[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14322]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                     HONORING THREE GEORGIAN HEROES

 Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I am deeply honored to rise today 
to recognize Douglas Scales, Floyd Eugene Collins, Jr., and Richard 
Floyd Burnham, Jr., three young men from my home town of Lithonia, 
Georgia who fought in Vietnam, but tragically, did not come home. On 
July 5, 1999, the city of Lithonia will dedicate the Lithonia Vietnam 
Veterans Memorial to honor the sacrifices of these heroic young men. It 
is said, ``Poor is the nation which has no heroes. Poorer still is the 
nation which has them, but forgets,'' We will dedicate this memorial to 
remember, and to show our heart-felt appreciation to these young men 
for fighting for our country, and to say thank you to their families 
for their own sacrifices in the name of our freedom.
  As I mentioned, this memorial will be dedicated on July 5, one day 
after we will celebrate July 4, our Independence Day. On July 4, 1776, 
the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 
Philadelphia. In that powerful and historic document, the thirteen 
colonies declared themselves a self-governing body, and rightly stated 
that King George VIII had ``plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, 
burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.''
  It strikes me that those words could have applied to many situations 
and many cruel and despotic rulers since 1776. I think of Hitler's 
Germany, I think of Vietnam, I think even of Bosnia and Kosovo. But 
because of the principals of our founding fathers and because of many 
great American presidents who have followed, the United States has been 
in a unique but sobering position to defend not only its own freedom, 
but the very concept of freedom across the globe. That was the case in 
1967 when Specialist Collins was in Bien Hoe. That was the case in 1968 
when Private First Class Scales was in Tay Ninh. That was the case in 
1968 when Specialist Burnham was in Quan Nam. It is still the case 
today.
  Three Georgians signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. On 
July 5, we will unveil and honor the names of three Georgians. Winston 
Churchill described his concept of duty in this way, ``What is the use 
of living if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this 
muddled world a better place for those who will have it after we are 
gone.'' Doug Scales, Floyd Eugene Collins, Jr. and Richard Floyd 
Burnham, Jr. strove for noble causes and made this world a better place 
for us. My colleague and fellow Vietnam Veteran Senator John Kerrey 
described what he remembered most about his experience. ``The shared 
struggle to do more than survive,'' he said. ``And most of all to 
bestow honor on our service and to our friends who were lost.'' In this 
small way, we in Lithonia hope to bestow honor on our friends, our 
brothers, our sons and husbands who were lost. Not, we say, in 
vain.

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