May 6, 2001

Washington, D.C.- One of the best parts of my job as your Member of Congress took place a few weeks ago in my office in Oklahoma City. I invited all the high school students I had nominated to U.S. military academies and their families for a reception in their honor. I nominated these 18 Oklahoma students because of their outstanding academic records and leadership abilities, to three U.S. Service Academies - the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Naval Academy - to begin the fall 2001 semester. It is so encouraging, when all we hear in the media is the worst of America's younger generation, to see these intelligent young people not only dedicated to serve their country, but excited about the opportunity to do so.

It's just that kind of dedication that we will honor on May 19 - Armed Forces Day - to show respect for all the men and women who have worn the uniform throughout the history of our nation. They defend our skies and our shores from aggressors, putting their lives in harm's way each and every day.

It's events like the crash landing of our reconnaissance plane last month that really bring home the risks members of our armed forces take in the course of their day's work. The EP-E3 plane, carrying 24 crew members on a routine reconnaissance flight off the coast of China, dropped a harrowing 7,000 feet after a collision with a Chinese fighter plane. The pilot, Lieutenant Shane Osborn, frantically wrestled with the controls of the damaged plane as it careened toward the South China Sea. With two engines out and no flaps, Osborn miraculously brought the plane to a rest on Hainan Island with a high-speed crash landing. Once on the ground, the soldiers found themselves surrounded by dozens of gun-wielding Chinese soldiers.

This mission was described as "routine" to make the story even more dramatic, but the fact is that there is no "routine" mission in the military. By its very nature, the work of the men and women in the armed forces puts them at risk every day. Those men and women in that EP-E3 plane were heroic and brave, but it could be fairly said that any other deployed EP-E3 crew would have behaved in the same way, because our military is simply the best trained, best equipped fighting force in the world.

It shouldn't take a nearly fatal military plane crash and an 11-day hostage crisis for us to stop and realize just how thankful we are for our military men and women and their defense of our nation. I encourage you to take the opportunity the next time you see a young soldier in uniform to thank them for answering the call to protect our freedoms, just as I thanked Oklahoma's best and brightest that day for their decision to join the military ranks via the U.S. academies. Let them know how much you appreciate them, and how proud you are of their courage and dedication. You'll enjoy the experience as much as I did. They say freedom isn't free, but sometimes we need to thank those men and women who are bearing the daily burden of maintaining that freedom we so often take for granted.