[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 99 (Wednesday, June 7, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2771]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BITNER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Indiana (Mrs. Spartz) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. SPARTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor our heroes who risk 
their lives for our freedoms and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
  I share with you and the American people a memorial service note that 
my friend Lieutenant Colonel in Special Operations David Strysko wrote 
for his fallen brother, Master Sergeant Benjamin Franklin Bitner, who 
was killed in action in Afghanistan in April of 2011:

       What does it mean to honor the fallen? In a word: Rise.
       Rise to the occasion:
       It is easy for us to conflate remembrance with honor, 
     because we all want to honor the ultimate sacrifices made by 
     our brothers, and the easiest way to do that is by 
     remembering them. Undoubtedly, the greatest travesty of a 
     free nation is when it forgets the sacrifices that keep them 
     free. But remembering is only the passive aspect of honor. It 
     is only when our suitable actions accompany our remembrances 
     that we truly honor their sacrifice.
       But what actions truly honor? Laying wreaths, rendering 
     salutes, and pausing for moments of silence are all 
     commendable, but they fall short of true honor when 
     compared to the immense gravity of the ultimate sacrifice 
     they recognize.
       The actions that speak true honor are those that pick up 
     where the sacrifice of our fallen brothers left off. And it 
     is often a rare and fleeting occasion that we get an 
     opportunity to honor our fallen through our own deliberate 
     actions.
       It is to these occasions that we rise to honor.
       When faced with difficult decisions, withering opposition, 
     physical and psychological peril, certain defeat, reprisal, 
     hopelessness, chaos, and terror, we rise to honor the fallen.
       When the occasion calls for sacrifice, we rise to honor the 
     fallen.
       Sacrifice can only be truly honored by sacrifice. Courage 
     can only be truly honored by courage.
       When it is our turn to honor those who have mortally proven 
     their resolve, we must rise with courage to sacrifice.
       It is in these moments, where courage and resolve are 
     tested, that we can with conviction rise to honor the fallen.
       And in doing so, we will stand as living testaments to 
     those sacred words: `` . . . that these dead shall not have 
     died in vain.''
       Today, we remember Benjamin Franklin Bitner, but only our 
     actions will honor him.

  May God bless our heroes and our great Republic.

                          ____________________