Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093

(Draguignan, France) On Sunday U.S. Senator Larry Craig, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson and U.S. Navy Admiral Henry Ulrich, the man in charge of the U.S. Navy in Europe, gathered with local French citizens and military dignitaries in the south of France to pay tribute to the more than 1,100 Americans buried and memorialized there.

Five of them were from Craig's home state of Idaho, and Craig spoke of one as an example of the others.

"Harold Senften was born and raised in the small Idaho community of Castleford. I was in Castleford just the other day, visiting a school. Harold attended the University of Idaho, where he studied architecture and while there he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC). I too attended the University of Idaho," said Craig, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "While I never knew Harold, he represents the kind of people we have in Idaho, and throughout America. He sacrificed his life to save others so that we today can live in peace and freedom."

According to Senften's sister, Juanita Park, who lives in King Hill, Idaho, not far from Mountain Home Air Force Base, her brother was a military pilot by the time World War II started.

"Sadly, Harold's plane went down over the Mediterranean ocean. But while he passed away more than sixty years ago, his contribution to freedom should never be forgotten," Craig said. Senften's name is inscribed on a wall at the Rhone American Cemetery along with approximately 300 Americans who died in that area but whose bodies were never recovered.

Craig's visit to the southern French community is part of a week-long series of events Craig is attending throughout Europe to pay tribute to the Americans buried throughout that continent.

The Idaho Republican noted that during World War II, an average of approximately 2,200 Americans were dying each week in the fight for liberty.

"General George Patton said that, ‘It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived,'" Craig said.  "We must never forget their sacrifices. Because of them, we are free today."

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