[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 90 (Thursday, May 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3904-S3905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              MEMORIAL DAY

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, on the last Monday in May, our Nation sets 
aside the day to remember, honor, and pay respects to those who have 
made the ultimate sacrifice in our Nation's military. Flags are flown 
at cemeteries, and families visit the graves and war memorials. They 
are sharing and reliving memories of the ones we have lost.
  This Memorial Day will be different for the family of U.S. Army SGT 
John O. Herrick. Nearly 80 years ago, Sergeant Herrick was killed off 
the coast of Normandy, and his body was never identified. The ending to 
his story was left unwritten until earlier this year, when his family 
received word that their soldier would soon be coming home 80 years 
later.
  During World War II, Sergeant Herrick was assigned to Company B of 
the 149th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European theatre. He was on 
board Landing Craft Infantry 92, alongside 200 other servicemembers on 
the way to Omaha Beach, when the craft was hit by an underwater mine. 
Everyone on board was killed.
  At the tender age of 19, on June 6, 1944, during the D-day landings, 
Sergeant Herrick paid the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation's freedom.
  Sergeant Herrick--a young boy from a small town, Allen, with a 
population of about 100--is memorialized on the Normandy American 
Cemetery's Walls of the Missing. When I was there, I saw his name.
  There are many heroes like Sergeant Herrick whose names are only 
remembered in the hearts of their descendants and etched in stone at 
places like the Vietnam Memorial wall and the white crosses at 
Arlington Cemetery.
  Remembering and honoring the sacrifice of these heroes is not only 
the right thing to do, it is really important for our Nation. 
Hopefully, it pulls us together, not pulls us apart. We must never 
forget the great cost paid by our servicemembers and their loved ones 
as they fought fascism in Europe, tyranny in the Pacific, or terrorism 
in the Middle East. Their sacrifice has protected our freedoms and our 
Union.
  One way the stories of these fallen servicemembers is being preserved 
is through the Veterans Legacy Program, which works to uncover the 
stories of fallen servicemembers and make them available to the public. 
The Veterans Legacy Program provides grants to educational institutions 
and community organizations to conduct historical research on veterans 
buried in national cemeteries and to share those veterans' stories 
through an educational program.
  To help further the mission of the Veterans Legacy Program, I 
introduced, with Senator Mazie Hirono, my colleague from Hawaii, a bill 
entitled

[[Page S3905]]

Honoring Veterans' Legacies and Burial Benefits Enhancements Act. This 
legislation would establish a nonprofit that would be able to accept 
private donations that would be used to fund the Veterans Legacy 
Program, operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Furthering the 
mission of the VLP will help to create and preserve a collection of the 
stories of our Nation's heroes.
  How we memorialize and how we honor our veterans when they have 
passed sends a message to their families and to our current and future 
servicemembers that we value the past, the present, and the future 
sacrifices made by those in military service. Doing so not only honors 
our fallen servicemembers but encourages another generation of 
Americans to model their lives after Sergeant Herrick and others who 
gave their lives in devotion to country.
  When Sergeant Herrick is laid to rest later this year on Veterans 
Day, in Emporia, KS, where Veterans Day was first celebrated, hopefully 
his life and his story lives on in our hearts and is remembered, 
retold, and revered on this and every Memorial Day to come.
  Mr. President, I will say what I said to my dad when I called him 
from the World War II Memorial shortly before it was dedicated. I 
called home to Plainville, KS, to say to my dad:

       I am at the World War II Memorial. Dad, I want you to know 
     this memorial--built in your honor--causes me to tell you: 
     Dad, I respect you. I appreciate your service. And, Dad, I 
     love you.

  This Memorial Day, I no longer can say that to my dad.
  Incidentally, on my way back to the Capitol from that visit, my phone 
rang. It was my dad.
  He said:

       Gerald, you left me a message. Could you repeat it? I 
     didn't understand it.

  I can't repeat it to my dad any longer--he is no longer living--but 
we can use this Memorial Day and every other day to say just exactly 
what I said to my dad then, a World War II veteran:
  Dad, and to every servicemember and to every veteran, we respect you, 
we appreciate your service, and we love you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Fetterman).
  The Senator from New Jersey.

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