[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14198-14199]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, today I rise to pay tribute to those 
members of the Armed Forces who have served and continue to serve in 
Operation Iraqi Freedom. Countless women and men have answered the call 
of our country to preserve and protect our freedom against those 
individuals and regimes that would seek to compromise or destroy our 
way of life. Reservists have left civilian lives behind, parting with 
wives, husbands, parents, children, and friends in order to fulfill 
their commitment to our country's defense. Active Duty military members 
have gone from merely conducting exercises mimicking war, to leaving 
their homes and

[[Page 14199]]

families to engage in the real thing, on foreign soil, thousands of 
emotional and physical miles from familiarity and comfort. These brave 
soldiers, airman, marines, and sailors do their jobs in a place where 
injury and death lie in wait at every turn. The next rise in the 
gritty, windblown landscape may hide 160 pounds of profound desperation 
peering from behind the barrel of a gun. The building around the corner 
needing to be secured might be rigged with enough explosives to make a 
small child's father or mother nothing but a memory. floating just 
beneath the roiling surface of the water, there might be a mine, with 
deadly patience waiting for the next ship to pass overhead so that it 
can accomplish its gruesome mission. These are some of the hazards our 
military members face in their jobs. Frankly, it makes our job in these 
marble halls seem significantly less perilous.
  I speak today to recognize in particular those faithful men and women 
from my State--Idaho. We have had approximately 450 reservists and 
active-duty members called to serve in the war. That may not seem like 
a large number compared to those from some other States, but 
proportionately it represents a significant percentage of Idahoans. We 
also have countless other soldiers who have family and friends who call 
Idaho home. This number does not include the over 160 who were 
activated to fill positions vacated at installations here by deployed 
personnel. We also have Idahoans continuing to serve in Operation 
Enduring Freedom, and in the fight against terrorism. I have spoken 
before of MAJ Gregory Stone and CPL Richard P. Carl, both soldiers from 
Idaho who lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I now ask for a 
moment of silent prayer and reflection from my fellow Senators as we 
consider what their dying, as well as over 150 other men and women who 
have met the same fate in this conflict, has accomplished for our 
personal freedom.
  Thankfully, many of those who were called to military service from 
Idaho have just recently returned safely home. Yet their experiences 
overseas will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
  Some may remember lines of tanks rolling ominously forward under a 
dusty sky, marred by waves of heat emanating from the desert floor. 
That memory may be infused with the pungent odor of layers of sweat and 
grime under desert camies, mingled with the acrid odor of burning 
gasoline and oil. Others may remember pulling the trigger on their 
weapon and seeing death for the first time in their young life. They 
may remember being close enough to smell it and feel it, or feel as if 
their own was but a whisper away. Still more may remember the sight of 
crowds, pushing against one another, some greeting the American 
soldiers with cheers of gratitude, some screaming epithets, some 
shamelessly begging for food and water to feed themselves or their 
starving families, and others simply greeting this modern army in grim, 
expressionless silence brought on by years of brutal repression and 
loss. The smell of desperate, poverty-stricken humanity, and the sounds 
of raw emotion cascading forth in an uninhibited tidal wave after a 
lifetime of unchecked tyranny, may remain forever embedded in the 
memories of many of those soldiers. Finally, and very tragically, some 
will never forget a life that slipped away while they clutched a 
friend's bleeding body to their chest in shared agony.
  I give account of these images to remind us of the grim reality of 
war, and the tremendous sacrifice that these noble women and men have 
made so that we can continue to live in glorious freedom. We tend to 
take for granted, at times, the price that is paid for this amazing 
gift. The cost comes not only in the loss of life, but the loss of 
innocence. The cost is borne by family members as well, and by those, 
whom never having set foot outside this country, bear the scars of a 
father, mother, husband, wife, son or daughter forever gone from this 
life.
  This body voted to support a decision to send these men and women 
into harm's way. Lest the proud soldiers from Idaho, and their 
persevering families, think that I came to that decision lightly, I 
stand now before you and recognize their tremendous bravery in the face 
of danger, their courage in the face of death, and their unequivocal 
commitment to preserving the ideals of liberty and democracy. I want to 
convey no doubt that their decision to become a member of the most 
well-trained, professional military in the world places them in my 
highest esteem. With gravity and sincerity, I thank them and I honor 
them. They have given me, my wife, and most importantly, my children, 
and yours as well, the priceless gift of freedom.

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