Eulogy: JOHN CHAFEE

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When a great person leaves us, we know we can't replace him, and we know we have suffered the loss in a very personal way. JOHN CHAFEE and I worked together on the Senate Intelligence and Finance committees and were members of the bipartisan Centrist Coalition, which set party affiliation aside to work on issues such as health care, taxes and the budget. Before that, at the age of 19, after the U.S. was drawn into World War II, John enlisted in the Marine Corps. He had to fight, among other places, in one of the bloodiest battles in Guadalcanal. He then went back to college, and the Korean conflict broke out. He could have avoided having to serve his country again--but instead chose to serve as an officer commanding a rifle company. I have had many occasions to say, "I am so impressed, John, by what you did." He'd blush and change the subject. You are born with three things: intelligence, endurance and the opportunity to build integrity. You decide how much intelligence and endurance you are going to use. You build integrity every single day with the choices you make. I would scratch my head if someone asked me to give them a choice John made that was bad, that produced inferior integrity. And I find myself wondering what life will be like without John Chafee.

--Nebraska Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey, whose Medal of Honor citation was signed by Chafee