[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10925]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          OPERATION EDUCATION

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                             HON. BILL SALI

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2008

  Mr. SALI. Madam Speaker, over 1,668,000 soldiers have been deployed 
in the service of our Nation in Afghanistan and Iraq since September 
11. These veterans sacrificed every day for the well-being of our 
Nation. Whether they have seen active combat or not, all veterans share 
a common readiness to commit their all to the defense of the land they 
love. Their willingness to freely sacrifice their lives epitomizes what 
makes our country great. As a nation, we will always owe them a great 
debt.
  Several months ago I attended a funeral at Arlington Cemetery. That 
day a 19-year-old soldier from Pennsylvania was laid to rest. He was in 
a Bradley fighting vehicle in Iraq when an insurgent threw a grenade 
down the turret.
  It was reported that this soldier had time to get out of the vehicle 
before the grenade went off, and that is what he had been trained to 
do. Instead, he wrapped his body around the grenade as it went off, 
saving the lives of three other crew members.
  In the Book of John 15:13 Jesus taught, ``Greater love has no one 
than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.'' The young man 
laid to rest at Arlington that day lived an example of the love of 
Christ. He and countless other who had lived stories of bravery and 
heroism deserve our highest honor and praise. But so do all of our 
veterans.
  That is why I was happy to recently see some developments back in my 
home State of Idaho that will greatly benefit the wounded warriors in 
my district. Through the hard work of many, including Karen White, the 
University of Idaho, located in Moscow, Idaho, recently launched a 
program known as Operation Education. The purpose of this program is to 
help veterans ``severely and permanently wounded'' as a result of their 
service to our Nation since September 11. Through the Operation 
Education Scholarship, the University of Idaho is able to offer 
financial support in areas from tuition and books to transportation and 
child care. They also offer internships and assist in job placement.
  Education is one of the greatest commodities we can offer our 
Nation's veterans. The skills they have learned in the Armed Forces 
inevitably benefit them as they go on to future learning and higher 
education. Operation Education and other programs like it offer 
veterans the opportunity to continue pursuing their dreams and 
benefiting themselves, their families, and our Nation.
  Not only is Operation Education open to disabled veterans, it is also 
available for the spouses of those veterans. Spouses of our soldiers 
are sometimes overlooked when we talk about the sacrifices that are 
made for our Nation. Those who stay at home while their spouses serve 
in faraway lands can sometimes do no more than pray and hope, trusting 
the fate of their loved ones to a higher power.
  I am familiar with the experience of a young couple split up less 
than five months after being married when this young man was called to 
go to Iraq to train canines for the next nine months. Not only is that 
young Marine separated from his brand new bride, he will miss the birth 
of their baby in six months. He and his wife moved just weeks before he 
was called to Iraq, and she is left at home in a new area faced with 
the prospect of delivering her first child on her own. Neither this 
proud soldier nor his brave wife are unique in their situation, and 
other young military families have faced more dire circumstances. 
However, their situation epitomizes the sacrifices that our military 
families make--both those who serve in uniform abroad and those who 
serve less visibly in the home.
  I honor those whose service in defending our Nation has required 
their lives. I have learned that it is the calling of some in our 
Nation's military to not come home. However, for those who do come 
home, the least we can do to show our respect for their service is to 
provide them with the opportunities they deserve. I commend the 
University of Idaho for making this program available, and I look 
forward to future developments that will bless the lives of our 
Nation's veterans.

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