09-21-2005, 04:20 PM
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Words Alone Just Will Not Do It
The following words were uttered on 16 September, 2005 during the National POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY at the Pentagon?s River Parade Field by Gordon E. England and Congressman Duncan Hunter, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee (Gordon R. England & Air Force General Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, hosted the ceremony):
Quote:
?We?re here to remember, we?re here to honor, the courage of America?s captives and our missing countrymen who risked everything, facing the worst of war to preserve the best of America.? England said. ?We?re here, above all, to reaffirm our commitment to keep the pledge President Bush made to make the fullest possible accounting of our prisoners of war and those missing in action.?
England said the brave men and women who serve today - whether in Afghanistan or Iraq or in other theaters - can do so with full confidence that if they are captured, become missing in action or fall in battle, this nation will spare no effort to bring them home.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, was the keynote speaker for the event: ?You hallow this ground,? the congressman told former POWs and the families of POWs and service members missing in action in attendance.
?This a day in which we pause to remember those who served in captivity and those who were never returned,? Hunter said.
?It?s a day that we recognize a daughter who walked down the aisle with no one to give her away,? he continued. ?This is a day that we recognize and say a prayer for the families who watched the sun set on the Pacific coast or the Atlantic coast, waiting for a loved one to return and came back again and again and again, and never saw their loved one again.?
?The nation owes it to its POWs and MIAs to honor their sacrifice,? Hunter said.
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Splendid words these, but words alone will just not do it! The government of the United States now has the opportunity to put their votes where their rhetoric is! As such, I now implore Congressman Hunter and the remainder of the House Armed Services Committee, the whole House, the Senate, and indeed even the President Himself, to quickly push through and pass into law, the Bill known as HR 2369, the ?Honor Our Fallen Prisoners of War Act!!?
I am sure that these men of honor mean what they have said, and as such, I now call upon them to transcend their words, and to vote upon and pass this legislation!
This bi-partisan act would (finally) grant Purple Heart recognition to those gallant Americans who died giving their last full measure of love and devotion, while being held as POWs of our nation?s enemies!
How about it gentlemen, it is now time to ?WALK THE WALK!!?
VERITAS (Truth)
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