Senator Murkowski's Memorial Day Message

SENATOR MURKOWSKI'S 2006 MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE

Senator Lisa Murkowski today issued the following statement in observance of Memorial Day:

"‘Freedom is not a gift from heaven…one must fight for it every day.' Those were the words of Simon Wiesenthal, World War II concentration camp survivor and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, who left us last year at the age of 96."

"Although they were the words of a holocaust survivor, they could just as easily have been uttered by an American veteran of World War II, a veteran of the Korean conflict, or a servicemember deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, the US Naval Base at Guantanamo, Cuba or the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea. These words are on the minds of thousands of Americans deployed around the world today in defense of our freedoms. They capture the mission and the reason for being a soldier, a sailor, an airman and a Marine."

"When America goes to war, we go for one reason and one reason only. As Simon Wiesenthal taught, if we do not speak out against the tyrants of today, then we will force our children and our grandchildren to contend with the tyrants of tomorrow. ‘Freedom is not a gift from heaven…one must fight for it every day.'"

"This Memorial Day, as Alaska embarks on another spectacular summer, we pause to remember those who gave their lives in the service of our great Nation and we pray for the safe return of our forces deployed abroad."

"We mourn the loss of Alaskans who gave their lives over the past year and of our ‘adopted Alaskans,' who were deployed abroad from Alaska bases never to return."

"But most important, we remember that all who gave their lives in the service of our country, from the days of the Revolutionary War to the conflicts of today did so in the service of freedom."

"We honor them and ask that the Lord bless their memory."

http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=256265