[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 59 (Monday, May 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4637-S4638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               60TH ANNIVERSARY OF END OF WWII IN EUROPE

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the 
end of World War II in Europe. It was also, of course, Mother's Day. My 
speechwriter Ann O'Donnell shared a letter with me her grandfather 
wrote that is a fitting remembrance of both occasions. It is a letter 
from a young Army private, 12th Armored Division, named Glenn H. 
Waltner. Stationed in Germany at the time, he wrote to his mother, Mrs. 
J. J. Waltner in Freeman, SD.
  The letter is postmarked 60 years ago today, May 9, 1945, though it 
was written, actually, on May 3, 1945. It reads as follows:

       Dearest Mother,
       Mother's Day is only a short time away again. Since we 
     cannot be together, I'm taking this opportunity to thank you 
     for being my mother. You've always been all that any son 
     could ever ask a mother to be--kind, patient, loving, 
     considerate, and forgiving. Though Mother's Day comes but 
     once yearly, don't think you're not appreciated the other 
     [days of the year]. I thank God daily for the privilege of 
     having been your son.
       [I] am well--have been moving so swiftly and far that mail 
     still hasn't reached us, nor can we mail letters often. 
     Shaved today for the first time in a long while and haven't 
     had my hair cut for months, I guess. Hear peace rumors daily, 
     but apparently, the Germans don't know a thing about it.
       Happy Mother's Day--Love from your son, Glenn.

  Mr. President, I imagine that many hundreds of letters just like this 
went out 60 years ago to mothers all across our country. Letters went 
out as they waited patiently, praying for the safe return of their 
dear, beloved sons serving overseas during the war. Fortunately, just a 
few short days after this particular letter was written, the rumors 
about peace did become a reality as Hitler's Germany surrendered to 
Allied forces, bringing to an end almost 6 years of brutal, bloody 
battle and an unparalleled threat to mankind in the Nazi's attempt to 
destroy the Jewish race.
  When I think about all those who served during World War II, I am 
reminded of a famous speech in William Shakespeare's play ``Henry V.'' 
The title character attempts to rally his men with a St. Crispin Day 
speech, a moving appeal to soldiers facing a vastly superior French 
force. Shakespeare's Henry assures his men of their place in history, 
creating the bond that links them all. An excerpt from that speech 
reads as follows:

     And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
     From this day to the ending of the world,
     But we in it shall be remember'd;
     We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

  Stephen Ambrose, of course, in his book, ``Band of Brothers,'' also 
wrote about this fraternal bond that connects all warriors to one 
another. Ambrose documented the journey of the men of Easy Company, E 
Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, through their journey 
through World War II. While the men of the 506th seem at times lost in 
the confusion and tragedy of war, Ambrose ends his book with a poignant 
reflection on what they encountered during the war. He wrote as 
follows:

       They found combat to be ugliness, destruction, and death, 
     and hated it. Anything was better than the blood and carnage, 
     the grime and filth, the impossible demands made on the 
     body--anything, that is, except letting down their buddies. 
     They also found in combat the closest brotherhood they ever 
     knew. They found selflessness. They found they could love the 
     other guy in their foxhole more than themselves. They found 
     that in war, men who love life would give their lives for 
     them.

  Over the last couple of years, my staff and I have had the great 
privilege of getting to know a group of World War II veterans who, like 
the men of Easy Company, are, indeed, a band of brothers. They are a 
band of selfless, patriotic, quiet heroes who to this day, 60 years 
after the end of the war, remain in close contact, staying in touch

[[Page S4638]]

with one another and their families through e-mails, newsletters, and 
reunions. They also, to this day, continue to remember and honor those 
in their company who never made it home, those who were killed during 
the fighting, those who will remain as they were at the time frozen in 
their youth.
  I am speaking about the men of Company K, the most decorated company 
in the 409th Regiment of the 103rd Infantry Division, 6th Corps of the 
7th Army. The men of K Company, however, are not unique. The bonds they 
share and the sacrifices they made are no different than the bonds and 
the sacrifices of all those who served in World War II together.
  Two years ago at this time, I spoke about the 58th anniversary of V-E 
Day and specifically about K Company. Since that time, my staff and I 
have heard from many of the surviving members of K Company and their 
families. We have learned a great deal about what so many men and women 
went through both during and after the war.
  I must say the connection my office and I have established with the 
members of K Company, soldiers who saw battle in Germany, France, and 
Austria, has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had 
during my entire time in Congress.
  One of the members of K Company is my dad, Richard DeWine. In talking 
to both my mother and my father this past weekend about the end of the 
fighting in Europe 60 years ago, they remember vividly what happened, 
where they were 60 years ago yesterday. My mother remembers riding on a 
firetruck during an impromptu celebration in my parents' hometown of 
Yellow Springs, OH. She remembers that celebration after the 
announcement was made of the German surrender.
  My dad, half a world away at the time, remembers spending the night 
before in a foxhole near Innsbruck, Austria, the night before the 
surrender. And he, like PVT Glenn Waltner who wrote in his letter to 
his mother, my dad also heard rumors that the war was nearing an end. 
My dad says the rumors were all over the place. But nevertheless, my 
dad stayed awake that night in that foxhole fearing that the enemy 
would attack. He remembers thinking he saw German soldiers coming 
towards them.

  The next morning, and later when he talked to his comrades, his 
buddies, when he compared notes with them, they thought the same thing, 
that the Germans were coming after them, coming towards them. Yet they 
never attacked that night, thank Heavens.
  My dad says when the war did end the next day, he can still remember 
groups of German troops surrendering, and then when he and his K 
Company buddies went into Innsbruck, quite shortly thereafter he 
remembers the people of Innsbruck throwing flowers at them as they rode 
into Innsbruck.
  My parents' recollections and the letter I read on the Senate floor 
from Glenn Waltner are just a couple of examples of the many stories we 
all have heard about those who fought during World War II. It is 
through the stories of those who served over half a century ago that we 
continue to learn about history, about humanity, and about the 
sacrifices that were made by our parents, grandparents, those who made 
the sacrifices. Sixty years later, we continue to learn from all those 
who served in World War II. We continue to learn about honor, respect, 
loyalty, humility, and sacrifice.
  I thank each of them for what they did, what they did for each one of 
us, and what they did for our country and what they did for the world, 
what they did over 60 years ago.
  They fought so that we could know peace, so that we could remain 
free. They will never be forgotten.
  I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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