[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12494-12495]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO TERRY MEINERS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to commend Terry Meiners, 
a fellow Louisvillian and well-known radio personality. Mr. Meiners is 
not just a local institution on Kentucky's airwaves, but also a loving 
father.
  This fall, for the first time both of Terry's two sons will leave 
home for college: eldest son Max, 20, will return to Western Kentucky 
University, and younger son Simon, 17, will enroll at the University of 
Kentucky. Terry has a great relationship with both of his sons and he 
has done an excellent job of preparing them for adulthood.
  As we have just celebrated Father's Day, I thought it appropriate to 
share with my colleagues the story of Terry Meiners and his two sons. 
On June 18 of this year, the Louisville Courier-Journal published an 
article highlighting Terry's family life, career, and accomplishments, 
as well as his importance in the Louisville community. I ask unanimous 
consent that the full article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Courier-Journal, June 18, 2006]

                   What Kind of Dad is Terry Meiners?

                           (By Angie Fenton)

       It's 8:30 a.m., and Terry Meiners sits solemnly on a high-
     backed metal chair looking out over the lush greenery 
     surrounding his pool.
       He doesn't utter any of the quick-witted comebacks and zany 
     ramblings that are his trademark on his afternoon drive-time 
     show on WHAS radio. Instead, on this morning, he soaks up the 
     silence, broken only by the soft sound of a manmade waterfall 
     that cascades nearby and the sharp chirps from a pair of 
     cardinals flitting among the trees.
       Soon, Meiners knows, the silence will reach painful 
     proportions when his eldest son, Max, 20, returns to Western 
     Kentucky University in the fall and his younger son, Simon, 
     17, starts his freshman year at the University of Kentucky.
       ``I cried like a baby when Max rolled out of here (as a 
     freshman) at WKU,'' recalled Meiners, 49. ``It was torturous, 
     but I realized what a great passage it is for a kid to roll 
     out of his dad's driveway and into a wide open space.''
       Once Meiners could no longer see Max's car careening down 
     the road, ``I sat in his room and let the tears roll--and let 
     it ride,'' he said.
       After all, that's the way Meiners lives life, as if it were 
     one big ride with unexpected adventures, where heartbreak is 
     a part of the journey you've got to take in stride.
       ``My dad is like a carpe diem kind of guy,'' Simon said, as 
     his brother poured milk into a bowl of cereal. ``He tries to 
     lead by example.''
       One of the most beneficial lessons Meiners' young men have 
     learned from him is ``preparedness--and don't ever depend on 
     anyone,'' Max said.
       Meiners also has taught his sons to laugh often.
       The threesome share an affinity for ``The Simpsons.'' They 
     crack jokes, talk politics and quip easily with one another.
       ``I've learned from my dad to live life to the fullest,'' 
     Simon said, before admitting that he's been guilty of 
     trampling that fine line between full and full of it.
       In May, Simon surprised his dad on-air by admitting that he 
     would walk at Manual High School's commencement ceremony 
     later that night, but wouldn't receive his diploma because of 
     his participation in a senior prank involving mayonnaise and 
     condoms.
       ``I had to laugh to myself, but then my daddy genes kicked 
     in right away,'' Meiners said. ``I said, `Well, you know 
     we're going to have to talk about this later.' ``
       Simon has since received his diploma after making amends 
     with the school, but he's also had a bit of punishment meted 
     out by his father: He'll be without wheels for his first 
     semester at UK.
       ``I'm going to introduce him to a part of his body he's 
     never known before: his thumb,'' Meiners said.
       The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, though, which is 
     why Meiners said he's firm but fair when it comes to holding 
     his sons accountable.
       Meiners earned a bit of notoriety himself back in 1976 when 
     he broke a water pipe in Boyd Hall at UK after swinging on a 
     ceiling sprinkler.
       ``It was during finals week at Christmastime, and they 
     couldn't shut the water off. The floor caved in, water 
     flooded the dorm and everybody had to sleep on mats at Alumni 
     Gym across the street,'' Meiners said. ``I was not a hero.''
       The university booted Meiners out of the dorms ``and that 
     effectively ended my college career,'' he said. ``I was 
     already working in radio and went in to work on Monday and 
     said, `Well, I guess that didn't work out.'''
       Meiners has made it a habit of embracing a laissez-faire--
     ``let do, let go, let pass''--attitude. ``I never get tired 
     of getting up in the

[[Page 12495]]

     morning and starting over. I tell my boys all the time, `I 
     can't wait to see what happens next.'''
       But Dad can get real serious too.
       ``You try coming home at 4 in the morning,'' Simon said.
       ``And he's really serious about preparing for very odd 
     situations,'' Max added, which prompted a barrage of jokes 
     about how Meiners hides flashlights and other ``just in 
     case'' necessities in obscure places throughout the Anchorage 
     home.
       Still, said Max, ``I admire his total passion for 
     everything he does in life. Whatever he does, he does 
     wholeheartedly.''
       That includes grieving for his mother, Norma Jean Meiners, 
     who died on Dec. 12.
       Just days after her death, Meiners was back on-air candidly 
     sharing his loss. Fans flooded his personal Web site with 
     well-wishes.
       But his sons were concerned.
       ``He lost weight from stress--we were worried about him,'' 
     Max said. ``I know he has 13 brothers and sisters, but 
     sometimes it's like he doesn't have anyone to talk to.''
       Yet, Meiners did what he somehow always seems to do: Let it 
     ride and roll with it.
       ``The only thing you can do is will yourself into a 
     positive feeling. I try to teach my kids . . . to bring a 
     positive attitude to everything they do,'' Meiners said.
       ``I am abundantly grateful for everything we have,'' he 
     said.
       Meiners is also thankful for what blossomed in his life 
     after his mother's death.
       ``It's given me an avenue to speak to my father (Mel) like 
     I've never before,'' Meiners said. ``My family and I, we've 
     surrounded my father.''
       Even as they prepare to leave, Meiners' sons have 
     surrounded their father too.
       ``I love my dad, and I'm thankful for everything he's done 
     for me,'' Max said. ``We've been through so much in the past 
     six months, this Father's Day will be special.''
       Meiners agreed.
       ``My perfect Father's Day is not possible. I'd like to go 
     back in time and remedy my missteps. But we're here now, and 
     I stand before (my sons) flawed but willing to learn,'' 
     Meiners said.
       ``The bottom line is that more than anything, I want to 
     make sure my sons are men of integrity. That's all that 
     matters. And I'm happy to report they are.''

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if you search the State of Nevada, you will 
find many elder statesmen. But you won't find any finer than Judge 
Lloyd D. George.
  Judge George is my friend, and Nevadan through and through.
  Judge George moved to Las Vegas in 1933, when he was just 3 years 
old. His family's business was moving sand and gravel. He recalls his 
house as being built on two railroad lots and remembers Las Vegas at 
the time as a ``slow city.''
  Las Vegas has grown a lot since 1933, and so has Lloyd George.
  A graduate of Brigham Young University and University of California 
Berkeley Law School, he has been an institution in our State's legal 
community, as both a lawyer and a judge.
  In 1984, President Ronald Reagan nominated Judge George to the U.S. 
district court, and he quickly won Senate confirmation. In 1992, he 
became chief judge of the Nevada District, a position he held until 
1997.
  Today, Judge George is a retired senior U.S. district judge, but he 
still comes in to work every day. His continued service is a testament 
to Judge George's commitment to the law and the people of Nevada. All 
of us here recognized that commitment when we named the Las Vegas' 
Federal courthouse the ``Lloyd D. George Federal Building and U.S. 
Courthouse'' in the year 2000.
  Mr. President, I began by calling Judge George a statesmen, which is 
exactly what he is.
  When statesmen speak, the community has an obligation to listen. 
Which is why I rise to submit Judge George's moving 2006 Memorial Day 
remarks into the Congressional Record. His words paint a vivid picture 
of the sacrifice America's heroes made at Iwo Jima, and they remind us 
of our obligation to carry their memories with us today.
  I ask unanimous consent that Lloyd George's remarks be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                     Memorial Day Address--Iwo Jima

                   (By Lloyd D. George, May 26, 2006)

       Before World War II, the Island of Iwo Jima was considered 
     tiny and insignificant. After the February 19, 1945, invasion 
     of the island, where one hundred thousand men fought for over 
     a month for control of an area only about a third the size of 
     Manhattan, Iwo Jima became gargantuan in the history of 
     warfare and heroism.
       Both sides understood the strategic importance of the small 
     island. It had two airfields, and had been used by Japanese 
     fighters to attack American bombers on their way to targets. 
     Americans also wanted control of the island as a base for 
     their own aircraft.
       The name Iwo Jima means Sulfur Island in Japanese. The five 
     mile long, two mile wide island had soil of volcanic ash, 
     soft enough to create extensive tunnels and underground 
     fortifications for its 22,000 Japanese defenders, but too 
     soft on the surface for the invasion forces to dig even an 
     adequate foxhole for protection. And the 546 high Mount 
     Suribachi at the southern end of the island provided the 
     defenders a vantage-point from which they could lay down a 
     withering fire onto the beach.
       One of the Iwo Jima veterans we pay tribute to, Chester 
     Foulke, recounts running back after carrying ammunition to 
     Marine machine gunners, and falling as if he had been hit in 
     order to stop the hail of bullets which were spraying all 
     around him.
       Another honoree, Larry Odell, credits flamethrowers, 
     carried by Marines or in small tanks, for ultimately 
     defeating the entrenched Japanese. The Japanese had years to 
     construct a sixteen mile complex of reinforced tunnels 
     connecting fifteen hundred man-made caverns. Attacks came 
     upon the Marines from virtually anywhere, day or night, 
     through warrens, spider holes, caves and crevices.
       The ferocious nature of the battle was unrivaled. Sulfur, 
     the namesake of the island, turns red when it melts under 
     heat. So, too, the soil and rocks of the island were often 
     turned red from blood as the battle raged on. Of the 70,000 
     Americans engaged in a battle, there were 26,000 casualties, 
     almost 7,000 of whom were killed. Out of the 22,000 Japanese 
     soldiers on the island, only 212 were taken prisoner. When 
     told of the casualties during the battle, President Roosevelt 
     visibly wrote: ``It was the first time [throughout the entire 
     war] that anyone had seen the President gasp in horror.'' 
     Indeed, the Battle of Iwo Jima, which displayed the fanatic 
     fervor of the Japanese, and the heavy casualties suffered by 
     forces combating them, influenced the American decision to 
     use atomic bombs to end the war.
       Amid the overwhelming death and destruction at Iwo Jima, 
     uncommon valor was common. The image of six Marines raising 
     the American flag after taking Mount Suribachi on the fifth 
     day of fighting stands as a symbol not only of the island and 
     the battle, but of the entire war. Another local honoree, 
     Parke Potter, was in one of three companies to take the 
     mountain. He also helped improvise a makeshift flagpole by 
     wiring together scraps of iron pipe.
       Every single American who fought at Iwo Jima was valiant in 
     preserving freedom and democracy. More medals for valor were 
     awarded for action on Iwo Jima than in any battle in the 
     history of the United States. The Marines were awarded 
     eighty-four Medals of Honor in World War II. In just the 
     month of fighting on Iwo Jima, they were awarded twenty-seven 
     Medals of Honor. We will never forget those who descended 
     into the depth of hell that month 61 years ago, so that we 
     and future generations, might exist above it. And we honor 
     those who sacrificed their futures that we might have ours.

                          ____________________