[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 19386-19387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     ESSAY BY BROOKE ROBISON ``MY COMMITMENT TO AMERICA'S FUTURE''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROB BISHOP

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 23, 2004

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that Brooke Robison, a 
high-school student at Layton High School in The First Congressional 
District of Utah was selected earlier this year as a recipient of the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars' 2004 ``Voice of Democracy'' scriptwriting 
contest. I commend to my colleagues her essay which speaks so movingly 
of the sacrifices of her grandfather and, indeed, all members of the 
U.S. Armed Forces in protecting our freedom.

                   My Commitment to America's Future

                       (By Brooke Robison, Utah)

       On a stormy afternoon in February I was working towards an 
     easy ``A'' for my history class. The assignment was to write 
     an essay on a veteran's most memorable war experience. 
     ``Piece of cake,'' I thought. ``I'll just interview my 
     Grandpa, he fought in World War II. He might even have a 
     story written up for me by the time I got there and I could 
     be on my way.'' But, when I arrived at my grandparent's home, 
     I saw that he had brought out piles of war memorabilia to

[[Page 19387]]

     show me. ``Great,'' I thought, ``this is going to take longer 
     than I thought. I'm actually going to have to act 
     interested.'' I picked up a photograph and was drawn in by 
     the dashingly handsome young pilot that smiled up at me. The 
     other aged photographs began to intrigue me and I gently 
     fingered the old uniforms and medals and read the letters he 
     had saved. I had never really thought of him as a young guy. 
     I mean he was always, you know, GRANDPA! I was surprisingly 
     fascinated about the life he had when he was barely older 
     than I am now. I became anxious to hear the story he had 
     selected to share with me for my project. Little did I know 
     that his story would rock my shallow little world.
       Near the end of the war a group of cocky young pilots 
     emerged from their mess tent in Germany. They nearly ran into 
     a truck full of sandy material parked near them on the 
     street. My grandfather, a bright and promising mining 
     engineer before the war, prided himself on being able to 
     quickly identify almost any rock or mineral. He boasted that 
     he could probably tell the make up of the sand just by 
     touching it. He thrust his hand in and let it run through his 
     fingers. Puzzled, he did it again and again, sniffing it and 
     rubbing it between his palms. ``What is this?'' he thought, 
     ``I must be losing my touch!'' He approached the driver of 
     the truck and explained his professional background. ``What 
     is this stuff?'', he asked, ``I just can't figure it out!'' 
     The driver answered with a tone of one who had learned to 
     distance himself from the daily horror of his job. ``Ashes,'' 
     he replied flatly, ``human ashes.''
       The driver's answer struck me as hard as it did my 
     grandfather decades ago. I felt as if my eyes had been opened 
     for the first time. Wars weren't just a flash of information 
     on the news or something that starred Tom Hanks. My young, 
     handsome grandfather had watched the remains of thousands of 
     innocent lives run through his fingers like common playground 
     dirt. His efforts, and those of thousands of others, made 
     sure that this carnage would stop. Brushing aside tears he 
     whispered to me, ``Tell this story, tell it, so this can 
     never happen again.'' I came away from that visit with my 
     grandfather knowing I had lived a shallow and ungrateful 
     life. As corny as it may sound, my grandfather's story 
     changed who I am and what I will do with my future. I learned 
     that day that I have a responsibility to my country. The sale 
     at the mall or having a date on Saturday night is nowhere 
     near as important to me as my latest service project. I feel 
     that if America's soldiers can endure so much to make our 
     world a better place, I can certainly do all I can to improve 
     my little corner of it. I have developed a passion to learn 
     about wars and conflicts in our history. I have joined 
     political youth groups so I can be well informed when I'm old 
     enough to vote. I collect food for the local food pantry, 
     fill and deliver bags of supplies for children in shelters, 
     and make blankets for homeless. I wrote a song that 
     encourages young people to get involved in community service. 
     I was honored to perform it this past summer at a national 
     award ceremony honoring outstanding youth in service. 
     Performing with the Marines the last two years I became aware 
     that gifts for teenagers run out early. There are never 
     enough. I knew I could come up with a plan to help. I 
     developed a program called Toys for Teens that involves 
     running teen gift drives in our high schools and middle 
     schools. I presented my idea to the Marines in my area and it 
     was enthusiastically approved. The program is well received 
     and is being implemented all across the state giving other 
     young people the opportunity to know joy of giving back to 
     their community. We hope to raise hundreds of thousands of 
     dollars worth of donations. With this project I am proud to 
     serve the youth of my community while also supporting my 
     country's servicemen.
       But I feel that the most important thing that I can do to 
     show my commitment to America's future, is to tell my 
     grandfather's story. As young people we need to make an 
     effort to hear and pass on the stories from our country's 
     past. Armed with the strength of the stories of our Nation's 
     past heroes, we can truly have an inspired commitment to 
     America's future.

                          ____________________