Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois. I rise today to pay tribute and say thank you to a Colorado icon and an American hero, Felix Sparks, with H.R. 4240. Sparks, who recently passed away…
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois.
I rise today to pay tribute and say thank you to a Colorado icon and an American hero, Felix Sparks, with H.R. 4240.
Sparks, who recently passed away at the age of 90, lived an extraordinary life that exemplified public service and devotion to one's country.
A Texas native raised in Arizona, Felix Sparks was a part of our ``Greatest Generation'' who answered our Nation's call to duty during the Second World War.
Described as a ``soldier's soldier,'' he would endure over 500 days of combat and partake in three of the most important events that would define modern history.
The Battle of Reipertswiller, the Battle at the Caves of Anzio, and the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp.
One story in particular that I would like to call to your attention which attests to the character of Felix Sparks occurred during the Battle of Reipertswiller, a battle in which 158 enlisted soldiers were killed, 300 men were wounded, and another 426 were captured over a course of only 3 days.
After finding his unit under siege and trapped in enemy territory, Sparks, then a lieutenant colonel, refused to leave behind three of his men who lay incapacitated in the open battlefield.
Facing near-certain death, he courageously left his tank and raced, on foot, directly into the close-range crosshairs of the German gunners to rescue those soldiers.
With only a holstered pistol in tow, he would drag each of his wounded comrades, one by one, to safety.
A personal account of this series of events was uncovered in the memoirs of a German SS officer who had commanded his gunner not to fire on Sparks. The memoir read: ``Those of us witnessing the scene, whether nearby or more distant, instinctively felt there was no honor to be won by firing on this death-defying act of comradeship.''
Sparks also cheated death a year earlier at the Battle of the Caves of Anzio in Italy, where he would be only one of two men in his company to survive. Sparks was part of the first Allied force to witness the horrors and atrocities of the Dachau concentration camp on the discovery of 39 rail cars packed with some 2,000 Holocaust victims. In all, 30,000 prisoners were liberated from Dachau by the Allied Forces; and for the rest of his life, Sparks would continue to speak out at Holocaust remembrance ceremonies.
Based on his experiences at Dachau, Felix was tireless in his efforts to refute those shameless individuals who try to rewrite history and claim the Holocaust and Dachau never occurred. He'd say: ``Tell that to my face'' in a shout and in a voice that indicated he'd been there and saw it personally.
For his service during World War II, he was awarded a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts after being severely wounded on the battlefield. He would continue his military service with the National Guard until his retirement as a brigadier general in 1977.
And upon his return from the war, enamored with stories from his men about their hometowns in the Rocky Mountains, Felix and his wife settled in Colorado. There, the Sparks family would grow to include four children, six grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.
He would earn his law degree from the University of Colorado and become a Colorado district attorney. Renowned for his commanding speaking ability, Felix would then go on to become the youngest supreme court justice in Colorado's history at just 38 years of age. He would preside over several of the most prolific and high profile cases in our State's history.
After his service on our State's highest court, Sparks, an expert in water law, would serve for over two decades as the director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. He would write some of the most influential and important groundwater laws that have continued to serve our State for decades thereafter.
I came to know Felix during my days in the Colorado senate after he had testified in my committee with regard to an anti-gun violence measure following the tragic death of his grandchild from a drive-by shooting. His passion and his words live with me to this day. And he was so well respected for his honesty and straightforward testimony.
It is also important to note, after returning home from the war, Felix would continue to personally reach out to console the families of his men and promise them he would never forget.
Mr. Speaker, one of the main reasons I bring this bill to the floor today is so this promise that Felix Sparks made to the families of his men can live on for generations. This bill pays tribute to Felix's men in the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division of the United States Army, whose motto since the Spanish-American War has been ``Eager for Duty.''
Our Nation can never adequately repay and give thanks to these individuals for their sacrifices in the battles against tyranny, in the battles for our Nation's freedom. It is my hope the renaming of the Lakewood post office for Felix Sparks will inspire future generations to find a calling in public service.
This bill also pays tribute to Mary Sparks and the Sparks family, who meant so much to Felix and to our community.
In closing, I wish to thank each of my colleagues in the Colorado delegation for joining me in bidding a fond farewell to a man who meant so much to our State and to our Nation.
I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 4240 to rename the Lakewood post office in Felix Sparks' honor.
