Memorial Day
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this coming Monday is Memorial Day, the day we set aside to honor the more than 1.1 million Americans who have given their lives in military service to our Nation.
It is a solemn day of remembrance and has a special resonance in my state. One of America's first Memorial Day ceremonies occurred in Illinois. It was April 1866--barely a year after the end of America's terrible Civil War.
Three returning veterans from that great conflict were waiting for services to begin at a church in Carbondale when they saw a young woman with two infants approach a small, unmarked grave in the church cemetery, place flowers on the grave, and kneel in prayer. The veterans, deeply moved, collected wildflowers and placed them at all of the veterans' graves in the churchyard. They then arranged to host a parade of veterans to honor the war dead resting in the town's cemetery.
More than 200 veterans showed up for that parade--one of America's first Memorial Day parades. Among the marchers was General John Logan, a Civil War hero and proud son of Illinois. The following year, General Logan was appointed the commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. One of his first acts as commander in chief was to call for a national day of remembrance to honor the soldiers who sacrificed their lives so that America could receive a ``new birth of freedom.''
In the Army's General Order No. 11--the ``Memorial Day Order''-- General Logan wrote of his hope that the day of remembrance would be ``kept up from year to year, [as long as] a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades.''
On this Memorial Day, more than a century and a half later, we remember all of the American patriots who have fallen in battles--from Antietam, to the Argonne Forest, to Afghanistan. General Logan called their deaths ``the cost of a free and undivided republic.''
In these fractious times, when our Nation sometimes feels, again, like a house divided, may we remember the price those fallen heroes paid to preserve our Union. And may we also remember the duty we each bear to preserve the priceless gift for which they gave their lives-- this Nation, free and undivided.
On a related note, I want to take a moment to wish a belated happy birthday to an American hero who returned from war. Sgt. Victor Butler is that last surviving Tuskegee Airman in his home State of Rhode Island and one of the last of that legendary Band of Brothers in our Nation. Last Saturday, May 21, Mr. Butler celebrated his 100th birthday.
When he was a young man, he and the other members of the Tuskegee Airmen helped to save the world from the tyranny of fascism--and he helped to loosen the grip of racism on America. In the weeks before his 100th birthday, Mr. Butler told family and friends all he wanted for his centennial celebration was a card. He didn't want folks to make a fuss or go to any great expense.
One of his nieces posted his wish on social media--and word spread. He thought he might receive a few cards. At last count, Mr. Butler had received more than 40,000 cards and video greetings from people in every State in the Union and as far away as Japan, South Korea, and Germany.
Last Saturday, on his birthday, his hometown held a parade in his honor. And he received a signed football and a jersey with the number ``100'' on the back, hand-delivered by the owner of his favorite football team, the New England Patriots--a well-deserved tribute to a real-life hero.
Like the tradition of Memorial Day, the Tuskegee Airmen have a special connection to my State. The first airfield where they trained-- before Tuskegee--was Chanute Field in Rantoul, IL, near Champaign. The spot where that airfield stood is marked proudly today with signs that read ``Birthplace of the Tuskegee Airmen.'' And in 2016, Illinois renamed a stretch of Interstate 57 on the South Side of Chicago as the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Trail. It is a fitting tribute, given how many Tuskegee Airman had roots in the Chicago area.
African-Americans have fought and died for America's freedom since Crispus Attucks became the first American to fall in our War for Independence.
As the first African-American aviators ever to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps, the Tuskegee Airman occupy a special chapter in our Nation's history. They fought in World War II, at a time when the U.S. Armed Forces were still segregated, and our Nation was still riven with racially discriminatory laws and attitudes. Their original mission was to serve as escort pilots for other American flyers, to protect them from enemy fire. The Tuskegee Airmen also flew bombing missions themselves.
Officially, they were known as the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group. But the pilots whose flights they protected gave them a nickname. They called them the Red Tails, or the Red-Tailed Angels, due to the distinctive color on their aircraft wings. Their leader was the legendary Captain Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., who would go on to become the first African-American brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force. His father, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., was the first Black brigadier general in the U.S. Army.
There were a total of 932 Tuskegee Airmen pilots, and another 10,000 Tuskegee Airmen--and women--who served as mechanics, radio operators, and other essential support positions. They conducted more than 700 bomber escort missions--and they never lost a single lost a single aircraft--not one. They were the only fighter group in World War II with a perfect record of protecting bombers.
White U.S. military pilots were permitted to fly no more than 52 missions during World War II. Some Tuskegee Airman flew as many as 100 missions. Sixty-six Tuskegee Airmen died in combat. Thirty-three were held as prisoners of war.
In March 2007, the Tuskegee Airmen as a group were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor Congress can bestow. The ceremony was held in the Rotunda of the Capitol. I will never forget the sight of 300 Tuskegee Airman dressed in red sports jackets, saluting the American flag in that hallowed space. Some were in wheelchairs. But when the National Anthem played, they all rose to their feet and stood straight and proud.
Just before the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony, I had the privilege of hosting several Tuskegee Airmen with Illinois roots in my office. Then-Senator Obama stopped by to pay his respects. It was a historic and humbling moment.
I met Lt. Colonel George Sherman, who grew up in Moline and joined the Army Air Corps in 1944 at the age of 18. He had to take the physical twice; he was rejected the first time because of his buck teeth, but he didn't give up. He ended up serving 22 years in the Air Force.
First Lieutenant Shelby Westbook was born in Arkansas and lost both of his parents when he was just 12. He flew 60 missions over 12 countries in Europe. After the war, he wanted to attend engineering school. The first school he applied to rejected him because it didn't accept Black students. He moved to Chicago, earned a degree, and worked as an electrical engineer for decades.
First Lieutenant Robert Martin famously claimed to have flown ``63 and a half missions.'' On his 64th combat mission, he was shot down over Yugoslavia. He was hidden by antifascist partisans until he could return to his unit. After the war, he worked as an electrical engineer for the city of Chicago for nearly 40 years.
Flight Officer John Lyle--``Captain Jack'' to his friends--grew up on Chicago's South Side. He flew 26 combat missions. After the war, he earned a college degree but couldn't find work in his field so, for a time, he washed windows of downtown skyscrapers. Eventually, he owned his own insurance agency, a fish and chicken restaurant, and a tree- trimming service.
Lt. Bev Dunjill flew more than 100 combat missions between World War II and the Korean war. He later worked for the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
All of those heroes are gone now. But their valor and impact are not forgotten. The Tuskegee Airmen and the all-Black Montfort Point Marines were among nearly 1 million Black Americans who served in World War II. Most saw the war as a battle on two fronts--one against fascism overseas and the other against racially discriminatory laws and attitudes in America.
Their goal, they said, was ``the Double V,'' victory for democracy overseas and at home. The change at home did not come easily, but it did come. Three years after World War II ended, President Truman ordered an end to segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces. And the service and sacrifice of the Tuskegee Airmen and other Black veterans and leaders helped set the stage for the civil rights movement of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
Today, as the last surviving Tuskegee Airman near their 100th birthdays and we lose hundreds of World War II veterans each day, we are painfully aware that the democracy and unity they paid such a high price for is under threat, both overseas and at home. The peace of Europe and democracy itself is under fire from Russia in Ukraine. And our sense of security and national unity seems to be fraying at home. Violence--especially gun violence--threatens us all, even our children.
Our progress against division and discrimination often feels shaky. We are pitted against each other by those who believe that conflict and anger is good for their political interests or their profit sheets. But it doesn't have to be this way.
As we prepare to remember and honor those who gave their lives for our freedom, let us resolve to do our part, in our time, to keep our Nation free and undivided.
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