Mr. Speaker, I join with many of my colleagues today to honor and give thanks to America’s minority veterans – the soldiers, the sailors, the men and women of the Air Force, and, of course, my fellow Marines. More of the world is free today than ever before, thanks in no small part to their valor and sacrifice half a century ago.

The twentieth century began with much of the globe dominated by militaristic empires. In the First World War, our armed forces were the lever that pried these colonial empires apart.

In their ruin, the hideous forces of totalitarianism grew to great power, threatening to engulf us all. In that dark hour, American GIs of every color, of every national origin and creed, left the safety of their homes and began the struggle of the century. In World War II, American forces joined with freedom-loving people from Europe, Africa and Asia to defeat the Axis – that misspent laboratory for human cruelty.

The cost was extraordinarily high. Over one and one-half million minority Americans gave their lives to this cause. Some 1.2 million were African Americans, for whom racial slavery was no hypothetical concept. Over 300,000 were Hispanic Americans and another 50,000 were Asian Americans, willing to look past the discrimination they endured toward a better day that only democracy could bring. More than 20,000 Native Americans died for this country in World War II, along with more than 5,000 Native Hawaiians and over 3,000 Native Alaskans.

This week the House echoed the words of General Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who wrote last year that among those who best exemplified courage, selflessness, exuberance, superhuman ability, and amazing grace during the past 100 years was the American GI.

"…In this century," General Powell said, "hundreds of thousands of GIs died to bring to the beginning of the 21^st century the victory of democracy as the ascendant political system of the face of the earth. The GIs were willing to travel far away and give their lives, if necessary, to secure the rights and freedoms of others. Only a nation such as ours, based on a firm moral foundation, could make such a request of its citizens. And the GIs wanted nothing more than to get the job done and then return home safely. All they asked for in repayment from those they freed was the opportunity to help them become part of the world of democracy… Near the top of any listing of the most important people of the 20^th century must stand, in singular honor, the American GI."

The American GI who served during World War II came in many colors and represented many cultures. Those of us who grew up in my generation, and went on to serve in another dark time, have taken courage in the stories of the Tuskeegee Airmen, the Nissei soldiers in Italy, the Navajo code-talkers in the Pacific, the Hispanic fighters who head the roll of the Medal of Honor and others. The diversity of these heroic men and women, and their determination to show what they could do, was a source of their strength. It still is today.

In light of the accomplishments of the Armed Forces of the United States during World War II both in defeating the forces of tyranny and dictatorship and in embodying a sense of honor, decency, and respect for mankind, I join in saluting our minority American GIs.

But no tribute to the courage and dedication of America’s minority veterans should stop with 1945. Having fought for their country, these diverse and courageous men and women could no longer be contained by the brutal rules they had known as children. They were also the footsoldiers and leaders of the civil rights movements that followed World War II. They went home and took on careers and bought homes, set up businesses, entered the professions and all the walks of life that had been barely imaginable for them before the war. They had defended democracy as servicemembers and wanted nothing less that full participation in the democratic institutions they had preserved.

I am proud to honor our nation’s brave minority veterans. I salute them and thank them for a job well done.