Veterans Day
Floor Speech
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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, our Nation recently celebrated Veterans Day, one of the most sacred days on our national calendar. Across the land, grateful Americans paid tribute to the brave men and women who have defended our freedom throughout our history.
Today, nearly 20 million Americans hold the title of veteran. That includes almost 110,000 men and women in my State of Maine, one of the highest percentages in the country. It is estimated that some 48 million patriots have served in uniform since our Nation's founding. Among them is a very special group of more than 3,500 heroes who have received the Medal of Honor, the highest award for valor in action. Although more than 160 years have passed since the medal's inception, its foundation of courage and sacrifice have remained constant.
More than 100 Mainers have earned the Medal of Honor. In observation of Memorial Day last May, Emily Burnham of the ``Bangor Daily News'' authored a fascinating story profiling four of them. I am delighted to insert her inspiring story into the Congressional Record and to recap briefly the heroism she described.
Early in the Civil War, fisherman Andrew Tozier enlisted in the 2nd Maine Infantry. He was wounded at the Battle of Gaines Mill in Virginia and captured. After being released by the Confederates, he joined the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain.
At Gettysburg, he was the Regiment's color bearer. During the decisive stand Chamberlain led at Little Round Top, Sergeant Tozier stood at the center of the regiment with the regimental flag tucked in his right elbow while he used the rifle of a wounded member of the color guard to return fire on the attacking Confederates in defense of his comrades.
After the war, Mr. Tozier was adrift and fell into a life of crime, stealing cattle and other property. When he was arrested, Chamberlain, then Governor of Maine, took Mr. Tozier and his wife into his home and helped him turn his life around. In addition, Gov. Chamberlain, a Medal of Honor recipient himself, recommended Andew Tozier for the medal for his bravery at Little Round Top. Veterans helping fellow veterans remains an American tradition.
Before World War II, Edward Dahlgren worked as a seed potato inspector in Maine's Aroostook County. He enlisted in the Army in 1943 and served with the 36th Infantry Division. On February 11, 1945, in France, Sergeant Dahlgren led the rescue of a unit surrounded by German forces, repeatedly attacking enemy positions alone and capturing nearly 40 prisoners. His Medal of Honor citation credits his ``bold leadership and magnificent courage'' for repulsing an enemy attack and saving an American platoon from great danger.
Charles Loring of Portland distinguished himself in both World War II and the Korean war. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces and flew 55 combat missions as a fighter pilot. In December of 1944, he was shot down over Belgium and spent 6 months as a prisoner of war.
Major Loring returned to combat duty in 1952, flying an F-80 jet fighter in Korea. Leading a patrol on November 22 of that year, he spotted a concentration of enemy artillery that was pinning down UN ground troops. As Loring began his bombing run, his plane was severely damaged by anti-aircraft fire. Rather than abort his mission and leave the ground troops in danger, Loring dove his damaged aircraft into the enemy position. He was killed instantly, but his action resulted in the complete destruction of the threat. When Major Loring's widow was presented the posthumous Medal of Honor by President Eisenhower on May 9, 1954, it was announced that the new Air Force base in Limestone, ME, would bear his name.
Gary Gordon grew up in Lincoln, ME. After graduating from his school in 1978, he enlisted in the Army and later volunteered for the elite Delta Force unit. On October 3, 1993, while serving in a peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, Master Sergeant Gordon and fellow sniper 1SG Sergeant Randy Shughart took action to rescue the crews of two Black Hawk helicopters that had been shot down by Somali gunfire.
Heavily outnumbered and outgunned, Gordon and Shughart fought their way to the first helicopter, pulled the crew from the wreckage, and defended their position until they ran out of ammunition. Both gave their lives defending their fellow soldiers, and both received the Medal of Honor.
Their extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are immortalized in the book and movie ``Black Hawk Down.'' Last year, I had the privilege to join in the dedication of a memorial to Master Sergeant Gordon in his hometown of Lincoln.
Although separated by many years and theaters of combat, these four share the common bond of uncommon valor. They are powerful reminders that our Nation has been blessed throughout our history by ordinary citizens who possess the character and the strength to do extraordinary things.
Veterans Day is a meaningful observance throughout America. Nowhere did Veterans Day 2022 have more meaning than in the small Maine town of New Vineyard. That is when Army Air Forces Sergeant Zelwood Gravlin returned home for burial 79 years after he perished in the skies over German-controlled Romania during World War II.
Sergeant Gravlin was a gunner on the B-24 Liberator bomber ``Four Eyes'' that was shot down on August 1, 1943, during Operation Tidal Wave that targeted the Romanian oil refineries that fueled the Nazi war machine. Fifty-one of the 177 B-24s on that harrowing raid did not return.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began exhuming unknown remains associated with Operation Tidal Wave in 2017. One set of remains, which were first interred in a Romanian cemetery and then at an American Military Cemetery in Belgium, were positively identified as Sergeant Gravlin's in July.
This remarkable event underscores the commitment of the American people that the men and women who serve our country will always be honored and, no matter how many years pass, they will never be forgotten. May God bless our veterans and may God bless America.
govermnent's highest honor for military members. Of those Mainers, each one has an amazing story of bravery and valor, each important to know and be inspired by.
These are the stories of four of those courageous Mainers, who distinguished themselves on the battlefield for the sake of their fellow soldiers and their country--and in some cases made the ultimate sacrifice. Andrew J. Tozier
Of the Mainers awarded Medals of Honor for their bravery during the Civil War, few have a post-war story that's nearly as remarkable as the story of their battlefield gallantry, but Andrew Tozier is one such person.
Born in Monmouth, Tozier escaped an abusive father to first become a sailor. At age 23, not long after the Civil War began, he enlisted in the 2nd Maine Infantry Regiment. He was injured and captured at the Battle of Gaines Mill in Virginia in 1862, but after being released by Confederate forces he joined Company I of the 20th Maine in 1863.
At Gettysburg, he was the color bearer for his regiment, and on Little Round Top he defended his fellow soldiers alone, a feat of bravery for which, decades later, his commander, Brig. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain, recommended he be awarded the Medal of Honor--and he was, in 1898, when he was 60.
After the war, Tozier spent nearly five years as a criminal, stealing cattle and other property in towns across Maine. He had a powerful ally when he was finally arrested: Chamberlain, who by then was Maine's governor. Chamberlain pardoned Tozier, and invited him to live at his house in an effort to get Tozier to clean up his act. Tozier spent the rest of his life working as a fisherman, dairy farmer and factory worker.
Tozier was portrayed by Maine actor Herb Mitchell in the movie ``Gettysburg,'' and his story was told in the song ``Ballad of the 20th Maine'' by Maine band the Ghost of Paul Revere. Edward Dahlgren, Caribou
Aroostook County native Edward Dahlgren lived most of his life quietly in the town of Blaine, working as a seed potato inspector for the state. But during World War II, he was personally responsible for keeping an American platoon out of danger during an enemy counterattack in Oberhoffen, France, and capturing about 40 German soldiers during the skirmish on Feb. 11, 1945--just a few months before the war ended in Europe.
That action earned him the Medal of Honor, presented to him by President Harry S. Truman. When he was awarded it, he was the only living Maine Medal of Honor winner after the Civil War. Lt. Dahlgren lived in Maine for the rest of his life, and a hall at the former Loring Air Force Base was named for him, as was a street in Caribou. He died in 2006 at age 90. Charles Loring, Portland
Few military members serve in two wars--let alone distinguish themselves in both the way Portland native Charles Loring did. A few years after graduating from Cheverus High School, in 1942, Loring enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force and received training as a fighter pilot. He would spend the next two years flying missions in both North America and, eventually, on the European front. By December 1944, he'd flown 55 combat missions.
On Dec. 24, 1944, Loring was shot down in Belgium, and spent the next six months as a Nazi prisoner of war. He was liberated three days before the war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945.
Loring's actions that garnered him the Medal of Honor came seven years later when, after years training other pilots, he returned to combat duty in July 1952 as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. On Nov. 22 of that year, while leading a flight patrol near the 38th parallel, Loring spotted Chinese artillery that was pinning down American ground troops nearby. The Chinese crews fired on Loring's aircraft and damaged it, but rather than abort the mission, Loring turned off his radio and dive bombed the artillery, eliminating the threat. He died on impact, and his body was never found.
On May 9, 1954, Loring's widow received the Medal of Honor from President Dwight Eisenhower. On the same day, it was announced that the newly built Air Force base in Limestone would be named for him--Loring Air Force Base, which operated until 1994. Gary Gordon, Lincoln
Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, a native of Lincoln and graduate of Mattanawcook Academy, joined the Army straight out of high school, eventually joining the elite 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, or Delta Force.
In 1993, he was posted as part of a peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, and on Oct. 3 of that year went in with his fellow sniper Randy Shughart to protect the crews of two Black Hawk helicopters that had been shot down by Somali gunfire during the Battle of Mogadishu, made famous by the book and film ``Black Hawk Down.''
During the battle, Gordon urged his superiors to let him get on the ground to protect the crew of the downed helicopters from Somali soldiers. Shughart and Gordon alone pulled the crew from the helicopters and defended their position until they ran out of ammunition. Both died defending their fellow soldiers.
Gordon and Shughart were awarded the Medal of Honor, the first awardees since the war in Vietnam. Gordon's widow, Carmen, was presented with the medal in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, and in 1996, the USNS Gordon was named for him. Last year, a statue of Gordon was unveiled in his hometown of Lincoln, and this year, Maine lawmakers advocated for naming a Maine-built Navy destroyer after him.
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