George Voinovich: “it will be ten years ago this October that Americans watched in horror as a U.S. humanitarian effort went terribly…”

“it will be ten years ago this October that Americans watched in horror as a U.S. humanitarian effort went terribly askew. As frightening pictures from U.S. troops in Somalia came back to the Untied States, a group of students at Riverside High School in Painesville, OH watched in shock as a U.S. soldier was dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. These students, concerned with the lack of a memorial in our Nation's Capital to honor members of our armed forces who lost their lives during peacekeeping missions such as the one in Somalia, felt compelled to take action. The motivation and vision of these young people propelled them to spearhead a campaign to establish a Pyramid of Remembrance in Washington, DC, which would honor U.S. service men and women who have lost their lives during peacekeeping operations, humanitarian efforts, training, terrorist attacks, or covert operations. The student not only proposed the memorial, they created a private non-profit foundation to raise the money to construct it.”