Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2210. This bill will designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Community Living Center in my hometown of Butler, Pennsylvania, as the Sergeant…
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2210. This bill will designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Community Living Center in my hometown of Butler, Pennsylvania, as the Sergeant Joseph George Kusick VA Community Living Center.
This is something you have heard already, but I want you to understand something, and if we can look for a minute outside of the people's House into thinking of who we actually are as a people. This is a young guy, 22 years old, at the very beginning of his life. At a time when most of us are looking forward to so many great things happening to us, he put himself in harm's way.
Now, when you think of what Sergeant Kusick did, it is incredible that this young man, on a hillside in Vietnam under heavy Viet Cong fire, and being seriously wounded himself, when asked: Listen, Sergeant, get on the helicopter. We can get you out of there.
He said: ``No, because if I leave, my comrades cannot be saved.'' What an incredible place to put yourself in, a 22-year-old who just a couple of years earlier was in Butler, Pennsylvania, enjoying all that life has to offer, and all of the potential of that life, and putting the welfare of others and the safety of others before himself. That is an incredible position to put yourself in.
We have already talked about the medal that Sergeant Kusick was given, and what it meant to everybody. But there is just so much about Sergeant Kusick, and all of these veterans, and all of these folks who have put themselves in harm's way. The one thing that comes out all the time is, there is no place quite as unique as the United States of America; there is nothing quite as unique as our men and women in uniform; there is nothing quite as unique as people who are willing to put themselves second and put the lives and safety of others first.
That is just not something people normally do. Sergeant Kusick did that on that hillside, seriously wounded, working on the radios. He knew that if he didn't stay, the other people wouldn't get extracted. He stayed there, under heavy enemy fire, and watched what was going on, watched the helicopters come in to extract his teammates.
And I think of it all the time: Where do people like Sergeant Kusick come from? And do you know where they come from? They come from all of these small towns and cities across America. They don't think of themselves as being unique. They don't think of their sacrifice as being exceptional. They don't think of what they have done as being out of the ordinary because it is just who we are as Americans.
As I think about these things, I am called to bring out something that I have read, and this is in a different war at a different time. It is a dedication stone at the Korean War Memorial, not too far from our Nation's steps. At the point of the triangle leading to the American flag is a dedication which reads: ``Our Nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.''
A country they never knew, and a people they never met, and they put their life on the line to defend those lives. That is incredible. I would just suggest to people, you can go around this world and hunt for other people like this, and you will find them, but you will not find them in as great numbers as you find right here in the United States of America.
I don't know if Sergeant Kusick was a Republican or a Democrat. I don't know how he voted. I knew where he grew up, because that is where I grew up. I knew who he was because he is from the same area I am from. The only difference in all of us may be the town we grew up and our last name, but the rest of it is all the same.
The same blood that coursed through Sergeant Kusick's veins is the same blood that courses through all of our veins. And he was so willing, so willing to sacrifice his life for saving others. Well, this didn't happen by chance. I have got to tell you that what we are doing today to honor Sergeant Kusick was due to the work of The American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and especially the tireless effort of the Third Congressional District Military-Veterans Advocacy group, and my friend, Sergeant Art Greathead, who tirelessly did the research on this.
We ran through all of the things we have to run through, and for those folks who don't know, this is not an easy thing to do. This is hard work to get this done, to honor a hero. But that work was done by all of these folks in a way of saying ``thank you'' to one of America's fallen heros; ``thank you'' to one of American's heros who has been long forgotten in some circles, but not back home.
We remember Sergeant Kusick. We honor Sergeant Kusick. We thank him for his sacrifice, and we point to a country that is forever grateful to our women and men in uniform for the great sacrifice that they make. But I want to go back to one other thing: 22 years old. Twenty-two, at a time when life is just starting, never again to be able to celebrate a birthday; never again to celebrate Christmas, or Thanksgiving; never again to celebrate a family reunion, but forever lost--but
lost for a good reason. He gave his life so that others may survive.
The way they were able to identify Sergeant Kusick's remains--by the way, the helicopter he finally got in after everybody else would have been extracted was shot down, went down in flames. There were dog tags on two of the remains that were recovered. The other body that was recovered did not have dog tags on, but do you know what Sergeant Kusick had? He had his radio pack.
To the very end, Sergeant Kusick was doing what he was required to do and what he wanted to do, and he not only gave up his life but gave up his entire future.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, and I can't tell you how much this means to the people of Butler, Pennsylvania, but more than anything else, to Sergeant Kusick for the sacrifice of a life.
