 |
 |
|
For Immediate Release
|
Representative Steve King
5th Congressional District of Iowa |
 |
September 20, 2007
|
|
|
|
King Observes 25th Anniversary of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Dedication
|
|
|
|
Washington, D.C.—Congressman Steve King joined his colleagues on Tuesday in passing a resolution honoring the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.
On Sunday night at the Cherokee County Fairgrounds, King also gave remarks at the closing ceremonies for the display of the Vietnam Moving Wall. The half-scale replica of the permanent monument in Washington D.C. had been in place for four days.
King observed, “Vietnam Veterans were not appropriately honored by their country when they returned from Southeast Asia. America certainly didn’t honor those who gave their lives, their last full measure of service, in Vietnam to defend our freedom. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was one of America’s first steps in honoring the freedom won for us by our veterans.
Twenty-five years after the Vietnam Memorial’s dedication, it is clear to us that we must never again let anyone take the sacrifice of our military men and women for granted. And since then it has become clear to us that, in 1989, when the Iron Curtain was shredded and Communism fell, our victory in the Cold War would never have been possible if it were not for the service of our Vietnam Veterans. Their confrontation of Communism in South East Asia effectively halted the spread of Soviet influence in the world.
Fourteen years after our Marines evacuated the American embassy in Saigon, the sobering pictures of that day were honored with the thrilling pictures of Germans knocking down the Berlin Wall.
I know that my fellow Iowans join me in thanking our Vietnam Veterans for defeating Communism and for setting the conditions that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Let us all remember that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a place to honor those we lost in the ongoing fight for freedom.”
If you are a veteran and have not received, or you have lost your military decorations, please call Congressman Steve King (712) 224 – 4692 for assistance.
Congressman Steve King (R-IA) represents Western Iowa in the United States Congress and sits on the Agriculture, Judiciary and Small Business Committees
-30-
|
|
|
|
