[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 92 (Tuesday, May 28, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E565-E567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL ON THE 
                             NATIONAL MALL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 28, 2024

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following speech 
I gave commemorating the 20th anniversary of The World War II Memorial 
on the National Mall.


                          MASTER OF CEREMONIES

       It is a great privilege to introduce our next speaker whose 
     persistence ensured this memorial took its place on the 
     National Mall 20 years ago. Her commitment to this Memorial 
     and the Greatest Generation is unparalleled. The longest 
     serving woman in Congressional history, Congresswoman Marcy 
     Kaptur. In 2014, Ambassador Williams called Congresswoman 
     Kaptur, the mother of the World War II Memorial for her 
     critical role in moving legislation through Congress and her 
     devotion to World War II veterans.
       Congresswoman Kaptur continues to support the Memorial, 
     recently leading efforts for the United States Mint's 2024 
     Greatest Generation Commemorative Coin program to help fund 
     Memorial's, maintenance and educational programs. It is my 
     great honor to introduce the mother of the World War II 
     Memorial: Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur.


                       CONGRESSWOMAN MARCY KAPTUR

       Good Morning. As I was listening to the beautiful music, I 
     was reminded of one of my constituents whose name was John 
     Szymanski, used to look out over a crowd like this and say, 
     ``You look just beautiful.'' And you do.
       Dear Americans and guests, respectfully, on this Memorial 
     Day of 2024, we gather here in our nation's Capital at our 
     National World War II Memorial centered along America's Mall 
     of Democracy. Today, 235 years after the founding of our 
     young Republic, we honor the memory of all Americans who are 
     war dead, including unknown soldiers who rendered their dear 
     lives in military service to Liberty. Our Republic's sacred 
     historical journey of Liberty, Justice, and Equality for all 
     rests on their strong shoulders of over 1,100,000 of our 
     forebears in arms. They were our loved ones, our 
     grandparents, our parents, our uncles, aunts, neighbors, 
     friends. They lodged deeply in our minds and our hearts 
     forever.
       Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Space Force, Marines, Guard and 
     Reserves, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines. We must honor their 
     memory and meaning as we are today. Thank you all for coming. 
     We recognize those who fought in the Revolutionary War, the 
     War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the 
     Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean 
     Conflict, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Iraq and 
     Afghanistan Wars, and here today, America remembers Pearl 
     Harbor, the May 8th Victory Europe, the September 2nd Victory 
     Pacific, Guadalcanal, Midway, Anzio, D-Day, Omaha Beach, 
     Saipan, Battle of the Bulge, and Iwo Jima, to name a few.
       Today, America bows to these heroes and heroines. They did 
     not seek a Memorial Day. Originally known as Decoration Day, 
     following the Civil War. It was widely observed starting on 
     May 30th, 1868. In 1968, Memorial Day was authorized by 
     Congress to designate the last Monday in May as the day of 
     tribute and remembrance of those who died while serving in 
     our armed forces.
       Today at this place, we recall a more recent chapter of 
     America's solemn history. The World War II Memorial was built 
     to honor the human sacrifice that defines the 20th century's 
     profound achievement: the victory of Liberty over tyranny. 
     After Imperialist Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 
     1941, the United States declared war on Japan and its allies, 
     Germany and Italy. In the immortal words of the Great 
     American General, George Marshall, quote, ``Before the sun 
     sets, our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a 
     symbol of freedom and of overwhelming force.'' More than 
     400,000 service members died in service to Liberty halfway 
     around the world on three fronts, Europe, the Pacific, North 
     Africa. And over the past two decades, more than 80 million 
     visitors have traveled to pay homage at this Memorial to 
     them. The visitors make the journey to honor the 
     extraordinary valor and historic achievements by our 
     forebears who bequeath Liberty to us.
       This gathering place is designed as a vista for reflection, 
     between the Washington Monument to the East that honors our 
     nation's founding and General George Washington, our nation's 
     first President. To our west rests the Lincoln Memorial and 
     whose spectacular plaza honors President Abraham Lincoln. 
     During the 19th Century, his heroic life-giving leadership 
     preserved the American Union, following our nation's bitter 
     civil war, upwards of 700,000 soldiers and civilians died, 
     along with unknown numbers of civilians on our own territory. 
     The United States of America was victorious, but the price 
     paid in battle of brother against brother, state against 
     state made the Civil War the costliest war in lives lost of 
     any of America's wars. America will not go back.
       The sacrificial patriots honored here are the awful price 
     of taming the 20th century's vicious beasts of human 
     annihilation. President Eisenhower described the fighting as 
     ``savagery'' Our valorous heroes who survived the wars 
     against Nazism in Europe and North Africa, the Holocaust, and 
     Imperialism in the Pacific, then returned home. Recently, as 
     I witnessed the address of Japan's Prime Minister Fumio 
     Kishida, before the assembled Congress of the United States 
     this year, my memory recalled the 79 years of history 
     extraordinary that made that moment and what had been 
     required. America had built and rebuilt a war-torn world, and 
     though it was not until President Truman integrated the US 
     military post-World War in 1948 that America proclaimed, as 
     did Lincoln, that Liberty has no color. History records how 
     African American foot soldiers and Tuskegee airmen fought 
     hand in hand with enlistees not of color, but veterans all 
     returned home, built their families, and communities. They 
     intentionally created global institutions to promote dialogue 
     and understanding, as well as to defend our Free World. They 
     did not assume these tasks willingly, but of necessity. They 
     did not shirk

[[Page E566]]

     their responsibility to the future. They aspired to a higher 
     purpose to tame the demons of war.
       The World War II Memorial is not named for a person, but 
     for the 20th century's Greatest Generation. Here at this 
     Memorial, 4,006 gold stars on the Wall of Heroes represent 
     those 400,600 fallen Americans who offered their precious 
     lives to Liberty. Learning from the grit of World War II, 
     America's team who built this memorial never gave up. Former 
     Chairman, as has been mentioned of the Battle Monuments 
     Commission, Ambassador Haydn Williams never gave up. He would 
     write of these patriots, and I quote, ``If their silent stare 
     could speak, Archibald MacLeish would have them say, `we 
     leave you our deaths, give them meaning' '' Those that 
     survived did just that.
       They forged new alliances like NATO to defend our Free 
     World. And they shaped a world in which the United States 
     entered its longest period in history of relative peace 
     between great powers. That architecture is being tested this 
     very day.
       The World War II generation triumphed over adversity. It 
     vanquished the hateful cruelty exacted by the Axes of Nazi, 
     Imperialists, and ultimately hateful cruelty in 1989 and 
     1991, with Soviet dictators who savagely had killed and 
     starved millions upon millions upon millions more innocent 
     human beings than ever before on Earth.
       This coming June 6th, our nation will commemorate the 80th 
     anniversary of the D-Day landing of 1944, the turning point 
     in World War II. History notes, it was the largest military 
     and naval operation ever conducted by any armed force in the 
     history of the world. 400,000 US combat troops were led by 
     brilliant US Army General Omar Bradley. US troops and 2,000 
     paratroopers joined with Britain, and Canadian allies in a 
     total force numbering 1,200,000, in Operation Overlord, in a 
     surprise attack that that enormous force traversed the 
     English Channel beginning on D-Day on June 6th, 1944. Their 
     mission was to defeat the deadly forces of Nazi tyranny that 
     had invaded France and other European nations that adjoined. 
     What transpired was the most harrowing, costliest battle in 
     world history. Enemy planes bombed our valiant seaborne 
     troops as Nazi platoons hidden in bunker nests arrayed across 
     the high bluffs above the French coast, shot down as Allied 
     troops in column after column after column scaled up the 
     treacherous cliffs. The English Channel turned red with the 
     precious blood of our fallen.
       Our own Uncle, Stanley Rogowski, from Toledo, Ohio, was one 
     of them. Forced to crawl over layers of corpses of his dead 
     comrades as he and his army engineer buddies hauled heavy 
     steel track up the embankment under heavy fire. Their valor 
     allowed tons and tons of equipment to be hauled on that 
     track. Tanks and ammunition. And ultimately the Allies kept 
     persevering forward. Over the next two months would come the 
     terrible battle of Saint Lo. There, America's soldiers under 
     command of Army General George Patton would break the back of 
     Nazi invaders as fierce fighting in the treacherous 
     French hedgerows resulted in terrible losses. The Allies, 
     U.S., British, and Canadian would slowly gain ground month 
     after agonizing month of fighting. They continued to aim 
     at the heart of the strategic edge of Nazi resistance in 
     Germany itself.
       Still fighting a year later, on March 7th, 1945, it would 
     be an exceptional soldier from Holland, Ohio, Sergeant 
     Alexander Drabik, who would lead the consequential spearhead 
     charge for American forces with the 27th Armed Infantry 
     Brigade of the 9th Armored Division. Under intense enemy 
     fire, they dashed eastward across the Ludendorff Bridge over 
     the Rhine River near Remagen and toward the heart of Nazi 
     Germany. Polish conscripts had cut the fuses that the Nazis 
     had planted to blow up the bridge. It was the last bridge 
     that the Nazis had not blown up to prevent Allies from 
     crossing into the heart of German territory. Sergeant 
     Drabik's bravery allowed troops to cross over within an hour. 
     The first Allied Brigade across the Rhine River, led by 
     Sergeant Drabik under the command of General John Leonard, 
     also of Toledo, Ohio, would go on to be awarded the 
     Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary heroism, 
     and that moment has been deemed the turning point for World 
     War II on the continent of Europe.
       They not only won the war but having faced the abyss of 
     human annihilation. They went on to build the institutions 
     for the architecture of a Free World.
       In 1987, almost a half century after Allied victory in 
     World War II, it was a U.S. Army veteran who had served at 
     Saint Lo, France in Tank Command, who first approached his 
     Congresswoman. His name was Roger Durbin of Berkey, Ohio, 
     located in Lucas County's 9th Congressional District, and 
     inquired of her in an open forum like this, why was there no 
     World War II in Washington, DC, to which he could bring his 
     grandchildren? That question inspired our 17 year-long shared 
     quest to build this Memorial. May I recognize one of Roger 
     Durbin's grandchildren joining us here today, Melissa Durbin 
     Tsuji and her husband, Dr. Jun Tsuji from Berkey, Ohio. Thank 
     you for coming.
       With 24 public hearings heard over 17 years, legislation to 
     build this Memorial was first introduced in the U.S. House in 
     1987 until the memorial was officially dedicated in 2004. The 
     efforts span the terms of three Presidents and eight 
     Congresses. As one sage name, Congressman Barney Frank of 
     Massachusetts quipped, ``it took longer to construct the 
     Memorial than to conduct the war.''
       The extraordinary and generous effort to raise private 
     funds to help construct this memorial was led by Frederick W. 
     Smith, CEO of Federal Express. We were all blessed by the 
     fervent support of then retired U.S. Senator and wounded 
     World War II hero, Senator Robert Dole. He dedicated his last 
     years to greeting veterans here almost every day on site and 
     doing everything within his power to help the Memorial reach 
     its full potential. It was heart rending to watch him greet 
     his comrades here. One by one for many, and indeed for him, 
     it would be their last call. Additionally, Senator John Glenn 
     of Ohio, Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, 
     Congressman William Clay of Missouri, Congressman Sonny 
     Montgomery of Mississippi, Congressman Jack Davis of Illinois 
     were essential, and I extend my gratitude, and the gratitude 
     of a nation for their patriotism and bipartisan support to 
     accomplish something great for America.
       And let me shout out a huge thank you to Holly Rotondi, the 
     persevering Executive Director of the Friends of the National 
     World War II Memorial. Where is Holly? There she is. Yay 
     Holly! Your entire Friends Board, led by Jane Droppa, worked 
     tirelessly to support this Memorial and to advance its 
     historical interpretation, and it has touched the hearts and 
     lives of tens of millions of our fellow citizens. You have 
     spread the wings of Liberty for countless people to witness, 
     and your unique, and ever-growing educational program is 
     bringing more interpretation, and historical remembrance to 
     our nation, and world, including the lesson of patriotic 
     self-giving that encapsulates the World War II Generation.
       While our efforts when our efforts began, we could not have 
     imagined the citizen driven initiative that has selflessly 
     helped over 200,000 veterans visit this Memorial, the Honor 
     Flight Program. Honor Flight was co-founded by Ohioan Earl 
     Morse, a physician assistant and retired Air Force Captain, 
     and Jeff Miller, a small business owner and son of a World 
     War II veteran. Morse worked in a Department of Veterans 
     Affairs clinic in Springfield, Ohio, and there he saw many 
     patients who were World War II veterans. After the National 
     World War II Memorial in Washington was completed in 2004, he 
     asked many of his veteran patients if they were going to see 
     it and most said, oh yes. Morse said, ``I would see my World 
     War II veterans, maybe three, six months later, and I'd ask 
     them if they'd gone to see it. 300 of them I'd seen, and not 
     a one had come to see the Memorial. Reality set in. They were 
     never going ``So, Mr. Morse then offered to personally fly 
     the first two veterans to Washington to see the Memorial, 
     after seeing them break down and cry upon visiting, he 
     pitched his idea to a club of 300 private pilots at a local 
     Air Force base, proposing that the pilots would pay for the 
     flights for the veterans to Washington and personally escort 
     them around the city. 11 volunteered, and history was made as 
     that network was formed.
       Fast forward 20 years, I'm proud to say that the Honor 
     Flight program is a resounding success. It is now allowed 
     veterans of any war to witness at no cost the national 
     memorials marking their historic deeds. And I recently 
     welcomed back an Honor Flight from our region of the Midwest, 
     led by a 102-year-old wheelchair bound World War II veteran 
     nurse named Gerri DeMeo. I was overjoyed to hear her response 
     as they took her wheelchair off the plane and moved her into 
     the room and the crowds were cheering and I had the 
     opportunity to ask her, ``Gerri, what did you think of the 
     Memorial?'' ``Absolutely beautiful Beautiful.'' And she just 
     beamed. She just beamed.
       Most recently it has been the highest honor and privilege 
     to introduce and gain passage of our new bipartisan 
     legislation, H.R. 1057, the National World War II Memorial 
     Commemorative Coin Act.
       This legislation has authorized the minting of three new 
     coins at the U.S. Treasury in commemoration of today, the 
     20th Anniversary of the National World War II Memorial here 
     in Washington. These coins will serve as an important token 
     of the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the brave 
     Americans who fought for the triumph of Liberty.
       The three distinct coins are now on sale through the U.S. 
     Mint for the duration of this year. The net proceeds 
     generated from the sale of these coins will ensure the 
     Memorial is properly maintained for years to come. My hope is 
     that improvements will include expanded educational and 
     historical materials in collaboration with the American 
     battle monuments Commission and the World War II Veterans 
     History Project at the Library of Congress many years ago, 
     championed by Congressman Ron Kind of Wisconsin, now retired. 
     Additionally, with the advance of the Internet, I'm 
     challenging each of you to share the information about the 
     coins and think about friends you know, let them know the 
     coins are on sale. With what we have now, with new social 
     media apps, teaching opportunities, and commemorative 
     programing for the millions of people who visit each year and 
     others throughout our country who cannot come can really be 
     advanced through the new electronic capabilities and embrace 
     people across the country.
       Let me just say, while the Greatest Generation saved the 
     world from Nazi and Imperial domination and achieved the 
     collapse of Soviet tyranny, beginning with Poland in 1989, 
     and then all of Central Europe in 1991,

[[Page E567]]

     specters of the 20th century remain. Historian and author of 
     Bloodlands Timothy Snyder urges us, ``It is now up to us to 
     preserve everything that the Greatest Generation fought and 
     died for.''
       In my own judgment, eternal vigilance demands attention to 
     strengthen our NATO alliance and allowing Ukraine to accede 
     to the constellation of free nations of Europe. Meeting 
     global strategic imperatives requires requisite weapons 
     systems, naval, satellite, and air supremacy being tested 
     every day by those who would do us harm. Liberty requires 
     accelerating our nation's quest for energy independence in 
     perpetuity. Ladies and gentlemen, let us remember the words 
     of Franklin D Roosevelt, who spoke on February 12th, 1943. 
     ``We have faith that future generations will know here, in 
     the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when 
     men of good will found a way to unite, and produce, and fight 
     to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and 
     slavery, and war.''
       May God bless those we honor here and their families. May 
     blessings flow to those serving in posts at home and 
     overseas. May everyone gathered here today draw strength from 
     the words and works of the heroes and heroines of the 
     Greatest Generation. And may God bless the United States of 
     America. Thank you.


                          MASTER OF CEREMONIES

       The Friends of the National World War II Memorial annually 
     presents the Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Unity Award 
     to individuals or groups that exemplify the spirit of unity 
     and shared values prevalent during World War II. Named after 
     Brigadier General Charles Magee, an original Tuskegee Airman, 
     this award honors those who actively work for community 
     betterment and embody the moral integrity of General McGee 
     and the Greatest Generation. We're proud to present the 
     fourth annual Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Unity Award 
     to Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. Representing Ohio's 9th 
     District since 1983, Congresswoman Kaptur has dedicated her 
     career to promoting unity and cooperation, focusing on 
     economic development, veterans affairs, and environmental 
     conservation.
       In 1987, Congresswoman Kaptur recognized the need for a 
     national tribute to World War II veterans and introduced 
     legislation to create a Memorial. Her persistent advocacy led 
     to the passage of the World War II Memorial Act in 1993. 
     Dedicated in 2004, the Memorial has since welcomed 100 
     million visitors. Congresswoman Kaptur continues to teach the 
     lessons of the war, and promote values of unity, and 
     cooperation. Her legislative and community efforts foster 
     bipartisan cooperation, emphasizing common ground and 
     governance. Here to present Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur with 
     the Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Unity Award is Yvonne 
     McGee, daughter of the late General McGee.


                              YVONNE MCGEE

       I just want to say it's an honor to be here to represent my 
     father, and he would be here to represent, as this award is 
     all the men and women of that generation. He used to love to 
     talk with young people. He always gave him his 4 P's, I think 
     you exemplify all of those, which is perceive, prepare, 
     perform, and persevere, which I know you had to do to get 
     this to happen. So, it's our honor, and thank you to Holly 
     and everyone from the World War II Memorial. Thank you.


                          MASTER OF CEREMONIES

       Congratulations Congresswoman Kaptur.

                          ____________________