[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 139 (Wednesday, December 8, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S12060]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO JAMES LEROY WILLIAMS

   Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a fellow 
Montanan who represents the embodiment of many of us who stand in 
steadfast and determined support of our armed forces both yesterday and 
today. James LeRoy Williams was born just south of Montana, in 
Sheridan, WY and now makes his home in beautiful Columbus, MT.
  At a time many recall in the late sixties, men were volunteering to 
serve in Vietnam, and being drafted to serve. For some, service wasn't 
an option due to medical complications, in this case a back injury kept 
Mr. Williams from fulfilling what he felt was his duty to our Nation, 
and our future generations, and he stayed here in the States as a 
civilian.
  This did not hinder his determination to make a difference to those 
who did serve in our armed forces, and Mr. Williams made it his mission 
to ensure Veterans received that handshake and `thank you', and did so 
by creating a repository in Columbus of military history that spans the 
history of our great Nation. Mr. Williams believes, as I do, that we 
must remember our history, as it is our roadmap to the future, and that 
we owe it to our children and grandchildren to provide them the proud 
history of our armed forces, and their defense of our freedoms these so 
many years.
  Mr. Williams has become a historian of our military, and keeps an 
authentic World War One Doughboy's uniform that he wears when giving 
talks on both the vast history of our services, and the individual 
tales of bravery and sacrifice one learns when taking the time to 
listen to the men who climbed the cliffs at Pointe Du Hoc, froze in 
both the Ardennes and the Chosin, or made one more climb up a numbered 
hill in the jungles of Vietnam.
  To Mr. Williams and those like him, I can only say thank you, both as 
a Veteran, and as an American, for keeping alive the history that 
shapes our Nation. He may not have served directly in our armed forces, 
but he has served his Nation by honoring the sacrifice of the thousands 
of men and women who did wear the uniform, and I know that if 
circumstances had been different, he would have made our Nation proud 
in that capacity as well.

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