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Point of View ::
One of my earliest memories is of my mother and me standing on our
front porch waiting for the school bus to pull up. Mom would
straighten my collar, place her hand on my shoulder, and hand me a
small lunch box. Then she’d say, “You go give the best you have,
Randy.” Through the years I’ve learned the value of the advice she
gave me all those years ago.
With Memorial Day around the corner, a time when we remember
excellence in our fallen soldiers, I am proud to have Fort Lee, home
of the Army Quartermaster Corps in my district. From mortuary affairs,
to petroleum transportation, to food services, to field services, to
supply logistics, excellence runs a straight and clear course through
Fort Lee. And, under the careful leadership of past commanders like
LTG Billy Solomon and MG Terry Juskowiak, and current commanders MG
Ann Dunwoody and BG Scott West, Fort Lee in the last several years has
matured and grown. Through round after round of BRAC, Fort Lee has
layered its defenses, built its infrastructure, and grown its mission.
It is a place where people give the best they have to give. It is the
best of the best.
That is why, even when our nation is at war, when the budget heat in
Washington is steadily rising, and with the final and definitive round
of BRAC sending waves across the nation’s military installations and
surrounding communities, the federal government has seen fit to put
over $100 million of investment in Fort Lee. While other bases were
standing still, holding their breath and hoping to hold their own
through BRAC, Fort Lee has been bustling with activity and growth. In
each corner of the installation, there is evidence of this expansion
from housing revitalization to the fire and emergency services center,
from the new MEPS center and the new aerial delivery school to joint
training exercises.
As they say, “If you build it, they will come.” Within the year, new
units will come to Fort Lee bringing over a thousand additional
soldiers to be trained on its grounds and to follow in its tradition
of excellence. And, with last Friday’s BRAC announcement, Fort Lee
stands on the verge of nearly doubling its assigned personnel and
bringing in an additional 4,425 indirect non-governmental base support
and service industry jobs in the region for a total net gain of 11,769
jobs moving into the area, the largest military personnel gains of any
installation in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
But just as Fort Lee strengthens and expands its mission, I am
reminded that Fort Lee is only as strong as those individuals who
serve and train on post. Several months ago, I attended the funeral of
a young soldier from the Fourth District who died in Iraq just weeks
before he was scheduled to return to the US to see his young wife and
daughter. A couple of days before he died, the solider had written to
his wife saying how he couldn’t wait to see her and their young
daughter, how much he cherished them and missed them. However, he
closed by saying that no matter how much he loved them, he knew the
sacrifices he and his fellow soldiers were making were worth it – even
for those that paid the highest price.
The soldier’s funeral was held on a crisp winter day, the sun shone
and flags snapped in the cool wind. Cars lined the dusty dirt roads to
a small country church that held his flag-draped casket. Lines of
people in respectful silence softly spilled out of the church, into
the parking lot where televisions had been set up to watch the
funeral. Some of those who came were family, some were friends, others
acquaintances, but many were strangers. Hundreds came, one by one,
tears in their eyes, to honor a man they had not known, but one they
knew had given the best he had to give.
When I think about why we are proud, I come back to this day again and
again in my mind. I think of the memories and faithful devotion of the
families of our lost soldiers, the loving hands that place poppies on
graves in military cemeteries, the neatly-folded flags displayed
proudly in living rooms across the Nation. These fallen soldiers are
the best our Nation had to offer. In them were the hopes and dreams of
their families and the unlimited potential of the future. They gave
themselves for the cause of freedom. Without our fallen heroes, our
Nation and our history would be forever altered. Without the heroes of
Bunker Hill and Lexington and Yorktown, we might still be a British
colony. Without the heroes at Omaha Beach and Okinawa, the world would
be dramatically different. Today, without the heroes of Iraq and
Afghanistan, those nations would not know democracy. Each war, each
battle, each individual act of bravery has collectively strengthened
and fortified what was once a fledgling democracy. They have formed a
tapestry of freedom that embraces each of us, that keeps us strong,
that keeps us free, and that encourages us to give the best we have.
So today, as I write this, I think back to my mother standing on our
front porch. For those of us who have watched Fort Lee grow, who have
put our sweat and toil into her, we look proudly at her future. She
has a bright future – not just in BRAC, not just for Virginia, and not
just for logistics. Fort Lee will lead a nation of soldiers – a nation
of soldiers who each represent the best America can give. For that we
are deeply grateful, and deeply proud. |
ON
THE HILL ....
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Current
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OFFICE
LOCATIONS ....
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307 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202.225.6365
505 Independence Pkwy, Suite 104
Chesapeake, VA 23320
757.382.0080
2903 Boulevard, Suite B
Colonial Heights, VA 23834
804.526.4969
425 H. South Main Street
Emporia, VA 23847
434.634.5575
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