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[Page S3019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Memorial Day
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, Monday is Memorial Day. It is the day our
Nation pauses to remember all those who laid down their lives in
defense of our country, from Saratoga to Yorktown, to Iraq and
Afghanistan.
We enjoy tremendous freedoms as Americans, tremendous privileges, but
we do not enjoy these privileges by chance. They are hard-fought gains
secured for us again and again by each new generation of American
soldiers who lay down their lives in the cause of the free. It is
important that we do not take what they have secured for us lightly,
that we remember our freedoms have been paid for in blood.
Near the end of the film ``Saving Private Ryan,'' the dying Captain
Miller tells Private Ryan of the sacrifice that has been made on his
behalf. He says: ``Earn this . . . earn it.''
I am not sure we can ever fully earn the gift that has been given to
us by those who have laid down their lives in our defense, but we can
attempt to live lives worthy of their sacrifice and to defend the cause
for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.
When we remember the fallen on Memorial Day, there is one other group
we should remember, and that is their families. Our Nation's Gold Star
families may not have laid down their own lives for our country, but
they gave their loved ones, their fathers and brothers, daughters and
sisters. For the sake of our freedoms, they live with empty spaces at
Thanksgivings and birthdays, at weddings and graduations, at their
dinner tables and Little League practices. We owe them a debt also that
we can never repay.
I have been privileged to visit more than one veterans cemetery, such
as our own Black Hills National Cemetery in South Dakota--which we
recently expanded to ensure that our soldiers will have a resting place
for generations to come--Arlington National Cemetery, and the American
Cemetery at Normandy. There is a special hallowedness to the ground at
these places. Valor and sacrifice still linger in the air, and a deep
peace abounds--the peace of the warrior who has fought the good fight
and found rest from his labors.
General George S. Patton once said:
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather,
we should thank God that such men lived.
I might disagree with General Patton on the first part, as it is
right and proper that we should mourn our dead, but with General
Patton, I say: Let us thank God that such men and women lived.
May the memory of our honored dead be eternal.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sasse). Without objection, it is so
ordered.