''
       History is defined by critical moments . . . sobering 
     moments, costly moments . . . moments that are turning points 
     in time. The United States of America has existed for less 
     than three centuries. And throughout our history, we have 
     been tested, time and again, by defining moments of conflict. 
     Vietnam was one of those moments.
       The men who fought there were young and untested. Citizen-
     soldiers from all walks of life . . . native-born and 
     immigrants. From cities large and small . . . and from towns, 
     villages, and farms. Yet they were bound together in a 
     brotherhood whose lodestar continues to shine bright on an 
     immutable truth given poetic definition by President Abraham 
     Lincoln. ``Our reliance'' he said, ``is in the love of 
     liberty. . . [and] in the preservation of the spirit which 
     prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, 
     everywhere.''
       And so the young Americans of more than three decades past 
     fought with a gritty sense of purpose . . . fortitude . . . 
     and, many times, sheer obstinacy. They were tested in the 
     raging fires of adversity at Ia Drang . . . Hue . . . Khe 
     Sanh . . . Pleiku . . . and in a thousand clashes and 
     skirmishes remembered, now, only by those who fought them.
       Those battles, known and unknown, prove one thing--there is 
     the possibility for triumph . . . dignity . . . and great 
     honor in even the most difficult, the most trying of 
     circumstances. Especially when these qualities are rooted in 
     men dedicated to each other and to the principle--not the 
     objective--for which they fight. Men descendent of a common 
     creed--One Nation, under God . . . and guardian of a common 
     trust--Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Men like 
     Corporal Larry E. Smedley, United States Marine Corps, who 
     served America and served others in the highest tradition of 
     America's greatest patriots . . . and who paid the cost of 
     that selfless service with the coin of incredible sacrifice.
       The true mettle of those who love Liberty is tested in 
     moments such as the December night in 1967 when heroism 
     emerged in the jungles of Quang Nam Province . . . heroism 
     larger than life itself . . . full with its attendant valor, 
     purpose, and sacrifice.
       Corporal Smedley's awe-inspiring bravery is the stuff of 
     American legend. In him we see the mighty strengths and quiet 
     virtues of the American spirit. In him we see the outward 
     courage and inner character of the American soldier . . . 
     sailor. . . airman . . . Marine . . . and Coastguardsman. In 
     him we see the very best of what it means to be an American. 
     Though we are poorer that he was taken from us, we are richer 
     for what he so selflessly gave us.
       By his devotion to country and to his comrades on that 
     night so long ago, Larry Smedley joined the revered ranks of 
     America's heroes from Valley Forge . . . Fredericksburg . . . 
     Belleau Wood . . . Normandy . . . and the Chosin. Together, 
     they wrote boldly . . . largely . . . and indelibly . . . 
     across our great National chronicle of military history.
       For the story of America is the story of America's 
     defenders . . . in war and in peace . . . at home and abroad. 
     A story whose chapters speak eloquently of Duty, Honor, and 
     Sacrifice. A story whose words and phrases recount 
     unbreakable bonds of camaraderie forged in service to 
     country. Whose words speak softly of beloved family and 
     friends, and lives forever changed by the wounds of war . . . 
     and whisper of faithful comrades forever young, cut down in 
     life's prime. It is the story of Corporal Larry E. Smedley, 
     United States Marine Corps. A hero who served his country . . 
     . who served others . . . and who stands tall in the most 
     honored pantheon of American patriots.
       By today's ceremony, the spirit [of] liberty that Lincoln 
     extolled lives here, among Central Florida's towns, fields 
     and groves so familiar to Larry Smedley, the young boy. And 
     by this dedication, the indomitable spirit of Larry E. 
     Smedley, the young Marine, lives here in perpetuity . . . 
     amid the expanse of the ribbon of highway stretching to the 
     unbroken horizon of America's Sunshine State.
       On this day of dedication . . . at this time of remembrance 
     and reflection . . . we honor great deeds . . . great 
     achievement . . . and great personal fortitude. We honor the 
     memory of an ordinary American who served America in the most 
     extraordinary way.
       As one who, like Larry, served in the Republic of Vietnam, 
     I struggle today to find words that can give proper honor to 
     the painfully short life of my brother-in-arms, Corporal 
     Larry Smedley . . . knowing full well that words alone will 
     never be enough.
       And so, with your indulgence, let me close with the 
     poignant words of the English poet, Laurence Binyon, whose 
     poem ``For the Fallen,'' was written in honor of England's 
     World War I dead. I read from it today in memory of America's 
     fallen hero--Corporal Larry E. Smedley:

     They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
     Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
     At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
     We will remember them.

       May God always bless America and the sons and daughters who 
     so courageously defend her.

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