[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9696-9697]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING AMERICAN SOLDIERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Burgess). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, Daniel Webster said, ``God grants liberty 
only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend 
it.''
  What you see here is a banner that was displayed and then signed by 
thousands of my constituents 2 weeks ago at a ``support the troops'' 
rally in Rochester, Minnesota. Now, I know rallies like this have been 
conducted all over the United States, but this particular banner is on 
its way with me to Germany and will be displayed to the brave Americans 
who are in the hospitals at Ramstein Air Force Base, and then hopefully 
it will make it from there down to the gulf so that the soldiers who 
are serving there can see this banner and know that people in 
Southeastern Minnesota as well as people all over the United States 
support them.
  No nation has given more in the defense of liberty than we Americans. 
From Valley Forge to Gettysburg, from Normandy to this very day, we 
have demonstrated what President Kennedy meant when he said that, ``we 
will pay any price, we will bear any burden, we will meet any hardship, 
support any friend, oppose any foe, and shoulder any burden to keep the 
lamp of liberty burning brightly throughout the world.''
  We have all been heartened by the stories coming out of Iraq. Many of 
us have read of the rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch as recounted by Central 
Command briefer Major General Gene Renuart. According to General 
Renuart, a Special Ops soldier called to Private Lynch as he entered 
the room saying, Jessica Lynch, we are United States soldiers. We are 
here to protect you and take you home.
  As he walked over and took off his helmet, she looked up to him and 
said, I am an American soldier too.
  But not as many of us have heard the story of the recovery of the 
remains of the soldiers believed to have been soldiers killed there. 
And I quote, ``At the same time,'' Renuart recounted, ``the team was 
led to a burial site where, in fact, they did find a number of bodies 
that they believed could be Americans missing in action. They did not 
have shovels in order to dig up those graves so they dug them up with 
their hands. And they wanted to do it very rapidly so they could race 
the sun and be off the site before the sun came up; a great testament 
to the will and desire of coalition forces to bring their own home.''
  They did dig them up with their hands and raced the sun.
  On a cold and windy Sunday afternoon just 2 weeks ago, the people of 
Southern Minnesota gathered to send a simple message. We sang songs, 
heard speeches, read letters, and most of us got a little misty eyed as 
proud parents held pictures of their sons and daughters wearing the 
uniforms of each branch of our military. Our purpose was simple. We 
wanted to say thank you for their service; and, second, we wanted them 
to know that we stand with them wherever they may be serving. All took 
their places in that long line, that long gray line that has never 
failed us.
  The images of the Iraqi citizens cheering our Armed Forces make us 
happy and proud, but somehow not surprised. Once the Commander in Chief 
gave the order to liberate Iraq, most of

[[Page 9697]]

us knew that the result and those images were inevitable. On behalf of 
all who have attended rallies, and especially those who signed this 
banner, let me say first that we mourn with those families who have 
borne the heaviest price of this battle.
  No politician can adequately salve wounds that will never completely 
heal. The best that we can say is that we will never forget. To all 
those, who, like PFC Lynch, are ``American soldiers too,'' and to all 
our sailors, airmen and Marines, we say thank you. And we stand with 
you. May God continue to bless and protect our Nation and all who 
defend her.

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