Mr. President, I rise today to recognize two outstanding young Pennsylvanians, Brady Sirochman and Ronit Luthra, whose essays were selected as the winners of my America250 Pennsylvania Youth Essay Contest. As our Nation celebrates the…
Mr. President, I rise today to recognize two outstanding young Pennsylvanians, Brady
Sirochman and Ronit Luthra, whose essays were selected as the winners of my America250 Pennsylvania Youth Essay Contest.
As our Nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, there is no more fitting place to reflect on the American story than Pennsylvania. Our Commonwealth was the birthplace of American independence and has stood at the center of our Nation's history ever since. From the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the fields of Gettysburg, from the furnaces and factories that powered America's rise to the communities that continue to strengthen our country today, Pennsylvania has helped define the American character.
Brady, a 10th-grade student at Laurel Highlands High School in Uniontown, wrote about General George C. Marshall, a fellow Uniontown native whose extraordinary life demonstrated that the defense of liberty requires both the strength of a soldier and the wisdom of a diplomat. Ronit, an 11th-grade student at Downingtown High School East, wrote about Pittsburgh inventor and industrialist George Westinghouse, whose ingenuity, courage, and faith in the ideas of others helped electrify the modern world.
Brady and Ronit did more than recount the accomplishments of two remarkable Pennsylvanians. They considered what those lives tell us about America: that service matters, that bold ideas can change the world, and that our country is strongest when talented and determined people are given the opportunity to rise.
Their essays also offer great reason for confidence in America's future. Brady and Ronit represent the kind of thoughtful, curious, and engaged young leaders our Nation needs now more than ever. As we honor the Americans who shaped our first 250 years, we should also celebrate the young people who will carry their legacy forward and lead our country into its next 250. I congratulate Brady and Ronit on this well- deserved recognition, and I ask that their winning essays be printed in the Record below.
Brady Sirochman Essay: There stands a soldier in the middle
of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. His look of determination, loaded
musket, and bronze tint make him conspicuous to any passerby
who roams through the five-way intersection which he watches.
Behind the soldier, a series of nineteen flags tower above
the streets below in unison as a symbol of prosperity. For
the most part, Uniontown is a quiet place, situated on the
border of the Keystone State and submerged in the rolling
hills of the Appalachian Mountains. One would not expect a
hero of international fame and notoriety to have been born
here, and yet across the road from the soldier, on a bench
flanked by a series of plaques, sits the statue of one,
George Catlett Marshall Jr.
Marshall's story began in Uniontown over one hundred years
ago on a cold New Year's Eve. The fourth child born of George
Catlett Marshall Sr., a wealthy coke businessman, and Laura
Emily Bradford Marshall, George C. Marshall grew up in
Uniontown before leaving for the Virginia Military Institute
to pursue a career in the armed forces. After graduating,
Marshall was commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry
in February of 1902, in time to serve in the Philippine-
American War. Marshall would continue to rise through the
ranks of the military in the lead-up to World War I, during
which he achieved the position of assistant chief of staff
for the newly created 1st Division.
This role put him in prime position to be the first soldier
of the AEF to step foot on European soil, and one of the
first to enter the trenches of the Western Front. In
addition, his dauntless planning in the Battle of Cantigny
delivered the first American victory of the Great War. The
culmination of Marshall's triumphs came not on the
battlefield, but from Washington, when on September first,
1939, Marshall was sworn in as Army Chief of Staff by
Franklin D. Roosevelt, just hours after the invasion of
Poland. While serving as Army Chief of Staff, he organized
the largest military expansion in American history, had a
role in selecting the majority of American generals, and
helped plan the D-day Invasion.
Most importantly, on December 16, 1944, Marshall was the
first American general promoted to the five-star rank of
General of the Army, placing him on par with his European
counterparts. For his part in planning and carrying out the
Allied victory, Winston Churchill once called him the
``Organizer of Victory'', while Harry Truman once stated
``Millions of Americans gave their country outstanding
service. George C. Marshall gave it victory.'' After the war,
a change began to take shape in Marshall, transforming the
five-star general into a peacekeeper. Shortly after retiring
from his position as Army Chief of Staff, Marshall was sent
on a mission to broker a peace deal in the Chinese Civil War.
Although a failure, Marshall remained committed to
maintaining peace with the new Communist government in his
position as Secretary of State, against the wishes of the
Department of Defense and voices within his own department.
While serving in his position as Secretary of State, he began
the program which he is possibly most famous for today, the
Marshall Plan. Through it, American aid would be sent to
Europe in order to help rebuild from the destruction caused
by World War II. In many ways Marshall not only won peace in
Europe but also provided for its continued existence, while
enhancing American interests in the region and preventing the
spread of Communism into Western Europe.
For his work on the Marshall Plan, and other post-war
achievements such as advocating for peace in the Middle East,
bringing the Netherlands to negotiate with Indonesia, and
serving as President of the American Red Cross, Marshall was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, the only American army
official to gain such recognition. On a bench, only a stroll
away from where he was born, sits the statue of George C.
Marshall as he watches over the soldier whom he organized the
victory of and the flags of the nations whom he helped
rebuild. The entire scene, and the story of Marshall's life,
highlights America's role as both a sword and shield against
the forces of tyranny.
Through his military career spanning service from the
Philippines to Europe, and later his organization of the
armed forces in World War II, we see his life as a
personification of America's willingness to defend liberty
aggressively. However, through his career post-war in the
fields of diplomacy and government aide, we see his life as a
personification of America's willingness to defend liberty
peacefully. George C. Marshall is a unification of these two
necessities, as at America's best, we understand the need for
a soldier, as well as the need for a diplomat.
