[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 11370-11371]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             FALLEN HEROES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. TOM DeLAY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 20, 2004

  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, Memorial Day this year has new, sharp meaning 
for us, as we remember the deaths of the American soldiers who have so 
recently given their lives for our freedom. By the grace of God, no 
soldier from my district has died in Iraq or Afghanistan, but I join 
the whole Nation in mourning the men and women who have given their 
lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. These 
service men and women join the ranks of those we remember this Memorial 
Day--those who have died defending America, who have ``fallen in the 
cause of the free'' since the founding of our Nation.
  These heroes were lowly privates and bemedaled generals. They were 
green volunteers and gray veterans. They were minute men and Navy 
seals. But the men who died at Lexington and Concord are the same as 
the men who died at Kandahar and Fallujah--men of dauntless courage, 
united in their love of country and their supreme self-denial.
  Uniforms and weapons change; valor does not.

[[Page 11371]]

  The men and women who have died defending America have kept our homes 
and our liberties secure for the past 228 years. More than that, they 
have held out to the whole world the promise that a nation conceived in 
liberty and dedicated to the equality of all men can indeed endure. 
They have preserved the fire of liberty not just for America, but for 
all men. We owe them a debt we cannot hope to pay, least of all with 
mere words.
  Memorial Day is set aside for us to remember. But this day should not 
just be a day of remembrance, but a day of resolve. The memory of their 
sacrifice should inspire in us a firm purpose to live our lives in a 
way that will honor the heroes who have died for us--to emulate their 
courage in defense of the right and their devotion to the cause of 
liberty. We cannot honor the memory of our heroes with words alone; 
rather, we must honor them with actions worthy of their memory.
  Today we offer our gratitude to the men and women of the U.S. Armed 
Forces who have fallen defending our nation. We thank them for 
protecting us, but most of all we thank them for reminding us, in the 
midst of a world torn by ugliness and war and pain, of the highest 
things--of duty, honor, courage, sacrifice, and love. We thank them for 
reminding us, even when ``the machinations of tyranny'' stare us in the 
face, ``that a man can stand up.''

                          ____________________