Congress Honors Veterans, Home Front Heroes of WWII

WASHINGTON —  World War II veterans and Americans who served on the home front were honored Wednesday during a joint meeting of the Senate and House--one of the government’s final observances of the 50th anniversary of the war’s end.

Former Rep. Robert H. Michel of Illinois, who retired last year as House Republican leader, led the U.S. Army Chorus in singing “God Bless America” during the hourlong ceremony.

Congressmen who fought during the war--including Sen. Strom Thurmond, a 92-year-old South Carolina Republican who parachuted into France during the Normandy Invasion--also spoke, saying they were proud to have been part of the Allied victory.

The end of the war “signified the end of a period of tyranny” and continues to serve notice to aspiring dictators, Thurmond said.

“Freedom and democracy don’t come without a price,” said Rep. G. V. (Sonny) Montgomery, a Mississippi Democrat who is retiring from the House.

Today’s young people should know about the great sacrifices their elders made to preserve democracy, he said.

“We may be a little bent over . . . but our heads are high with the pride of serving our country,” said Montgomery, 75.

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), who lost his right arm during the war, remembered Americans who served on the home front, combing the country for scrap iron and planting victory gardens.

The gardens “produced over one-third of all the vegetables we as Americans consumed during that war,” he said.