Jon Tester: “I rise today to honor the return of the remains of LTJG Donald F. Wolfe, whose body has finally been returned to…”

“I rise today to honor the return of the remains of LTJG Donald F. Wolfe, whose body has finally been returned to American soil. Lieutenant Wolfe--along with four of his fellow Navy aviators and sailors--was killed on October 8, 1967, when the E-1B aircraft they were flying on crashed near Da Nang in heavy weather. The bodies of these brave Navy servicemen could not be recovered at the time due to weather, terrain and hostile activity. But today, almost exactly 40 years after this terrible incident, the remains of Lieutenant Wolfe and his colleagues are back home, bringing peace of mind and closure to his family at long last. One of the great stains on the history of this Nation is the way that many of our Vietnam War veterans were treated when they returned home from war. We should be honest with ourselves and with our veterans: The way that many of these veterans were treated during this time was wrong, and that kind of treatment hurt our country psychologically, and it hurt our country militarily. Fortunately, our Nation has learned from that sorry episode. I take comfort in the fact that despite our vigorous disagreements about the Iraq war, all of us in this Senate and in our hometowns and States honor those who serve there. And today we have an opportunity to make sure that these five men get the welcome home that all our troops deserved. We should stop to honor their memory and their service.”