[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12086-12087]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 ESTABLISHMENT OF MID-COLUMBIA VETERANS MEMORIAL IN THE DALLES, OREGON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GREG WALDEN

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 27, 2002

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with my 
colleagues the pride I feel as an American and as a native of The 
Dalles, Oregon in the establishment of the Mid-Columbia Veterans 
Memorial, which I will join the community leaders of The Dalles in 
dedicating on the 4th of July. On this hallowed day, as we observe the 
founding of the greatest nation in the history of mankind, it is 
fitting that we honor the patriots who have fought and died to keep it 
so.
  This memorial was conceived by the citizens of The Dalles to pay 
tribute to the sons and daughters of Oregon's Mid-Columbia region who 
served our nation in times of war. Building on an existing memorial to 
local veterans of the Vietnam War, leaders of this community launched 
an effort to create a lasting monument to every veteran of the Mid-
Columbia who has served the United States in uniform. Built from funds 
gathered from the State of Oregon, the federal government, local 
businesses and private citizens, the memorial we will unveil arose from 
the hearts of the men and women of the Mid-Columbia who remain forever 
grateful for the sacrifices that purchased the freedom they so deeply 
cherish. I am proud to have assisted in securing federal funds for this 
worthy project, just as I am proud to have hailed from a community 
whose ground has been so fertile in producing patriotic citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, no memorial to our nation's veterans seeks to glorify 
armed conflict or celebrate the tragedy that war represents. Rather, 
they are erected to pay homage to the virtue that is found among men 
and women for whom the triumph of despotism and tyranny is more 
terrifying even than their own deaths.
  Mr. Speaker, the philosopher John Stuart Mill once wrote, ``War is an 
ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded 
state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth 
war is much

[[Page 12087]]

worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing 
he cares about more than his personal safety, is a miserable creature 
who has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the 
exertions of better men than himself.''
  It is only by God's grace that our nation has been blessed with such 
men and women, whose exertions have safeguarded the freedom not only of 
this nation, but of much of the rest of the free world. Men like 
Charles R. Rubart of The Dalles, who was killed in action in 1899 while 
serving in the Philippines, far from the beauty of his native land. Men 
like Loren Kaufman, a son of The Dalles who received the Congressional 
Medal of Honor for gallantry in action during the Korean War. Men like 
Stan Adams, another Korean War veteran who also received our nation's 
highest award for leading the men under his command on a bayonet charge 
against an enemy force 10 times the size of his own unit. These are 
Oregonians whose exertions have earned them an eternal place in the 
pantheon of America's greatest heroes.
  Mr. Speaker, in the years ahead, as generations not yet born pass by 
this site, they will see a memorial as sturdy and as enduring as the 
valor of the heroes it was erected to honor. And as they do so, they 
will be reminded of the sacrifices of the men and women whose glory is 
enshrined in this elegant and powerful memorial. To the community of 
The Dalles, Oregon, I offer my most sincere gratitude for the 
contribution they have made in recognizing the service of the veterans 
of the Mid-Columbia.

                          ____________________