[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7817]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Mr. BURNS. Madam President, as we stand here today, the conflict goes 
on in Iraq. I was just talking to a friend. He asked me when are we 
going to make a move and how is it going?
  We have only been there a week and a half, but one would think from 
the television coverage that we are in the middle of the Hundred Years 
War.
  There will be many stories that come out of conflicts such as this. I 
want to relate one.
  SSG Charles Donovan, Jr., is a 27-year-old 8-year Marine Corps 
veteran, born and raised in Great Falls, MT. On the 17th of February he 
was deployed to Kuwait for military service with the First Marine 
Division. He is a communications expert and a towgunner. A towgunner is 
the one who fires ammunition from the tank.
  He has been married to his wife Candice for almost 8 years. They met 
at Camp Pendleton, CA. They served in the Marine Corps together for 4 
years. Since his deployment, Donovan has been able to contact his 
family frequently and recently received the news from his wife that 
they are expecting their first child. He was able to reply to his wife 
by e-mail.
  It is needless to say anything more about the news and the elation 
that is experienced by this couple. No. 1, he was all right and getting 
along fine; and, second, the experience of learning of the good news of 
an expected first child is always great.
  So my congratulations go out to Charles and Candice. And I have every 
faith that he will complete his mission and come home.
  There are thousands of similar stories stemming from this mission, so 
ably carried out by our men and women in uniform. It is uniquely 
American and typical of our warriors of freedom. It distinguishes and 
sets the American military apart from any other nation in the history 
of man's constant struggle for freedom and human dignity.
  We see the pictures every day, not of the ugliness of war but of the 
men and women who carry out the humanitarian acts as war is carried on. 
We will succeed in our mission. And we look forward to the day when 
they all come home.
  Also, I take great pride to stand here today on the Senate floor to 
recognize and say thank you to the men and women from Montana and all 
who serve across this land.
  We have support organizations popping up in just about every State, 
organizations formed to give comfort to families and provide various 
programs such as the one I just mentioned. It is happening everywhere, 
and there are far too many to mention today.
  I commend the efforts of one program especially because I met with 
this group in Livingston, MT. They call themselves MOST--the Military 
Overseas Support Team--made up of people who have family members 
serving in that area, and they act as a support system for each person.
  Then there is another one called Operation Clean Socks. It has been 
set up to collect and send socks to our military men and women in the 
Middle East. That sounds strange, but to those of us who have worn the 
uniform of this great country, socks become a big item, especially to 
us old marines who traveled on our feet.
  Folks all over this country are rallying their communities to get 
support for our troops. I am pleased to see so many of them supportive 
in Montana.
  Here in Washington we see the images on television. We are thinking 
about the troops every day. We know how hard it is fighting for the 
freedoms of those who are oppressed, and we thank you. We thank you for 
what you are doing and want you to know that our thoughts and prayers 
are not only with you but also with your families.
  You are the best and the greatest ambassadors of the American dream. 
You will succeed in the efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein and free the 
Iraqi people. I am confident in our military. I know this effort will 
be accomplished as soon as possible so they all can come home to the 
welcoming arms of their families, so that every Charles Donovan, Jr., 
can see his first child enter the world with the same freedoms with 
which he was born. We think about them every day.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GREGG. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Alexander). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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