[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 82 (Friday, May 18, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





IN RECOGNITION OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL H.R. McMASTER UPON HIS RETIREMENT 
     FROM THE U.S. ARMY FOLLOWING 34 YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED SERVICE

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                          HON. MIKE GALLAGHER

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 18, 2018

  Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a soldier who, for 
the past 34 years, has been an exceptional and faithful servant to the 
nation. With the retirement today of Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, 
the U.S. Army is losing a towering figure, who more than anyone, 
embodies what he has described as the ``warrior ethos.'' As someone who 
had the good fortune to work with H.R., I can say that serving under 
his command was one of the great privileges of my life.
   General McMaster has described the warrior ethos as ``a covenant 
between the members of our profession comprised of values such as 
honor, duty, courage, loyalty, and self-sacrifice.'' H.R. has lived by 
this covenant, earning a well-deserved reputation as one of the Army's 
pre-eminent soldier-scholars and the honor of serving as the 
President's primary advisor on national security issues.
   Over his more than three decades of distinguished service, General 
McMaster stands out for his success in both conventional and irregular 
conflict. During the Gulf War, his textbook assault at 73 Easting 
stands as a high-water mark of American conventional superiority. More 
than a decade later, his early adoption of a population-centric 
approach to warfare turned the tide in Tal Afar and helped usher in a 
sea change in the American approach to combating the insurgency in 
Iraq.
   General McMaster has also stood out for his steadfast commitment to 
puncturing what he has called the ``vampire fallacy'' of easy war. This 
sensibility is captured by the historian T.R. Fehrenbach, who wrote in 
This Kind of War, ``you may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, 
atomize it, pulverize it and wipe it clean of life--but if you desire 
to defend it, protect it, and keep it for civilization, you must do 
this on the ground, the way the Roman legions did, by putting your 
young men into the mud.''
   As H.R. has described, ``Our military is a living historical 
community and those of us serving today are determined to preserve the 
legacy of courageous, selfless service that we have inherited from the 
veterans who have gone before us.'' There is no one whose legacy of 
courageous and selfless service is more worthy of preservation than 
General McMaster.
   Mr. Speaker, I urge all members of this body to join me in saluting 
Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster for his service on behalf of a 
grateful nation. I thank H.R. for showing us all what it means to live 
by the warrior ethos.

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