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[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 75 (Monday, May 8, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6238-S6239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                              V-E DAY 1995

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, 50 years ago, U.S. forces, along with those 
of our valiant and embattled allies, formally ended the victorious 
struggle to contain a horrific evil that had spread across the European 
continent. For those Americans who attended the ceremonies that marked 
the Nazi surrender, it was a solemn moment, for the struggle had been 
long and bloody, and the price to defend freedom had come at a very 
high cost. For the world there was joy, renewed hope of lasting peace, 
and resolve to protect the freedom for which so many had offered up 
their lives. Today many of those hopes which are held deeply in the 
hearts of [[Page S6239]] the veterans who served, their families, and a 
generation of Americans who lived through the war, have become a 
reality.
  For Americans too young to remember the war and those born into this 
world in its aftermath, we have a special obligation this day to our 
parents, our grandparents, and to our children and future generations 
of Americans; 50 years from today most of those who remember the war 
will no longer be with us. It is, therefore, our responsibility to 
learn about what happened, and why it happened. We must ask those who 
fought in World War II what it was all about. We must remember the 
sufferings and the sacrifice, lest we become complacent with our 
freedom and suffer the consequences. We must all, every one of us, 
learn from our own history. Now, 50 years later, we must redouble our 
efforts to understand by talking to those who were there, those who 
remember it.
  Americans who lived through this time and made the sacrifices, have 
one last talk. It is now your duty to pass on to those of us who 
weren't on the battlefields of Europe, or fighting on the ``homefront'' 
what happened during the war, so that we can learn from your 
experiences and pass along to future generations from the lesson's of 
the power of hatred and the price of protecting freedom for all.
  This day I encourage parents and grandparents to take some time to 
talk to your children and grandchildren about World War II. You heroic 
veterans, tell them about the terrifying face of battle. Do not try to 
protect them from the brutal images that you have carried with you for 
all these years. Those of you who fought on the homefront, tell them 
about the hardships of home, the fears, the rationing; the friends, 
loved ones, and neighbors who never came home. Tell them why it all 
happened. Tell them about the price of acquiescence, isolation, and 
complacency.
  You children and grandchildren, the future of the world, go to your 
grandparents and parents, call them on the phone, and ask them what it 
was like. And, take the time to read about it, and understand that they 
bought you the freedom that we now enjoy. Ask them how they felt when 
its future was uncertain. They remember, they will be glad to tell you. 
Listen hard, as if your life depends on it, because it does. And thank 
them for what they have done for you. Your job is never to forget the 
stories they have to tell you. Your job is to learn those lessons now 
so that your children will never again be called upon to smite such 
evil from the Earth.
  This is also a day when all of us should turn, particularly to those 
veterans who live among us, and offer to them our humble and loving 
thanks. The great State of Idaho sent thousands of men off to war in 
Europe. Many, many of them never again laid their eyes on the 
mountains, deserts, the forest, of Idaho, and lay buried in foreign 
graves. The veterans who still walk among us, might have suffered the 
same fate, if God had not chosen for them a different path. They risked 
their young lives for us, and suffered unimaginable horrors, so that we 
might not have to. The people of Idaho, the Nation, and the world, owe 
them everything.
  Once in a while, as we live our busy lives with all of the challenges 
and trials that accompany them, we get the chance to stop and think 
about why we are able to live in this, the greatest Nation on Earth, in 
such freedom. Today is such a day. When envisioning the drama and pain 
of that conflict become difficult to imagine, draw upon those who lived 
through it, and learn from them.
  And as we pay solemn tribute to the memories of the victims, and the 
survivors, the brave, and the victorious, let us be mindful of what led 
to this terrible war and thankful to those who fought it. Let us not 
forget the cost of freedom. And let us pray that God give us peace.

                          ____________________
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