[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Page 28429]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO LOUISIANA WWII VETERANS

 Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to 
pay tribute to a group of 94 World War II veterans from Louisiana that 
is making its way to Washington this weekend. Here the veterans will 
visit the World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Iwo Jima memorials as well 
as Arlington National Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the 
Unknowns.
  The trip to the Nation's Capital this Saturday is being sponsored by 
a group in Lafayette, LA, called Louisiana HonorAir. The organization 
is honoring each surviving World War II Louisiana veteran by giving 
them a chance to see the memorials dedicated to their service. So far 
this year, there have been three trips to these Washington memorials 
and two more are planned, including this one.
  World War II was the deadliest conflict in our history. More than 60 
million people worldwide were killed, including 40 million civilians, 
and more than 400,000 American service members were slain during the 
long war.
  In Louisiana, there remain today about 44,000 living World War II 
veterans, and every one of them has their own heroic tale of their 
experience in achieving the noble victory of freedom over tyranny.
  One of our veterans traveling for his first time to Washington is 
Frank Menard from Lafayette. Originally from Youngsville, he was 
drafted into the Army in 1942 at 21 years old and trained at Camp 
Claiborne in Rapides Parish. In 1943, he was sent to England as part of 
the Army's 101st Airborne Division, serving as a driver and a mechanic. 
He participated in many battles with the Nazis during his 3 years in 
Europe, including the Battle of Normandy, where an enemy artillery 
shell struck his truck, and the Battle of the Bulge, which severely 
crippled German forces. His French and German language skills helped 
him gather intelligence about enemy plans. During the Battle of the 
Bulge, he took a pregnant Belgian woman whose toes had been shot off by 
the Germans to an American hospital, saving her life. When he returned 
to Louisiana after the war, Frank used his mechanics skills to become a 
union electrician in Lake Charles and Lafayette, where he settled.
  I ask the Senate to join me in honoring Frank Menard, the other 93 
Louisiana heroes we welcome to Washington this weekend and Louisiana 
HonorAir for making these trips a reality.

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