Veterans Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Madam President, tomorrow we celebrate Veterans Day, the day set aside to honor all those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

This year, we observed the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, and our Nation's World War II veterans, the veterans of the ``greatest generation,'' have been on my mind a lot.

Sixteen million Americans served in World War II--16 million. These veterans were a fixture in our lives. So many Americans grew up with a dad or a grandfather or a grandmother who had served in World War II. I was one of them.

My favorite veteran, my dad, was a World War II pilot who flew Hellcats off the deck of the USS Intrepid in the Pacific. I came to know the values of the ``greatest generation'' through my dad-- humility, patriotism, quiet service.

These warriors who helped save the world didn't brag about their achievements. They deflected praise. If they hailed any exploits, it was those of their comrades. My dad won the Distinguished Flying Cross--or, I should say, received the Distinguished Flying Cross, but that is not what he talked about. He did, however, talk about Cecil Harris, one of South Dakota's aces, whose advice for a deft maneuver saved my dad's life during a dogfight. It was a move straight out of ``Top Gun,'' only decades before the movie.

My dad always talked about how South Dakota is the only State with two aces with more than 20 shootdowns during World War II. And he talked about the other pilots in his squadron and praised their character and their service.

As I said, these veterans of the ``greatest generation'' have been a fixture in our lives for a long time. But 75 years on from the war, their numbers are dwindling and dwindling quickly.

My dad died in August of this year at the age of 100. We lose more and more of these veterans every day, and they will be sorely missed, but their legacy lives on in the generations of veterans that have followed them.

In every age and every era, men and women have stepped forward to answer the same call that the ``greatest generation'' answered. And in every era, those men and women, the men and women of the U.S. military, have embodied the values that characterized men like my dad--humility, courage, love of country, self-sacrifice, a love of freedom and for their fellow man.

Service in the military was once commonplace. But in an age when only a small percentage of the population serves, we need to ensure that we don't forget the vital role of our Armed Forces and the price our men and women in uniform pay to ensure that all of us can live in freedom. It has been said 10,000 times--but it is no less true the ten thousandth and first time--that we live in freedom every day because of the men and women of the U.S. military. We owe them a debt we cannot hope to repay. But on Veterans Day and every day, we can remember to say thank you.

I cannot close without mentioning the men and women I have met who have served and are serving--in particular, the members of the South Dakota National Guard and the airmen at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.

Right now, members of the South Dakota National Guard are deployed in support of Combined Joint Task Force--Horn of Africa. The South Dakota Guard also recently served a rotation of deployments to Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve and to the Middle East to support coalition forces. Like many of their counterparts across the country, they have also been a part of the domestic coronavirus response.

At Ellsworth, the B-1 bombers of the 28th Bomb Wing continue to demonstrate their flexible, global reach through Bomber Task Force deployments. The Bomber Task Force missions strengthen our continued coordination with NATO allies in Europe and assert America's commitment to security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

From the Baltics to the South China Sea to the Middle East, the airmen at Ellsworth Air Force Base continue to answer our Nation's call and remain ready to respond to threats anywhere in the world at a moment's notice.

As I said, we owe our men and women in uniform a debt we cannot hope to repay, but we can resolve to live our lives in such a way as to be worthy of their sacrifices. Today and every day, may we remember the gratitude that we owe our military men and women and imitate their love of freedom and their devotion to our country.

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