Recognizing The Sacrifices Being Made By Families Of Members Of The Armed Forces
RECOGNIZING THE SACRIFICES BEING MADE BY FAMILIES OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES -- (House of Representatives - June 08, 2005)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to support H. Con. Res. 159 to recognize the sacrifices being made by the family members of the Armed Forces and to support the designation of the week of June 12 as National Military Families Week. I want to thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) and the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Boren) for their leadership on this issue.
Over the last several years I have traveled around the world and met many young men and women serving our country. They have dedicated their lives to defending this Nation and the principles on which it was founded. They have dedicated their lives to protecting each of us and our families.
We have seen an increased awareness of the sacrifices these men and women have been making. Yet there are many more people that are being overlooked. There are husbands and wives who remain here in the United States while their spouses are making an enormous sacrifice. They are here working and caring for children and other family members left behind. These families face unique challenges while their loved ones are deployed. Yet they remain resilient because of the wonderful support system they have here at home.
As we designate a week to recognize and celebrate these families, I urge our citizens to come forward to support these families. We must get involved in our local communities. Several foundations, like the Armed Forces Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Foundation, and the Love Gift Fund, are busy assisting these families and need our help to carry on.
I also want to thank the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Ms. Herseth), who is a cosponsor of this bill who is unable to be here this morning.
Recently, I was in Landstuhl in Germany. This is the base that, when the soldiers are injured, they immediately come to out of Iraq. I was there, and we were in the intensive care unit.
A young man that had been wounded on night patrol, I was there in the afternoon, and he had been wounded at four o'clock the previous evening, had lost both his legs below the waist. He wanted to tell his story to us. They literally pulled out the breathing apparatus. He apologized that he could not speak very well and was telling his story, related what had happened. But the first thing he wanted to know was how his wife was doing and was there any way that we could get them paired up, and we reassured him that he would be with her the next day.
But, truly, we have situations like this occurring. We have situations like that. We have got just the day-to-day situation of the separation, the anxiety and things that are going on. So we have a great opportunity. And I want to thank the leadership and I want to thank their staff for giving me the opportunity to bring this resolution to the floor and encourage Members to vote for it and then again just encourage our community and country to take the opportunity to remember these people, not only in their thoughts and prayers but by deeds and action.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://thomas.loc.gov/