Ehrlich on Washington column, May 28, 2001

NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 3 1 5 Cannon Mouse Office Building Washington, D.C. 205 1 5 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of May 28, 200 1 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Honoring our Nation’s Fallen Heroes As we prepare for this Memorial Day weekend, I ask each reader to pause during the usual holiday festivities to reflect on the sacrifices so many Americans have made in defense of our great nation. Congress established a Memorial day after the Civil War to remember the more than 600,000 Americans, from both the North and South, who died defending their freedoms. This day, originally known as Decoration Day, was a time when folks would visit cemeteries and decorate the graves of Civil War casualties. Over the years, as more Americans lost their lives in wars great and small, this special day has become a time to honor all those who fought and died in service to the United States of America. This Memorial Day, I will attend a service in honor of those American service men and women whose lives were taken by acts of terrorism. This year’s event at the Dulaney Memorial Gardens will honor three Marylanders whose lives were tragically taken by terrorists. Churchville’s Joshua Parlett, Williamsport’s Craig Wibberly, and Keedeysville’s Patrick Roy were lost in service aboard the U.S.S. Cole, the Navy Destroyer that fell under a cowardly attack in Yemen last October. Each sailor was just nineteen years old. The lives of these three young seamen remind us that, even in times of unprecedented peace and prosperity, America’s soldiers and sailors keep vigil over the most dangerous comers of the world. Every day, as Americans rush to work, school, or community functions, our troops protect America’s ideals abroad, maintain fragile peace accords in war-tom regions of the globe, and consistently perform complex, high-risk military training exercises that maximize their war¬ fighting capabilities. We rarely take notice of the hardships they endure, until news of tragedies such as the U.S.S. Cole attack hit home. With the U.S.S. Cole in mind, I want to renew a commitment I make to you every Memorial Day - to work with Congress and the President to ensure that America’s fighting forces have the best housing, best training, and best war-fighting technology in the world, so their missions may be