U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell Speech Given at the Vietnam Moving Wall Celebration Ellensburg, Washington October 27, 2001
"Thank you, Dan, for that great introduction, and thanks to you all for being here today to help us honor some of our nation's military veterans.
"Before I begin my remarks, I'd like to offer my special thanks for today's event to Jerilyn McIntyre, the president of Central Washington University and Dan Jack, executive director of CWU Alumni Relations.
"I also want to thank Lt. Col. Charles Taft, of the CWU Air Force ROTC, and Lt. Col. Mark Souza, of the CWU Army ROTC.
"Finally, I'd to thank the representatives from the American Legion, the Vietnam Combat Veterans Memorial and Point Man Ministries for helping to make this special event possible.
"The theme for this Homecoming weekend is, "In Search of Legends and Heroes." To complete that search, all we need to do is to look around at many of the men and women gathered here today: America's veterans.
"In a few moments, we'll be presenting medallions to about 150 veterans from Washington state, honoring their service and sacrifice for their country and this community. They include veterans from every branch of military service and from both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War and Desert Storm.
"There is no way to ever repay them for what they have given, but we can honor them, and it's our privilege to do that today.
"Ever since the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled in Washington, D.C., in 1982, it has been one of our nation's most powerful and moving tributes to personal sacrifice and national loss.
"For the past week, Ellensburg has been home to one of the four mobile replicas of that monument. And although the memorial we have here today is only half the size of the original in D.C., it's message, and its ability to touch our hearts, is no less powerful.
"There are more than 58,000 names on that wall - including more than 1,000 from Washington state. One of those names is "Russell E. Butler," a young man who attended Central Washington University, lived right here in Beck Hall, and died July 21, 1968 while serving his country.
"No American war since the Civil War has been as controversial as the war in Vietnam - none has created such deep divisions between friends and family members. But whether you supported the Vietnam War or opposed it, I ask you now to join me in honoring and extending our thanks as a nation to the men and women who served when America called.
"The names on that wall pay silent tribute to thousands of men and women from communities like this one - men and women like Russell Butler - who went to a distant war in Southeast Asia and never returned. They didn't go to fight against the North Vietnamese; they went to fight for America - to defend American ideals and preserve American freedoms. They fought to preserve communities like this one, and they fought to save the lives of their friends.
"Today, we are engaged in another kind of war, a war against terrorism, which has already claimed the lives of more than 6,000 Americans. We are fighting that war on distant battlefields in Afghanistan, but we are also fighting it on American streets and in American homes and offices.
"I was in Washington, D.C., on September 11, when terrorists flew a hijacked airliner into the Pentagon, just across the river from the U.S. Capitol. I could see the smoke rising from the wreckage.
"This past weekend, I visited the site where the World Trade Center towers once stood, and was stunned again by the horrendous act that leveled those buildings and cost so many people their lives.
"And I have just come back from Washington this week, where new attacks using anthrax bacteria have killed two more people, infected several others, and closed congressional office buildings.
"This is a war unlike any America has ever fought, but our cause is the same: to defend American ideals, preserve American freedoms, and protect American lives.
"And our legends and heroes will be the same in this war as in all others - men and women in uniform. In this war on terrorism, however, our heroes in uniform will include not only men and women in America's armed forces, but also firefighters, police officers and postal workers. The weeks following the horror of September 11 have shown us that very clearly.
"But we are here today to honor America's veterans, those who died and those who lived to carry on that tradition of service in the cities, small towns and rural communities that they and their fallen comrades fought to preserve. Here, today, in Ellensburg, we honor America's veterans, living and dead, and extend the thanks of a grateful nation.
"Please join me in applauding the legends and heroes still among us.
"Thank you.
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