Byron Dorgan: “I recall when Tom Brokaw wrote his book, ``The Greatest Generation,'' I picked it up in an airport and began reading and…”

“I recall when Tom Brokaw wrote his book, ``The Greatest Generation,'' I picked it up in an airport and began reading and marveled once again at the dedication those young men, and some young women, in the 1940s, expressed to this country. They dedicated their lives to beating the fascism and nazism exhibited by Adolf Hitler. They kept the free world free. Many paid for it with the ultimate sacrifice--their lives. It has been proposed for some long while to build a memorial on The Mall of the U.S. Capital to those World War II veterans. That World War II memorial has been in the planning stages forever, and the National Capital Planning Commission is proposing to reverse previous approvals of the memorial and once again delay construction of this memorial. The people who sponsored this memorial have raised more than $100 million from private sources. The site has been dedicated. In addition to dealing with the pending lawsuit by opponents, they must now--these folks who have worked on this for so long--gird themselves to go through the contentious battle one more time. This year, more than 400,000 aging World War II veterans will die. Sixteen million American men--mostly men--and some women, served in uniform during World War II. Of those 16 million, about 5 million are now alive. In 2004, which is the earliest date the World War II memorial could be dedicated if everything proceeded smoothly, about 3.8 million veterans of that was will be left.”