John Spratt: “I commend both sides for the bipartisan effort they have made here to restore a proud, proud tradition. I am just old…”

“I commend both sides for the bipartisan effort they have made here to restore a proud, proud tradition. I am just old enough to remember the Gold Star and Blue Star Banners. I am a war baby born in 1942. But I still have a dim recollection of that and a warm feeling of the pride that those who displayed these banners had, to let all the community know that they had a loved one who was serving abroad or serving in service at some place in time. I spent this past weekend, Sunday afternoon, in the little town of Jefferson, South Carolina, where we had a memorial service for a staff sergeant in the Air Force, Jason Higgs, whose helicopter was on a rescue mission to pick up two Afghan girls, both of whom were in need of medical care, to bring them back and have them attended to by Air Force doctors. He did not make it back. The next day they sent for the girls, they had their surgery, that was successful. Sunday afternoon we laid him to rest. All over America there are countless stories like this, about these folks who are laying their lives on the line for us and our freedom. This is a wonderful tradition to restore, and I wholeheartedly support this legislation.”