[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3428]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



SCANT ATTENTION PAID TO THE GREAT BRAVERY OF THOSE WHO SERVE IN UNIFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, one of the great privileges and pleasures we 
have as Members of Congress is to appoint our fine young people to our 
service academies, be it Air Force, West Point, Annapolis, Merchant 
Marine, or Coast Guard. It always impresses me when I hear from some of 
them who have either told me about their experiences or, in fact, have 
written on issues that may concern them relative to our country.
  I had a great opportunity last week to receive over my fax, 
obviously, a letter from a proud father, George Liedel, who is a doctor 
in Sebring, Florida, at Highlands Regional Medical Center. He sent this 
from Jennifer, Jennifer Liedel, his daughter who is at West Point. I 
nominated her in 1997. She sent this Friday, February 23, from her 
computer to her mom and dad. The subject: ``I think this puts things in 
perspective as to where our priorities really are as a nation.''
  On 18 February 2001, while racing for fame and fortune, Dale 
Earnhardt died in the last lap of the Daytona 500. It was surely a 
tragedy for his family, friends and fans. He was 49 years old with 
grown children, one who was in the race with him. I am new to the 
NASCAR culture, so much of what I know has come from the newspaper and 
TV. He was a winner and earned everything he had. This included more 
than ``$41 million in winnings and 10 times that from endorsements and 
souvenir sales.'' He had a beautiful home and a private jet. He drove 
the most sophisticated cars allowed, and every part was inspected and 
replaced as soon as there was any evidence of wear. This is normally 
fully funded by the car and team sponsors. Today, there is no TV 
station that does not constantly remind us of his tragic end, and the 
radio already has a song of tribute to this winning driver. Nothing 
should be taken away from this man. He was a professional and the best 
in his profession. He was in a very dangerous business, but the rewards 
were great.

       Two weeks ago, seven U.S. Army soldiers died in a training 
     accident when two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters collided 
     during night maneuvers in Hawaii. The soldiers were all in 
     their twenties, pilots, crew chiefs and infantrymen. Most of 
     them lived in substandard housing. If you add their actual 
     duty hours, in the field, deployed, they probably earn 
     something close to minimum wage. The aircraft they were in 
     was between 15 and 20 years old. Many times parts were not 
     available to keep them in good shape due to funding. They 
     were involved in the extremely dangerous business of flying 
     in the Kuhuku Mountains at night. It only gets worse when the 
     weather moves in as it did that night. Most times no one is 
     there with the yellow or red flag to slow thing down when it 
     gets critical. Their children are mostly toddlers who will 
     lose all memory of who `Daddy' was as they grow up. They died 
     training to defend our freedom.
       I take nothing away from Dale Earnhardt but ask you to 
     perform this simple test. Ask any of your friends if they 
     know who was the NASCAR driver killed 18 February 2001. Then 
     ask them if they can name one of the seven soldiers who died 
     in Hawaii 2 weeks ago.
       18 February 2001, Dale Earnhardt died driving for fame and 
     glory at the Daytona 500. The Nation mourns. Seven soldiers 
     died training to protect our freedom. No one can remember 
     their names, and most do not even remember the incident.
       For the record, the six identified casualties were Major 
     Robert L. Olson of Minnesota; Chief Warrant Officer George P. 
     Perry and Chief Warrant Officer Gregory I. Montgomery, both 
     of California; Sergeant Thomas E. Barber of Champlin, 
     Minnesota; Specialist Bob D. MacDonald of Alta Loma, 
     California; and Specialist Rafael Olvera-Rodriguez of El 
     Paso, Texas.

  She hits pretty much the nail on the head, as they say. We are 
completely smitten by personalities and successful stars, rock stars, 
TV actors, and others; and we give scant appreciation to those who 
serve in the military.
  Those men who just were mentioned, who died training for this 
country, deserve more than my speech on the floor or her memo. I hope 
it brings us to call to mind that the great bravery exhibited by our 
men and women in uniform, those on the police departments, our 
schoolteachers, our firefighters, you name the profession who works for 
the public, deserve more than thinking their life's work does not 
deserve headlines or certainly does not deserve the appreciation of our 
country.
  I salute Jennifer for bringing this memo to my attention. I salute 
her for her service to West Point, and I praise our country for those 
young people who choose to serve our country in uniform.

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