January 29, 1997 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð SENATE S785 ORDER OF PROCEDURE called it ``the war to end all wars.'' Of Veterans Day commemorates the courage course, we could not know that just two dec- and patriotism of all of America's veterans Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, for the ades later another war would engulf the who have contributed so much to the cause information of all Senators, there will world. of world peace and the preservation of our be no further rollcall votes today. World War II would claim four times as way of life. Members may continue to introduce many American lives as World War I. When This is our day to honor those veterans legislation and make statements dur- the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, the sacrificed in those struggles and pay our re- ing the morning business period. It is world entered a holocaust unparalleled in spects to those who survived their fallen possible that later today the Senate world history. comrades. Never before had war been waged by so It is a day to celebrate the bright victories may debate the nomination of William many people, over so much of the globe, with that grew from dark battles. Daley to be Secretary of Commerce. such loss of life and destruction of property. It is a day to review memories of past However, the rollcall vote on Mr. Daley Although, 90 million troops from both sides honor and sacrifice. will not occur until tomorrow morning, took part in the war; 17 million of themÐ It is a day to dream of a brighter future. possibly at 9:45 or 10 o'clock. We urge nearly one out of fiveÐwere consumed by it. It is a day to celebrate peace. all colleagues to be prompt. I thank my Another 18 millionÐciviliansÐdied as a di- We can never say it too often: We are the children of your sacrifice, and we are grate- colleagues. I yield the floor. rect result of it. We'll never know the precise total of soldiers and civilians wounded and ful. I suggest the absence of a quorum. missing. General Douglas MacArthur spoke of the The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. America mustered more than 16 million American soldier as ``one of the world's no- BROWNBACK). The clerk will call the troops to battle on many fronts. When the blest figures.'' roll. war ended in 1945, more than 400,000 of them Yet what sets apart the veterans we honor The legislative clerk proceeded to had lost their lives. today? How do we identify them? call the roll. Within five short years, our nation's men In truth, our veterans are the very embodi- Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, I ask and women would be summoned to answer ment of America itself. They reflect the di- versity and strength that is the core of our unanimous consent that the order for the threat in a place deceptively known as the ``Land of the Morning Calm.'' nation. the quorum call be rescinded. Before the Korean War came to a close Veterans are white . and they are black; The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without with an uneasy truce in 1953, nearly 35,000 they are of every race and ethnic heritage. objection, it is so ordered. Americans died, and more than 100,000 were They are men, and they are women. They are Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, I ask wounded. Christians, they are Muslims, they are Jews. unanimous consent that I be permitted In 1954, Armistice Day was redesignated They're your neighbor next door, the mer- to proceed for not to exceed 20 minutes ``Veterans Day.'' chant at the mall, and the police officer on unless the majority leader comes on First conceived to recognize those veterans the corner. who had died in World War I, the observance They are doctors and farmers, they are fac- the floor and seeks recognition. now was given a broader scope: to honor all tory workers and schoolteachers. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without American veterans in whatever war or period They are 26 million Americans living today objection, it is so ordered. of peace they served. who served in the armed forces, and there The Senator from Arkansas is recog- For they were, and are, made of the same are more than one million who have died in nized. stuff. They were, and are, equally passionate America's wars. Mr. BUMPERS. I thank the Chair. in their patriotism and love of liberty. Most of these veterans are unsung heroes, (The remarks of Mr. BUMPERS per- We could not enjoy our freedom today were ordinary citizens who did their duty. Their taining to the introduction of S. 229 are it not for the courage of those who defended deeds have never been chronicled. us when we needed defending. Those veterans who returned home after located in today's RECORD under In the time of Vietnam, we had heroes and World War II, and those who did not, were all ``Statements on Introduced Bills and didn't see them. A million Americans sol- part of a generation from which we take in- Joint Resolutions.'') diered there, and more than 58,000 of them spiration. f died, some bravely, some just unluckily, all They won the war, and then made sure we in the service of their country. would not lose the peace. Without their sub- A GRATEFUL NATION REMEMBERS Neither the passage of time nor the van- ordination of self to the common good, our Mr. FORD. Mr. President, shortly be- tage point of historical perspective has pro- world would be radically different. fore closing his office, our dear former vided this country with answers about Viet- The tradition of the World War II veteran colleague, Howell Heflin, asked that I nam or its veterans. is the tradition of all American veterans. The sense of being alone may be the hall- From Lexington to Concord, that tradition insert in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD a mark of the Vietnam experienceÐand it is has sustained us in every battle and every speech made by Greg Reed, national taking many years to heal the social wounds war, right up through Desert Storm. commander of the Disabled American inflicted by that war. It has marched with us and stood vigil in Veterans, at a banquet held in Bir- William Broyles, Jr., a former editor-in- the frozen camps of Valley Forge, the steam- mingham the day before Veterans Day. chief of Newsweek and a Marine infantry of- ing jungles of the Pacific rim, the bloody I would agree with Senator Heflin ficer in Vietnam, once said. beaches of Normandy, the rice paddies of that Mr. Reed's speech is an excellent ``The war in Vietnam divided America, Korea and Vietnam, and the scorching sands most of all by driving a wedge between those of the Persian Gulf. one, and I would ask for unanimous who went and those who didn't. Vietnam di- In that tradition, young, inexperienced consent that his remarks be printed in vided us and troubles us still, not only in the Americans become tough, capable soldiers. the RECORD. hearts and minds of veterans and their fami- They become veterans. There being no objection, the re- lies, but in our crippled self-confidence. It is And they remind us all that this great na- marks were ordered to be printed in a specter we have yet put to rest, a wound in tion was not established by cowards, nor will the RECORD, as follows: need of healing.'' cowards preserve it. For many of our fellow veterans the Viet- America will remain the land of the free A GRATEFUL NATION REMEMBERS nam war is still a terrible burden. There are only so long as it is the home of the brave. (Remarks by Greg Reed) too many unanswered questions about the What we remember and honor on Veterans Each year Americans give pause on Veter- delayed time bombs in their bodies and Day are those brave men and women who be- ans Day to remember and honor the millions minds, too many unfulfilled promises about lieved so much in an idea, and were so pos- of men and women who have donned the uni- their education and their employment. sessed by a sense of duty and honor, that forms of our great Nation in defense of free- We owe them more than that. It is past they were willing to risk death for it. And dom and democracy. It is a time set aside for time to remember the extraordinary service the idea, of course, is liberty. our Nation to recognize the vanguard of free- of these ordinary Americans. Liberty is America's core. It is central to domÐAmerican's veterans. When their country called, they answered, our being, not only because it is practical Our national tradition of honoring Amer- and they fought with all of the courage and and beneficial, but because it is morally just ican veterans on a special day began one valor of any army this nation ever sent into and right. But that liberty can be retained year after World War I ended. battle. only by the eternal vigilance that has always On November 11, 1919, President Woodrow The men and women who served in the been its price. Wilson proclaimed that each November 11 Gulf War paid another installment on a great Americans hate war and its destructive- was to be commemorated as ``Armistice debt that will never be erased so long as ness. Our history reveals a passion to ex- Day,'' a day of remembrance to honor the there are blood-bent tyrants in the world.