[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 83 (Thursday, June 4, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1328-E1329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING THE SERVICE AND SACRIFICE OF D-DAY WARRIORS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 4, 2009

  Ms. GIFFORDS. Madam Speaker, sixty-five years ago, our nation's 
greatest military minds gathered with our European allies deep beneath 
London to set into motion a plan called Overlord. Unsure if the weather 
would clear long enough for the operation, planners reluctantly gave 
the order--advance to Normandy.
  On the morning of June 6, 1944, forces approached from the sea in 
silence, under cover of darkness seeking single points on a map. Their 
names--Omaha and Utah, Juno, Sword and Gold--are forever stained by the 
fateful events of that day.
  All told, the Allies mustered nearly 3 million Soldiers, Sailors and 
Airmen. Nearly 160,000 troops came across the English Channel on D-Day 
with another 2 million in the months after.
  Those brave many boarded landing craft and aircraft, bound for an 
uncertain fate against a war-tested opponent that had become the most 
feared army to cross Europe in two millennia.
  Tossed by rough seas and unsettled by the distant echo of machine gun 
fire, young men from every corner of America stepped into the breach, 
wading through neck-deep water to open a beachfront in France and blaze 
a trail of liberation to Berlin.
  American landing forces at Utah beach faced the lightest resistance 
of the invasion's 50 mile breadth. 197 brave souls lost their lives at 
Utah, but most of the 23,000--men like Raymond Jackson, a Tucsonan with 
the 15th Cavalry Recon Squadron--came ashore and linked up with the 
101st Airborne in Normandy's first major success.
  Omaha was less absolute. High bluffs were defended by mortars, 
machine gunners and pillboxes. The German forces atop the steep, sandy 
cliffs were highly trained and combat tested. They repelled Allied 
landing craft and destroyed American tanks as they hit the beach. 
Commanders considered abandoning Omaha. But our brave Soldiers 
persisted.
  Led by signalmen like Norm Hartline from Tucson, more than 50,000 men 
in all came ashore at Omaha. More than 5,000 wouldn't advance past the 
surf line. Killed and wounded lay in the wake and behind parapets for 
hours or days. History tells us that it took until June 9th for 
American infantry units from Omaha to successfully establish a beach 
head at Omaha.
  Today, we once again pull back the curtains of history to honor those 
American and Allied heroes who stood as the point of liberty's spear. 
Within boundless volumes on World War II are the eulogies of Bradley 
and Eisenhower, Patton and Montgomery--leaders of the Allied liberation 
of Europe.
  But where we find D-Day's true heroes are not within the dust jackets 
of history books or news clippings from the day. They haven't lived 
lives of great fanfare. Our greatest generation arose from America's 
factories and farms, from our inner cities to our outlying territories. 
And to these places they returned.
  On their backs we won a great victory for freedom and liberty, 
against oppression and

[[Page E1329]]

hatred. Then on those same backs we built the world's greatest 
democracy, serving as a beacon of light, a shining city atop a hill. 
Many of the true heroes of D-Day have forever gone unrecognized because 
they sought not the special recognition afforded their heroism. To 
these heroes, it was a patriotic duty--a level of selfless sacrifice 
that transcends medals and citations. And in small towns and big cities 
across America, the few remaining true heroes of D-Day continue to live 
quiet lives.
  But as these standard bearers for virtue pass on and the torches that 
marked their trail to liberty are extinguished, we take a proud moment 
to offer our sincerest gratitude and our indebted praise to those brave 
warriors who stood between humanity and evil to save mankind from the 
brink.
  And we remember in our hearts and prayers those who gave their last 
full measure of devotion--for freedom.

                          ____________________