[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 2, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12417-S12418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     BRINGING A FALLEN SOLDIER HOME

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, earlier today, I left a Banking Committee 
hearing to go out to Arlington National Cemetery to meet with a group 
of World War II veterans. A woman by the name of Ms. Best, who had 
served in World War II, was laying the wreath on behalf of Miami 
County, OH, veterans--some 35 or so veterans from Ohio who took a bus 
under the sponsorship of Glenn Devers, who raises money so veterans can 
come to Washington and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 
and then proceed to see the World War II monument.
  I was struck, first, by all the stories of Mr. and Mrs. Whited, for 
instance. Mr. Whited was called off to the service and went overseas. 
His child was born a few months after he left, and when he returned, he 
saw his son for the first time, who was the age of 2. He is now more 
than 60 years old. I was taken by the stories of so many of these World 
War II veterans, their courage and heroism, their love of country, 
their duty, their commitment, and their patriotism. They surely--
without overusing the phrase--were part of ``the greatest generation.''
  Few veterans have asked for credit or recognition, but it was such a 
pleasure to go there and talk to them today. I

[[Page S12418]]

had one request of them. Of course, I thanked them over and over. I had 
one request, and that was that these veterans, both men and women, tell 
their stories to their children and grandchildren. My father, a World 
War II veteran who enlisted about a year after Pearl Harbor, sometime 
during 1942, and went overseas, he didn't talk about it much. He passed 
away 6 years ago at the age of 89. He didn't talk about it much. I 
encouraged these men and women who served our country valiantly in 
World War II--or any veteran since then--to share the stories with 
their children and grandchildren because it will enrich their lives. 
They don't need to brag, but they ought to tell friends and families 
about their accomplishments and feats. These are stories that their 
children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will treasure for 
the rest of their lives.
  I thought of that visit yesterday before I made the visit, as I was 
planning it. I thought yesterday, when the Senate passed the Defense 
reauthorization bill, of an amendment that Congressman Bart Stupak of 
Michigan and I have been working on. Currently, the Department of 
Defense--prior to this amendment--is allowed to use any combination of 
air, rail or road transportation to bring the body of a fallen soldier 
home. But what has been done, because the rule is so broad, the law is 
so broad, the Department of Defense in many cases has brought the body 
of a soldier killed in action to the nearest big city airport, which 
could be 50, 100, 200 or 300 miles away. Congressman Stupak represents 
an area in northern Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, and often bodies are 
brought back to Green Bay, which is too far from many of these families 
who have to go to an airport that is 2 or 3 hours away with the funeral 
home, paying the expenses and accompanying the body back to the 
hometown. That has happened in southern Ohio, where there is no 
airport. Maybe they would go to Charleston, Columbus or Pittsburgh. It 
is outrageous that the Department of Defense doesn't bring the bodies 
to the communities where the families live, when they are already so 
distraught from losing a loved one.
  We were able to get the fallen servicemember respectful return 
amendment included in the Department of Defense bill. This means that 
when our soldiers make the ultimate sacrifice in service to their 
country, the least the Government and the DOD can do--and for reasons I 
don't even understand they had failed to do. We talk so much about 
honoring our soldiers, but they failed to do this. All of the money we 
are spending--hundreds of billions of dollars--and they didn't get 
these bodies back to the funeral home in the local communities. It is 
incumbent upon us to do that.
  Congressman Stupak in the House and my amendment in the Senate 
finally has done that. The least we can do is ease the path for these 
families as they confront their loss.

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