[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 172 (Thursday, November 19, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNITION OF SPRINGFIELD NARFE CHAPTER 893

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                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 19, 2009

  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Springfield Chapter 
893 and applaud its dedication and service to the local community. This 
chapter of NARFE enjoys the second largest membership in the country, 
and continues to carry out NARFE's mission of safeguarding and 
enhancing the benefits of America's active and retired federal 
employees, and their survivors.
  At a recent meeting this chapter took a moment to remember and 
reflect on friends and family who have served in the armed forces. Of 
particular note was a poem written by Chaplain Margaret Yowell entitled 
``What Is a Veteran?''

                         ``What Is a Veteran?''

       He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi 
     Arabia sweating two gallons a day and making sure the armored 
     personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom 
     loudmouth whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a 
     hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite 
     bravery near the 38th parallel.
       She is the nurse who fought against futility and went to 
     sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He 
     is the POW who went away one person and came back another--or 
     didn't come back at all. He is the Quantico drill instructor 
     that has never seen combat--but has saved countless lives by 
     turning young men into Marines, and teaching them to watch 
     each other's backs.
       He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons 
     and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career 
     quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
       He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb of the 
     Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery 
     must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes 
     whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or 
     in the ocean's sunless deep. He is the older guy at the 
     supermarket--palsied now and slow--who helped liberate a Nazi 
     death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were 
     still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.
       He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being--a 
     person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the 
     service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so 
     others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
       So remember, each time you see someone who has served our 
     country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most 
     people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any 
     medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Chaplain 
Margaret Yowell and the National Active and Retired Federal Employees 
Springfield Chapter 893 for their dedication and service to our 
brothers and sisters who have so bravely served their country. Our 
veterans have made the ultimate sacrifice to their nation, and I am 
proud to work with NARFE to ensure we uphold our commitment to our 
federal employees and service men and women.

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