[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18297-18298]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            WILLIAM McSWEENY

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, my wife Marcelle and I have been privileged 
to know Bill and Dorothy McSweeny during the time I have been in the 
Senate.
  During my conversations with them, I have especially appreciated 
their sense of history. When Mr. McSweeny writes an op-ed piece, based 
on his knowledge and experience, I think we should pay special 
attention.
  Recently, he wrote one for the Washington Post. Nothing I could say 
would add to the value of this fine statement, so I ask unanimous 
consent it be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Washington Post, Aug. 18, 2004]

                      No Debating a Sense of Duty

                         (By William McSweeny)

       I am from that generation of younger brothers who just 
     missed World War II and went to war against communism in 
     Korea in 1950. Many of us became fathers to those who fought 
     in Vietnam and grandfathers to those fighting in Iraq.
       I would not presume to speak for a whole generation, but as 
     a veteran of that combat, I say it is time to tell both 
     presidential campaigns to cease their macho posturing and get 
     on with real programs to run--or save--our country.
       In our long-ago time, we went to war reluctantly against an 
     unknown enemy in an unknown land.
       But, we went.
       The conditions were harsh. The fighting--pre-instant TV--
     was ferocious at the front and mostly unseen at home. When we 
     came back, no one particularly cared, and only one film 
     (``Pork Chop Hill'') and a handful of books remain to mark 
     our passing.
       That and a free South Korea.
       We weren't noticeably upset at men who deferred service and 
     went to college (except those who stole our girls). We didn't 
     come home with rows of medals--although many of us came home 
     with injuries that still warn us of changes in the weather. 
     We didn't do any complaining. We just came home and got on 
     with our lives.
       Why did we go? Why did we allow our young bodies and our 
     young psyches to be subjected to a war so forgotten that even 
     today it has not been mentioned by either candidate, both of 
     whom failed to notice the anniversary of its June beginning 
     and July ending?
       I believe it was because we knew that we should. Some of us 
     enlisted as regular Army infantry privates and later became 
     combat officers because other men of the ``greatest 
     generation'' had done it and we should too. It is a young 
     man's reaction to a sense of responsibility and duty, done 
     without much forethought.
       That, I believe, is the key ingredient in John Kerry's 
     service in Vietnam--and why both campaigns should drop this 
     contrived issue.
       He did not have to go--because he had been. His tour on a 
     destroyer was overseas time enough. But he went to the boats 
     because other young men were there. The men and the boats had 
     a mission--and he commanded, because he could. That is enough 
     for me. I couldn't care less whether he received a medal. The 
     rest of it is frosting. There is no honor in this debate for 
     our country. We need to know whether a man can save the 
     economy and slow terrorism, not listen to harangues about who 
     was a shooter and who was a dodger.
       Most of the real heroics are performed by young kids and 
     young officers who just accept it as a cost of doing business 
     in the peculiar exchange that is a combat battleground. The 
     whole place--and it does not matter which war we describe--is 
     one of fear, noise, smoke, confusion and a strange 
     comradeship where you might risk your life for someone you 
     will never see again. I don't know what the expression is in 
     the Navy, but the Army's bittersweet joke is that the two 
     most dangerous words in the English language are ``follow 
     me.'' It takes courage to utter those words and to follow 
     that command--something any veteran of any combat will 
     recognize.
       It is time for some of us older veterans to take one last 
     stand and call on both parties to drop this base and 
     meaningless debate. At the end of the day, and the end of the 
     battle, medals are just symbols. And the bravery of thousands 
     of our soldiers has passed into history unheralded by stars 
     and ribbons. By engaging in mudslinging over this issue, both 
     campaigns undermine the bravery and honor of all who serve in 
     times of war and peace. And they distract us from the real 
     issues of this election.
       John Kerry heard the siren song of his moment--that fragile 
     call on the wind that is the call to the colors. He went. He 
     came back. I give him credit for that. If he threw some 
     ribbons over the fence, he's welcome to mine. They lie 
     quietly in a desk drawer, entombed with memories of better 
     men who lie in the dirt of faraway fields, where there really 
     is no glory, but where courage and compassion came with the 
     C-rations.
       They believed ours was a great country, one that fought not 
     for conquest or for gain but because freedom isn't free and 
     someone has to pay for it. The bill comes due again in this 
     election. Let's hope these two candidates don't leave us 
     paupers.

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