Charles Skelton: “First, let me compliment the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg) for offering this resolution before the Congress, the…”

“First, let me compliment the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg) for offering this resolution before the Congress, the sense of Congress regarding the Blue Star Banner and the Gold Star. I think this is certainly fitting and proper considering the fact that we today are at war in Iraq, considering the fact that we already have lost American lives in that conflict. I remember as a young boy growing up in my hometown of Lexington, Missouri, and seeing these banners with Blue Stars and some with two Blue Stars and some with Gold Stars, knowing the fact that members of the family, either a sailor or sometimes brothers; or sometimes a soldier would lose his life on the battlefield and the Gold Star would hang in the window of that family's home. And I think it is certainly fitting that we, in our own way, express our sense that this is the right thing to do now, to bring it home to America that these young men and women who literally put their lives on the line should be remembered in such a visible and fine way. Cicero, the great Roman orator, once said that gratitude is the greatest of all virtues, and this is one way, a small way, be that as it may, to express the gratitude of not just the Congress but of the American people for the young people who risk their lives on the battlefield.”