Ted Poe: “Saturday we celebrated Veterans Day. Veterans Day is a holiday, but it is more of a memorial. It is a day we honor those…”

“Saturday we celebrated Veterans Day. Veterans Day is a holiday, but it is more of a memorial. It is a day we honor those who served. It started because of the end of the war to end all wars, World War I, and on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the First World War stopped, and because of that, since then we honor all veterans who have served. Memorial Day is the day we honor those who served and died. Veterans Day is the day we honor those who served and lived. In this House of Representatives today, in the 109th Congress, about 25 percent of Congress has served in the military. In 1950, in the fifties, about 65 percent were veterans; 111 Members of Congress served during the Vietnam era, 78 of whom served in the Vietnam era, and 20 of those saw combat. We have our own Sam Johnson, who was a Navy pilot during Vietnam, was shot down and spent 7 years in the Hanoi Hilton prisoner-of-war camp. We have in this House of Representatives at least eight Members who have sons or daughters serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. We have Senator Inouye of Hawaii who was a Medal of Honor winner. All of these people served and served with honor. War for independence costs the lives of Americans. Freedom has always cost, and it always will, and I think it is worth noting the time frame of the wars that this country has fought in and those who died. In the War of Independence, 5,000 Americans died. In the Mexican- American War, there were 13,000 Americans.…”