August 10, 1964
Page 18814
Mr. HART. Mr. President, before proceeding, I ask unanimous consent that the names of the distinguished Senator from Nebraska [Mr. HRUSKA] and the distinguished Senator from Minnesota [Mr. McCARTHY] be added as cosponsors of the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. HART. Mr. President, the amendment would authorize the President to use foreign currencies accruing to this Government to rehabilitate and to maintain the cemeteries in Italy which contain the graves of Poles who fell in the allied offensive at Monte Cassino in 1944.
The language which I suggest by the amendment we should add to the bill was contained in the bill as it came to us from the other body.
I am advised that the Director of AID would not object to the amendment. I do not state, and it would be improper to state, that he supports the amendment.
The facts, briefly, are as follows: Between 4,000 and 4,100 Poles fought and fell in the 2d Polish Army. These men very largely had escaped through the Mediterranean basin to the west after the Germans moved into Russia. History records many dramatic engagements in World War II, but I submit that history will always underscore the action in front of Monte Cassino at the Rapido River as one of the very key days in the allied offensive. Those men were fighting with us and for the cause which we held dear. The Polish Government in Warsaw today is completely indifferent to the graves of these men. The Polish Government in exile in London in those days no longer exists.
It would seem to those of us who offer the amendment that we could very dramatically portray to the people of Poland our continuing concern and respect for Polish men who fell in defense of freedom's cause.
I very much hope that the Senate will return to the bill the language that came to us from the House. That would be the effect of the amendment.
For those who are interested in a brief sketch of the history of the cemeteries, I suggest that they reread an article which was contained in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD of August 5, 1964, at Page 18077. It is a description by a GI who returned to the great battle scene, and it is a heartbreaking story of the disrepair of the cemetery in Italy which contains the places of honored rest of brave men, the maintenance of which places America very prudently could authorize the President to undertake.
Mr. HRUSKA. Mr. President, will the Senator from Michigan yield?
Mr. HART. I yield.
Mr. HRUSKA. I thank the distinguished Senator from Michigan for extending to me the privilege of being a cosponsor of his amendment. I subscribe to the thoughts which he has expressed and the reasons that he thinks the amendment should be adopted. The world thrilled to the very bitter and strategic battle which occurred in Monte Cassino, approximately 20 years ago. But it was tragic in many of its aspects.
There has been the task of rebuilding the village. There has been a job of rehabilitating and, in fact, reconstructing the abbey itself. But the cemetery which is the last resting place of 4,085 members of the Polish contingency that fought on the side of the allies on that occasion lies quite abandoned and neglected. A memorial has been constructed at the site, but it is in a sad state of disrepair. It does not reflect any great credit upon the feeling of appreciation for the sacrificial acts that were performed there.
Obviously the present Government of Poland will have no part of it and will do nothing in the circumstances. There is no longer a Polish Government in exile in London; and if anything is to be done, it will have to be done by a method something like that which has been proposed by the Senator from Michigan in the amendment, and which the Senator from Nebraska supports. As I understand, the amendment would merely authorize the appropriation of funds. It would employ the use of counterpart funds wherever they are available and any such unexpended balance that there may be for this purpose. I urge Senators to adopt the amendment.
Mr. HART. Mr. President, I appreciate the support of the Senator from Nebraska.
Mr. COOPER. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
Mr. HART. I yield.
Mr. COOPER. I did not hear the explanation of the Senator from Michigan. Will he repeat his explanation?
Mr. HART. Very briefly, the amendment would authorize the President, when counterpart funds are available -- and it would require a specific further appropriation action -- to rehabilitate and thereafter maintain the cemetery in Italy in which are buried about 4,000 Polish soldiers who fought with the 2d Polish Army at Monte Cassino. Today, tragically, the cemetery is in terrible disrepair. It affronts anyone sensitive to the values that persuaded those men to make that sacrifice.
We in America could here make a significant gesture to the people of Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, demonstrating our continuing realization that the aspirations which were theirs then and which we shared then continue to be shared. We think this is a tangible method to demonstrate that concern.
Mr. COOPER. I thought the Senator might have also been referring to the cemetery at Arnhem, where lie a number of Polish paratroopers who also gave their lives in their devotion to the allied cause.
Mr. HART. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from Maine [Mr. MUSKIE], but first I ask unanimous consent that his name be added as a cosponsor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I thought it might be appropriate at this point to give the Senate some description of the Polish graves in Italy as contained in Mr. Deutschman's article. I quote as follows:
A few hundreds yards below the abbey is a small sign saying: "Polish Cemetery." The Free Poles were the ones who finally stormed and captured the remains of the abbey, and you walk for about a half mile past a jangly-belled donkey, two cows feeding in the bushes, and two gypsy-like peasant women who hardly glance at you, to what is undoubtedly the most heartbreaking sight of your trip.
A graveled path leads up to a simple stone pillar with a cross on top. A growth of mimosa trees forms an impressive cross of greenery beside an altar, flanked by two Polish eagles, with 10 coats of arms on its front. Below is a plot of perhaps 500 graves.
But there is no caretaker here, and the altar has sightseers' names scratched on it (happily, no American ones). The graves are literally falling away into the earth. The crosses and flat stones are of inferior marble, and some in half; others have been eaten away by the weather so that you can barely make out the names engraved on them. Most of the men, you notice, died on May 12, 1944. Two of the crosses have faded bits of colored ribbon hanging from them, undoubtedly signifying medals. The gate has a pair of brave stone eagles on either flank, but they are corroded with holes. Underneath, there is a flame -- like the Eternal Flame at Arlington or under the Arch of Triumph in Paris -- but it is unlit, and there are three weather-worn wreaths alongside. You cannot help but contrast this Polish memorial with all others you have seen -- and realize that there is inequality even in death.
I should like to point out, as the Senator from Michigan has so well pointed out, that these are graves of men who fought for freedom in World War II, the men we cheered from the sidelines in America, for long months and years. They did not achieve their goal, but they died for it, and it seems to me we owe an obligation to honor them at the place where they fought and where they lie dead on Italian soil.
Mr. HART. I echo the eloquent plea made by the Senator from Maine.
Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent to add as an additional cosponsor the name of the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. PROXMIRE].
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. HART. Mr. President, I am also delighted to ask unanimous consent that the Senator presiding in the chair at the moment, the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. INOUYE], may be added as a cosponsor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. PELL. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
Mr. HART. I yield to the Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. PELL. It is my recollection that the Poles who were fighting at Monte Casino were under British command. Have the British, under whose command the Poles were fighting, been contacted with respect to the responsibility of looking after the graves?
Mr. HART. It is true, as the Senator has said, that the British Army was in command and that the Poles took their general field direction from them.
As to the specific question addressed to me, I must confess I have no knowledge of it. I do not know whether the British Government would care to cooperate in the undertaking or not. I would feel that we clearly could rehabilitate these graves, and not condition our action upon the participation by any other people, although it would be surely welcome if the British Government expressed a similar desire.
Mr. PELL. Mr. President, will the Senator yield further?
Mr. HART. I yield.
Mr. PELL. Does the Senator have knowledge of any other graves honoring allies or co-belligerents of ours that we currently take care of now?
Mr. HART. I do not know whether there is a comparable cemetery or not.
Mr. PELL. Otherwise, would it not be establishing a precedent as to future wars and in connection with past wars?
Mr. HART. If this is indeed a precedent, I think the compelling reasons for doing this as a first step are sufficient unto themselves and would indeed persuade us to act similarly in the future -- pray God we shall not have another war -- for those who fought and died for us and who were dishonored in that place of rest. I would pray that in the future there will be no similar need. We all hope there will be no such necessity. Indeed, we are told, if there is a war on a massive scale there will not be enough people left to dig graves for the dead.
Mr. PELL. I think it will be found that in the Far East and Eastern Europe there are many graves of those who fought for our cause or our side of the war which are in bad condition indeed.
Mr. HART. If that is the case, I would suggest that our own Battle Monuments Commission inventory and report on them. I for one would feel very uncomfortable if this situation were found to exist, and would indeed urge that it be corrected