WASHINGTON, DC-On the 64th anniversary of D-Day, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) delivered the following statement on the Senate floor. Senator Casey also paid special tribute to Specialist Ross A. McGinnis who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor earlier this week for valor in Iraq:
Statement of U.S. Senator Bob Casey
June 6, 2008
I rise today for two purposes. One is to speak for a couple of minutes about today's anniversary of D-Day and also to talk about a Pennsylvanian who lost his life in Iraq and was this week awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
I first wanted to speak about -- about D-Day. We observe this anniversary today, 64 years, but I think we have to think today about how we do that. We know what happened on D-Day. For so many Americans prior to just a number of years ago, it was a piece of history we read about in the history books. We learned a bit about it in school. But for a new generation of Americans, D-Day has meant when we -- what we saw in the movie, "Private Ryan." And thank goodness for that film. Because it captured so much of the horror, so much of the sacrifice and valor of our troops. So we remember those Americans who gave their lives that day to save the world, literally to save the world from the horror that could have befallen the world if the axis powers were successful. If D-Day didn't go as well as it did, they would have been successful or might have been.
I'm remembering today not just a generation of Americans, the greatest generation of Americans as we know them now who sacrificed so much. But I’m thinking of people from my home state. Pennsylvania, I think, had more Medal of Honor winners in World War II than any other state. One of them was in my home area, Lackawanna County.
Gino Merli, who served in Europe in that theater in the war and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, passed away a couple of years ago. When I think of D-Day and I think of those sacrifices, I think of Gino Merli. His Medal of Honor pertained to his combat not on D-Day but in a related theater of war and we think about those who came back. We think about those who served and came back, many of them wounded permanently and irreparably just as we see today on Iraq.
I think about what Abraham Lincoln said. He talked about the soldier, “him who has borne the battle,” that we must care for him who has borne the battle.
I think one way to think about those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world is to remember something my father said years ago. He talked about praying for our troops, as important as that is. But he also talked about praying for ourselves, that we may be worthy of their valor. And the only way that we can be worthy of the valor of those who served in World War II on D-Day or served in Iraq or Afghanistan or anyone anywhere around the world -- in Vietnam, in the Korean War, whatever the conflict was -- we can't just honor them by remembering and commemorating and talking about battles and all of the information that we can impart about war. We have to, if we're going to be worthy of their valor, do the right thing today. Not just when we commemorate D-Day, but every day.
And there are at least two things we can do to pay tribute to those who served and to be worthy of their valor. One is to make sure that those who survive a war and come back to the United States have not just some health care, but the best health care. And we've got to fund it. And I think, fortunately, the last two budgets, we've been doing that. We've been meeting or exceeding the budget on veteran’s health care.
The second thing we must do, at least, is make sure that anyone who serves in combat has an opportunity to be educated as best we can provide. That's why the vote on the GI Bill recently was so essential, so central to meeting that basic obligation.
So, caring, as Abraham Lincoln said, for him and increasingly her who has borne the battle, and making sure they have education. So today when we remember the service of those who gave their lives and in some cases gave their sacrifice and survived D-Day, we have to, I think, meet the obligation that service imposes on us here in the Senate and as citizens.
And, finally I want to speak just for a couple of moments about a Pennsylvanian. There have been, as I said before, more Medal of Honor winners in Pennsylvania in World War II. We did some research. You go down the list of people who have served from Pennsylvania who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
We note that 378 Pennsylvanians have received the Medal of Honor out of about 3,467 overall. So, a high percentage. We had 25 Medal of Honor winners in World War II.
In Operation Iraqi Freedom -- one, the person that I want to spend a couple of moments talking about. Operation Iraqi Freedom has only four, I’m told, four Medal of Honor winners across the nation. So, Pennsylvania has one of those four. And his name -- and I want to give his whole title, Specialist Ross A. McGinnis, 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.
I wanted to read the description of his sacrifice, the reason he was awarded the Medal of Honor. So rare, so rare for any soldier to be awarded with that honor.
Here's part of the official report. This is December 4, 2006. And I’m quoting, "during the course of the patrol that he was on, an unidentified insurgent positioned on a rooftop nearby threw a fragmentation grenade into the Humvee where Specialist McGinnis was. Without hesitation or regard for his own life, McGinnis threw his back over the grenade, pinning it between his body and the Humvee's radio mount. McGinnis absorbed all lethal fragments and the concussive effects of the grenade with his own body. McGinnis, who was a Private First Class at that time, was posthumously promoted to Specialist.”
Specialist McGinnis' heroic actions and tragic death are detailed in the web site that this came from." Along with this and I’m quoting, “here was a young man from Knox, Pennsylvania, 19 years old when he gave, as Abraham Lincoln also said, the last full measure of devotion to his country.” And I’ve used that line a lot because it applies so well to those who have given their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan and other places around the world. But no time -- no time have I used that line from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address has it applied better than it does in this instance with Ross A. McGinnis. 19 years old, born June 14, 1987 in Meadville, Pennsylvania but grew up in Knox, Pennsylvania. He was a 2005 graduate of Keystone Junior-Senior High School and his parents were with President Bush this week when he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
So we're thinking of him today on D-Day. But we should make sure that those memories that we have of his service and those who served in any conflict be the inspiration for our work here in the Senate, to make sure that we're doing everything we can to earn the valor that they gave so heroically for our country. And that has to be about making sure our troops are given what they need when they're on the battlefield. But when they come home that help doesn't stop at the shoreline, they need to be given the best health care and the best educational opportunities.
So, Mr. President, I’ll conclude with this. We pay tribute to those who have served our country, especially today, to remember those who served on D-Day, and in a special way we're thinking of Ross A. McGinnis, his service, his sacrifice, and we're praying for his family.
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Statement of U.S. Senator Bob Casey
June 6, 2008
I rise today for two purposes. One is to speak for a couple of minutes about today's anniversary of D-Day and also to talk about a Pennsylvanian who lost his life in Iraq and was this week awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
I first wanted to speak about -- about D-Day. We observe this anniversary today, 64 years, but I think we have to think today about how we do that. We know what happened on D-Day. For so many Americans prior to just a number of years ago, it was a piece of history we read about in the history books. We learned a bit about it in school. But for a new generation of Americans, D-Day has meant when we -- what we saw in the movie, "Private Ryan." And thank goodness for that film. Because it captured so much of the horror, so much of the sacrifice and valor of our troops. So we remember those Americans who gave their lives that day to save the world, literally to save the world from the horror that could have befallen the world if the axis powers were successful. If D-Day didn't go as well as it did, they would have been successful or might have been.
I'm remembering today not just a generation of Americans, the greatest generation of Americans as we know them now who sacrificed so much. But I’m thinking of people from my home state. Pennsylvania, I think, had more Medal of Honor winners in World War II than any other state. One of them was in my home area, Lackawanna County.
Gino Merli, who served in Europe in that theater in the war and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, passed away a couple of years ago. When I think of D-Day and I think of those sacrifices, I think of Gino Merli. His Medal of Honor pertained to his combat not on D-Day but in a related theater of war and we think about those who came back. We think about those who served and came back, many of them wounded permanently and irreparably just as we see today on Iraq.
I think about what Abraham Lincoln said. He talked about the soldier, “him who has borne the battle,” that we must care for him who has borne the battle.
I think one way to think about those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world is to remember something my father said years ago. He talked about praying for our troops, as important as that is. But he also talked about praying for ourselves, that we may be worthy of their valor. And the only way that we can be worthy of the valor of those who served in World War II on D-Day or served in Iraq or Afghanistan or anyone anywhere around the world -- in Vietnam, in the Korean War, whatever the conflict was -- we can't just honor them by remembering and commemorating and talking about battles and all of the information that we can impart about war. We have to, if we're going to be worthy of their valor, do the right thing today. Not just when we commemorate D-Day, but every day.
And there are at least two things we can do to pay tribute to those who served and to be worthy of their valor. One is to make sure that those who survive a war and come back to the United States have not just some health care, but the best health care. And we've got to fund it. And I think, fortunately, the last two budgets, we've been doing that. We've been meeting or exceeding the budget on veteran’s health care.
The second thing we must do, at least, is make sure that anyone who serves in combat has an opportunity to be educated as best we can provide. That's why the vote on the GI Bill recently was so essential, so central to meeting that basic obligation.
So, caring, as Abraham Lincoln said, for him and increasingly her who has borne the battle, and making sure they have education. So today when we remember the service of those who gave their lives and in some cases gave their sacrifice and survived D-Day, we have to, I think, meet the obligation that service imposes on us here in the Senate and as citizens.
And, finally I want to speak just for a couple of moments about a Pennsylvanian. There have been, as I said before, more Medal of Honor winners in Pennsylvania in World War II. We did some research. You go down the list of people who have served from Pennsylvania who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
We note that 378 Pennsylvanians have received the Medal of Honor out of about 3,467 overall. So, a high percentage. We had 25 Medal of Honor winners in World War II.
In Operation Iraqi Freedom -- one, the person that I want to spend a couple of moments talking about. Operation Iraqi Freedom has only four, I’m told, four Medal of Honor winners across the nation. So, Pennsylvania has one of those four. And his name -- and I want to give his whole title, Specialist Ross A. McGinnis, 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.
I wanted to read the description of his sacrifice, the reason he was awarded the Medal of Honor. So rare, so rare for any soldier to be awarded with that honor.
Here's part of the official report. This is December 4, 2006. And I’m quoting, "during the course of the patrol that he was on, an unidentified insurgent positioned on a rooftop nearby threw a fragmentation grenade into the Humvee where Specialist McGinnis was. Without hesitation or regard for his own life, McGinnis threw his back over the grenade, pinning it between his body and the Humvee's radio mount. McGinnis absorbed all lethal fragments and the concussive effects of the grenade with his own body. McGinnis, who was a Private First Class at that time, was posthumously promoted to Specialist.”
Specialist McGinnis' heroic actions and tragic death are detailed in the web site that this came from." Along with this and I’m quoting, “here was a young man from Knox, Pennsylvania, 19 years old when he gave, as Abraham Lincoln also said, the last full measure of devotion to his country.” And I’ve used that line a lot because it applies so well to those who have given their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan and other places around the world. But no time -- no time have I used that line from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address has it applied better than it does in this instance with Ross A. McGinnis. 19 years old, born June 14, 1987 in Meadville, Pennsylvania but grew up in Knox, Pennsylvania. He was a 2005 graduate of Keystone Junior-Senior High School and his parents were with President Bush this week when he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
So we're thinking of him today on D-Day. But we should make sure that those memories that we have of his service and those who served in any conflict be the inspiration for our work here in the Senate, to make sure that we're doing everything we can to earn the valor that they gave so heroically for our country. And that has to be about making sure our troops are given what they need when they're on the battlefield. But when they come home that help doesn't stop at the shoreline, they need to be given the best health care and the best educational opportunities.
So, Mr. President, I’ll conclude with this. We pay tribute to those who have served our country, especially today, to remember those who served on D-Day, and in a special way we're thinking of Ross A. McGinnis, his service, his sacrifice, and we're praying for his family.
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