CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- SENATE
November 11, 1969
Page 33660
VETERANS DAY
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, when we pause to observe Veterans Day, we pay tribute not only to our fighting men but to the qualities of American life which they have fought to defend.
Veterans Day is an opportunity to appreciate anew the sacrifices and contributions which American fighting men have made in the pursuit of peace and national independence for nearly 200 years.
It is a day when Americans can unite in respect for those men and women, and for their deeds.
There is reason for a spirit of national unity today. If we reflect on our history, we see that different kinds of Americans have gone to war to protect different personal aspirations and values. We have fought to protect our loved ones, our neighborhoods, our family attitudes, our ethnic traditions, and many other values.
It is out of this diversity of objectives and motivations that America has had to summon the strength and the will to set national goals, to decide public policy and to build a nation.
We have succeeded, not because we were different, but because we have recognized our differences and accommodated to them.
We believe we can disagree with one another but still maintain national stability and purpose.
We believe we can pursue different careers and espouse different life styles and philosophies, and yet agree on the necessity to exercise our individuality in the framework of mutual trust and respect.
Our Armed Forces have taught us that no region, race, or creed has a monopoly on courage, valor, or wisdom under fire.
We know, as John Kennedy reminded us, that at the Alamo a man was not asked for a copy of his genealogy before being put to the defense of the outpost.
Veterans Day should remind us that a sense of national unity is essential for freedom in our society, no matter what our differences may be.
In my judgment the greatest contribution to national unity each of us can make is to demonstrate restraint and forbearance in communicating with each other.
This is especially true at a time when there is a tendency to polarize Americans into conflicting camps on so many issues.
Our great challenge today is to build a whole country, one which draws strength and wisdom from the very diversity of its people and their views freely expressed.
We have repeatedly done so in time of war around the globe. Our test is to do so at home. Our experience demonstrates we can do so, and I am confident we will.
Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, the senior Senator from Michigan (Mr. HART) is absent from the Senate on official business. However, he has prepared a statement regarding Veterans Day which he would have delivered to the Senate had he been here. I think that Senator HART'S words are highly thoughtful and most appropriate. I commend his remarks to all Senators and ask unanimous consent that his statement "Veterans Day, 1969" be printed at this point in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the remarks were ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
VETERANS DAY, 1969
Mr. HART. Mr. President, Veterans Day, 1969, finds the nation deeply divided over how best to end our involvement in a war.
However, as we pause to honor those Americans who have fought in the present and past wars, we should, we must make clear that this nation is not divided in its desire for peace.
We cannot know, of course, what message those Americans who have died in battle might have for us today, but I believe their plea would echo the plea of each of us -- the plea for "lasting peace and domestic tranquillity."
As we look to the future, let us recall the past and that we fought World War I to make the world safe for democracy and World War II to ensure the Four Freedoms.
The fact that the struggle to achieve those goals continues, does not detract from the effort and sacrifice which went into those two global conflicts.
But if we are to remain true to those who died on battlefields, if we are to remain the people who fought for freedom, we must not sacrifice the right to disagree in the name of unity.
We find our strength in our freedom to disagree, in our freedom to march today in the name of national unity and in the freedom to march later in the week to petition for a different route to peace.
While those who may march today favor one policy, and those who may march this weekend, a different one, most of the marchers have the same end in mind -- lasting peace and domestic tranquillity.
In our search for the best route to those goals. let us pledge not to seek to silence, whether by word or deed, those with whom we disagree.
Let us recognize that the right to disagree and to articulate that disagreement is vital to building the national unity we need to protect freedom.
There can be no real national unity among a people denied the freedom to petition peacefully for or against their government's policies.
We can best honor our war veterans by protecting the freedoms for which they fought.