Congressman Kendrick Meek

February 13, 2008

Congressman Kendrick Meek

10100 Pembroke Pines Boulevard

“B” Building – 3^rd Floor

Pembroke Pines, Florida 33026

RE: Honoring the contributions of foreign soldiers in American wars

Congressman Meek,

Although any unanimous vote – in this case 361 to 0 – makes me a bit uneasy perhaps an exception can be made in this case.

Your House Resolution 909 of 12/20/07 commemorating the more than 300 men of the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint Domingue who died in the Battle of Savannah in 1779 highlights the contribution these men from a foreign country made in our fight for independence.

Twice in your resolution you mention their race. The first time you say “men of color”; the second time you say “soldiers of African descent”. That their skin was Black does not change the fact that their blood was Red. Our cause was just. Their contributions should be honored.

May I ask your help in honoring foreign veterans of another American war?

My father’s father had 2 uncles who came from Ireland to join the Union Army in the Civil War. They were both members of the Irish Brigade.

They both fought at the Battle of Gettysburg.

On the eve of the Battle of Agincourt Henry the Fifth told his men that should they survive the battle they could remember “with advantages” what they did that day.

On July 2, 1863, at noon, the Irish Brigade stepped out into the Wheat Field. I like to think that the pipes were skirling with the heady air of “Garryowen”. They marched “line abreast” into History. One of my uncles is still there “wrapped in his faded coat of Blue”. When figuring the cost of repealing the Dred Scot decision these men must not be forgotten. It is part of a proud oral tradition handed down form father to son to grandson to great-grandchildren to great-great-grandchildren that the cost of this noble cause was partly paid for by members of my family.

Since we live in an age of collective guilt it is possible that the will of the American people will swing round to apologies and reparations for an evil that was ended by the red blood of White people 143 years ago.

Should this so happen I would ask your support in holding the descendants of those foreign soldiers who died, as the poet said, “to make men free”, free from any of the practical consequences of such an apology.

I refer specifically to any monetary compensation to descendants of slaves.

I don’t know what the value of an Irishman from Galway in the Province of Connaught is worth in today’s market. Douglas MacArthur in his final address to the Corps of Cadets at West Point said, “I do not know the dignity of their birth but I know the glory of their death”. He died in a way that humbles most men. He died that other men might be free.

That must be worth something.

Whatever you think it is I would appreciate the courtesy of your sharing it with me.

PS – I know that you mourn the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq. That number is approaching 4,000. You would be well served if you would pass the time flying between Washington and Miami familiarizing yourself with the casualty figures of the American Civil War. Look at the raw numbers and also the percentage of the population. Start with the Battle of Antietam. Also, you may want to find out why the Democratic Party and the New York Times were so vehemently opposed to this war and to President Lincoln. He was frequently called a “baboon”. They were apoplectic about the first successful “surge”, the one led by Sherman, the one that freed the slaves in 4 states, and the one that shortened the war by at least a year. I have never been able to figure that out. If you can let me know.