[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9985-9986]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               REMEMBERING THE 57TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, this is June 6. Fifty-seven years ago 
today, June 6, 1944, a day that we now refer to as D-Day, was the day 
that the American and Allied Forces invaded Normandy, France and began 
the arduous task of winning Europe back against the Nazi tyranny. And 
they did this, and they did it well. World War II in Europe came to a 
close, beginning with the Normandy invasion on June 6.
  I wonder how many people across our country remember today? There are 
those that were there, those that parachuted in, those that landed at 
the beach and fought their way through France and Belgium into Germany. 
But many hardly know the word ``Normandy'' or what it stands for.
  Mr. Speaker, we think of our veterans and those that were lost in the 
conflicts of yesteryear on Memorial Day; we honor the veterans on 
November 11, Veterans' Day; but, in between, we do not seem to remember 
them. There seems to be a gap between civilian America and military 
America, whether they be veterans or whether they be the active duty 
and National Guard and reservists who wear the uniform at the present 
time.
  I hope that we can pause for a moment and pay tribute to the valor of 
those who stormed the Normandy beaches, who parachuted into France that 
day and began to end the tyranny of Hitler's reign. And I hope that in 
the days ahead we can pay tribute to those, not just the veterans of 
yesteryear, but those who are serving in the Armed Forces, Guard and 
Reserve today, for

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without them we would not have nor be able to celebrate the freedoms 
that we enjoy.

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