[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14042]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              MEMORIAL DAY

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.

     In Flanders fields the poppies blow
     Between the crosses, row on row
     That mark our place; and in the sky
     The larks, still bravely singing, fly
     Scarce heard amid the guns below.

     We are the Dead. Short days ago
     We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
     Loved and were loved, and now we lie
     In Flanders fields.

     Take up our quarrel with the foe:
     To you from failing hands we throw
     The torch; be yours to hold it high.
     If ye break faith with us who die
     We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
     In Flanders fields.

  John McCrae, who wrote ``In Flanders Fields,'' was a Canadian 
physician. He fought on the western front in 1914 before he was 
transferred to the medical corps and assigned to a hospital in France. 
He died of pneumonia while on active duty in 1918, and his volume of 
poetry was published in 1919.
  This Monday, in veterans cemeteries around the Nation, flags will be 
placed, tenderly placed--tenderly placed--before gravestones that 
carefully and simply mark the thousands of enlisted men and officers, 
soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who, like John McCrae, did not 
come home to ticker tape parades but, rather, to slow caissons trailed 
by weeping families, final gunfire salutes, and the haunting melodies 
of ``Taps'' played by a lone bugler. Some of those graves will be lush 
with sod, and the final dates will bring back great battles in the 
campaigns from the Pacific, Africa, or Europe. Other graves will still 
be raw Earth, with dates on the headstones that mark the ambushes and 
improvised explosive devices of modern urban insurgent warfare. But on 
this day, none--none--will be forgotten, and all will be honored for 
their sacrifice, whatever their rank, whatever their service, and 
whatever their last proud moment. The red of the poppies and the red 
stripes in the flags recall the red badge of their courage.
  The current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have also given rise to 
some new ways to remember and honor the fallen. On the Internet, each 
soldier lost in Iraq has his or her name, his or her picture, and the 
date and the place of their death listed on a number of Web sites, 
including those hosted by several newspapers. A traveling exhibit of 
1,319 portraits lets ``America's Artists Honor America's Heroes'' 
through their own talents--through their own talents. When the exhibit 
is over, those portraits will be given to the soldier's family. In 
these ways, each of us can put a face to these statistics. We can see 
the faces, young and old, just as their families remember them.
  The Senate this week has also remembered those who have fallen and 
those still in harm's way in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Appropriations 
Committee has finalized the emergency supplemental bill to fund the 
operations of the military and provide more protective gear and 
technology to our troops in the field. I hope that this time the 
President, our President, will sign the bill and speed those funds to 
the troops. Also this week, the Senate Armed Services Committee is 
marking up the fiscal year 2008 Defense authorization bill. This bill 
too will look after all of our Active-Duty, Guard and Reserve forces 
that face the prospect of additional and longer tours in Iraq in the 
months ahead. Like the emergency supplemental bill put together by the 
Appropriations Committee, the Defense authorization bill will continue 
the work of ensuring that the wounded from these conflicts receive the 
best care and support as they recover from their injuries.
  In 430 BC, after the first year of the Peloponnesian War, the Greek 
historian Thucydides recorded the funeral oration delivered by 
Pericles, the great Greek general. Thucydides records that Pericles did 
not speak of the battles but, rather, of the glories--the glories--of 
Athens and what a privilege it was--what a privilege it was--for each 
Athenian to live in such a perfect place. Pericles said that the 
sacrifice of those fallen in battle to keep the nation strong left them 
with the:

       Noblest of all tombs--the noblest of all tombs, I speak not 
     of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which 
     their glory survives.

  Pericles felt there could be no better place to live than Athens and 
no place more deserving of a soldier's sacrifice. Almost 2,500 years 
later, I feel confident that every soldier, sailor, airman, and marine 
who has fought and died in Afghanistan and Iraq probably felt the same 
way--yes--about the United States.
  They were proud to be in uniform and ready to serve the Nation that 
they loved and held in such high regard. The Nation will ever mourn 
their loss and honor their sacrifice.

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