Remembering Their Sacrifices

Remembering Their Sacrifices

Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay

Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall Ceremony

1-2 p.m., Saturday, May 22, 2004

Bellefontaine City Hall, 9669 Bellefontaine Rd.

Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo.

Joanie Long, 314.629.9887

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE WM. LACY CLAY

Greetings to all on this most solemn day of days.

The Vietnam War was fought between 1964 and 1975. I was 7 years old when the first American soldier died there and I was 19 when the last American soldier was sent home in a body bag.

In between those 11 years nearly 60,000 Americans sacrificed their lives in that controversial war. Many thousands more suffered the wounds and mental scares of combat that will be with them for the rest of their lives.

Today, we stand with this replica of the Vietnam Memorial, with the names of more than 1,400 Missourians and more than 250 local Illinois soldiers.

This memorial reminds us that each name was a human being, like you and me.

They had dreams, they had families and they had friends.

They probably did not want to be in Vietnam, fighting a war that many said was unjust and unnecessary. Nonetheless, they answered their nation's call to arms.

While we are not here to debate the merits of the Vietnam War, we are here today to honor these fallen Americans.

They came from every walk of life, from every race, creed, religion and ethnic tribe that makes up the United States of America.

Regrettably, as a backdrop to this day a new generation of Americans are dying in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. And like Vietnam, the war in Iraq is also a controversial war.

Right or wrong, the sad reality is that in any war many will die before war ends.

It is for those who are dying, who suffer the wounds, who answer the call to duty in the name of this great nation, it is they we remember and honor here today.

I am told that a "Virtual Wall Vietnam Veterans Memorial" is on the Internet, honoring the Vietnam veteran much like you are doing today. By sponsorship of this Moving Wall-which first came to Missouri at St. Peters in 1988 - we are all helping this nation remember the sacrifices of a generation of Americans who came home and who will never look at war the same, and who fully understand the sacrifices of their brothers and sisters in arms.

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(ADDITIONAL REMARKS IF YOU WANT)

In closing let me tell you about legislation I introduced last year to honor Veterans Day with a moment of silence.

The bill, House Concurrent Resolution 195, would honor "all fallen veterans of wars this country has engaged in" by calling for a minute of silence to be observed annually at 11 a.m. on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, "in honor of the veterans of all United States wars and to memorialize those members of the Armed Forces who gave their lives in the defense of the United States."

This bill would be an appropriate way to pay further tribute to our nation's veterans. And, it would help strengthen the observance of Veterans Day by a minute of silence at 11 a.m. in each time zone.

I'm urging veterans groups to support the legislation and urge their respective members of Congress to vote in favor of the bill and pass it into law. A major supporter of the legislation includes the Four Chaplains organization based in Philadelphia, Pa.

The group is named for four chaplains - the Rev. George Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, the Rev. Clark Poling and the Rev. Father John Washington-who died on Feb. 3, 1943 while serving aboard the USAT Dorchester during World Ward II when the ship was struck by an enemy torpedo and began to sink.

In recounting their courage, the bill notes: "Whereas, in the face of grave danger the Four Chaplains sought to calm and reassure the men on board … the Four Chaplains handed out lifejackets and directed the frightened men to lifeboats … when the last lifejacket had been handed out, the Four Chaplains removed their own lifejackets and gave them to four men who had none.

The Dorchester sank and took with her 672 men and the Four Chaplains, who stood arm-in-arm with their heads bowed in prayer and went down with the ship."

Like those who died in Vietnam and all of America's wars, the sacrifice of the Four Chaplains will "stand as a testimony to all heroic veterans who have fought for the United States" and they "will remain forever in the memories of Americans as an example of the kind of heroism which has always characterized the best of the United States Armed Forces."

Thank you.