[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 21]
[House]
[Pages 29218-29219]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TEXAS ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Schwarz of Michigan). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, a National Guard unit is coming back to Texas, 
because tomorrow, Saturday, December 17, the First Battalion, 133rd 
field artillery will be welcomed back to Beaumont, Texas, after serving 
the past year in Iraq.
  In August 2004, the Texas Army National Guard deployed the 56th 
Brigade Combat Team of the 36th Infantry Division to go to Iraq. They 
trained for 4 months in Ft. Hood, Texas, and got to Iraq in December of 
2004. The 133rd Field Artillery has a longstanding history in this 
country. This was the first and famous Texas Army National Guard that 
served in France in World War I.
  General John J. Pershing, the commander-in-chief of the American 
Expeditionary Forces in World War I made this comment about those 
Texans in World War I: He said, the bearing of the division in this its 
very first experience in battle showed the mettle of the officers and 
men and gave promise of what it would become. Members of this division 
who returned home can be proud of the record of their services.
  Mr. Speaker, this was the first American combat unit to land in 
Europe in World War II. They landed on the beaches of Italy during 
World War II. They liberated Rome, then they went and landed on the 
beaches of France, went on to free the hostages of the concentration 
camps of Dachau, Germany.
  Probably the most famous member of the 36th Texas is a person by the 
name of Audie Murphy. You may remember him, Mr. Speaker; he is from 
Hunt, Texas. And when he was a youngster, he joined the Army, the Army 
National Guard of Texas and became the first decorated soldier in the 
history of the American Army, winning among many other things the 
Congressional Medal of Honor.
  And yet, the Texas 36th has continued that longstanding tradition in 
Iraq where they conducted offensive operations, deny and destroy 
operations, combat logistic patrols and civil military affair 
operations.
  They built schools and hospitals and won the hearts of the Iraqi kids 
that they met along the way. They operated in the Sunni Triangle, 
Tikrit, Tillal, on the Jordanian border and in Bagdad. It is my 
pleasure to welcome them back when they come back home tomorrow.
  I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of the members of 
the 133rd, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. They 
honor us with their commitment to Texas and the Nation, and the 
citizens of America and Iraq owe them a debt of gratitude. They are 
America's best. They are the sons and daughters of liberty. They are 
freedom fighters, and they make us proud.
  I join the citizens of Texas Congressional District number two in 
paying the utmost respect for the 1st Battalion, 133rd Field Artillery. 
Through their service, Iraq has become a free democracy, and America 
remains the land of the free and the home of the brave.
  Mr. Speaker, I had the chance in January of this year to go to Iraq 
to visit the very first elections, and I, with our military, and saw 
firsthand the accomplishments in their fight for freedom. You know, Mr. 
Speaker, freedom does have a price. Our troops are paying

[[Page 29219]]

that sacrificial price for the Iraqi people and for world freedom. 
Unfortunately, the 133rd lost six members during their fight for 
freedom, and I extend my prayers and our condolences to the family and 
friends. They were making a difference in the world when they gave 
their lives.
  Their bravery and dedication and patriotism shall not be forgotten. 
That success is evident with the successful election of a new 
government in Iraq yesterday. President John Kennedy once said: The 
cost of freedom is always high. But Americans have always paid it. And 
one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or 
submission.
  Mr. Speaker, we have chosen the right path. The hard path. The 
freedom path. We will persevere with the freedom-loving people of Iraq 
until the journey down this path is successfully completed.
  The citizen soldiers of America, the Texas Army National Guard, have 
been warriors on the long hard sacrificial path of liberty. The world 
should never underestimate the resolve of America, the resolve and 
determination and will of the American soldier. Regardless of their 
mission for freedom, they always get it done. That is just the way it 
is.

                          ____________________