Washington, DC – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) announced Wednesday, December 2, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed his resolution recognizing the importance of teaching elementary and secondary school students about the sacrifices that veterans have made throughout the history of the nation.
Below are excerpts from his remarks:
“Let me just share one experience. Just a few weeks ago, I was here, and we had finished voting early, and I decided to go out for a walk around the Capitol Hill. It was one of those beautiful falls days we have had here in Washington.
“And as I was walking down the Mall, I walked past the World War II Memorial. And I stood there, and I was looking at all the people that were there. Older people were standing there, looking at the Pacific side and Atlantic side, and I was trying to think, through my mind, what they were thinking.
“Were they remembering a friend, a colleague, who didn’t come back? There were a lot of them who were sharing that experience with grandchildren or even great-grandchildren. And you could just see the memorial and the pride and the tears in our veterans.
“And as I continued to walk, if you continue to walk, I went down to the Korean War Memorial, and that was one my family personally has experience. My uncle, 12 years before I was born, was killed in 1952. So my grandmother and grandfather always taught my family of the sacrifice that veterans make, and particularly the sacrifice they made and their oldest son made in the Korean War.
“And then as you come across the Mall there is the Abraham Lincoln, and the Gettysburg address, which a lot of us know the Gettysburg part, but it was dedicating a cemetery and the words of Abraham Lincoln to our veterans.
“And then the one that is just so moving, as I was walking back, is the Vietnam Wall. And as you see families at the Vietnam Wall a lot of them will take a piece of paper, and take a pencil, and sketch out the name of someone. And as I was watching them do that, I was standing there going - is that a husband that didn’t come home, is that a father for a child they never met? And you are just trying to figure out why and what people are thinking as they are honoring our veterans.
“Then I turned to head back, to get back for an evening meeting. As you head to the Capitol building, you understand what it is all about. Because the thing you see foremost is the dome over the building in which we are standing in. And I remember walking back after having these moments, with veterans and remembering veterans, and looking at the dome all the way back.
“That dome is opportunity, its freedom, its hope. But not just for us, it’s hope for the world; people look to that dome throughout the world. And it hit me that the Mall is the story of veterans. And the reason the Mall is the story of veterans, and memorials to veterans, is because this country, and this nation, and this dome, and this symbol is about freedom. We wouldn’t have one without the other. It was an emotional day for me as I was walking back.
“And I have been talking to schools, as I have mentioned just earlier, during Veterans’ Day. And one of the things I talked about was Francis Scott Key and the Star Spangled Banner; and the history and the actual meaning of those words of that song. And I always end it with I will never pretend I can improve on Francis Scott Key, but the last line I said, is it’s the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
