Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to help commemorate a month-long learning experience that all of us as Americans should join in celebrating. This month we focus on recalling and embracing a unique part of our American History and the roles of African Americans in shaping what our country is today. History teaches us that every culture and every society endures good and bad, and it is essential that we continue to learn from our past.

From slavery abolitionists like Harriett Tubman to civil rights activists like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--even students like the Little Rock Nine who showed unimaginable courage--we have much to learn from the lives of these past and present leaders. They leave quite a mark on the pages of our history books and in the fabric of our country.

During this month, it is important that we seek to learn more about historical Black figures; it is important because it shows us what great contributions they made even during an era when many people thought Blacks had nothing to offer. Quite to the contrary--the African American community has given us some of our greatest writers, inventors, athletes, philosophers, musicians, and spiritual and community leaders during dark times in our history.

It is during this month that Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Toni Morrison, and baseball great Hank Aaron celebrated their birthdays. It was during this month in 1870 that the 15th Amendment was passed, granting Blacks the right to vote. And this year, during this month, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Anderson, who was lost on the Space Shuttle Columbia, died as a pioneer and a living symbol of the progress African Americans have made and the successes yet to come.

Black History Month celebrates people and events that were disregarded for long periods of time. It's time we remember. It's time we make Black history our history.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a distinguished constituent and leader in my district, whose professional and civic contributions have helped to shape the business climate in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and throughout the state.

Louis Ramsay, Jr. was born in 1918 in Fordyce, Arkansas, in rural Dallas County. He grew up attending the Fordyce public schools, and went on to earn pre-law and law degrees from the University of Arkansas. After law school, he joined the Law Firm of Coleman and Gantt, where he became a Partner in 1948. For the past 54 years he has been with the firm now known as Ramsay, Bridgeforth, Harrelson & Starling, where he continues to serve as ``Of Counsel.'' He was elected President of Simmons First National Bank in 1970 and served as Chairman and CEO from 1973-1983. He currently serves as Chairman of the Executive Committee of Simmons First National Corporation. He is the only person in the state's history to have served as President of the Arkansas Bar Association and the Arkansas Bankers Association.

Louis Ramsay was recently honored with an induction into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame, and I cannot think of a more worthy businessman for this distinction. Ramsay has made it a personal mission to use his standing in the business community to better the entire community. He has worked to improve the state's higher education system through service to the University of Arkansas's campuses, including Pine Bluff. He has served as President of the Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce, the Pine Bluff Rotary Club, Fifty for the Future of Pine Bluff, and countless other organizations aimed at improving the quality of life in the area.

If we can learn one lesson from the exemplary life and career of Louis Ramsay, it is the value of service. He has served the community of Pine Bluff and the state of Arkansas, he has served our country with distinction in World War II as a pilot in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, and he has served his family and his neighbors as well. I thank Mr. Ramsay for his commitment to improving our state, and I congratulate him on this prestigious distinction.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share the story of a brave and resourceful veteran from my district. Recently, I had the pleasure of presenting him with the Distinguished Flying Cross medal--nearly sixty years after the flight engineer saved his plane by repairing it mid- flight.

Ray Huntsinger served as a flight engineer with the United States Army Air Corps, now the Air Force, during World War II. During a mission to bomb Nazi oil reserves in Romania, Huntsinger's plane suffered damaged from anti-aircraft fire. He examined the plane and found that its hydraulic lines, which affect the air brakes and landing gear, had been ruptured. After notifying the pilot that he would have to make an emergency landing, Huntsinger set to work. Using materials he found on the plane, he constructed a patch over the damaged lines, and he strapped parachutes to the plane's waist to slow it down after landing. After circling the airfield until all emergency vehicles were in place, the pilot began his descent, and executed a perfect landing-- the makeshift patch saved the day.

Years later, after retiring to Hot Springs Village, Huntsinger recounted the story to a friend of his who happened to be a retired Air Force Colonel. That friend submitted the story to the Air Force, and almost sixty years after that mid-flight repair, Huntsinger was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Medal.

I am so pleased to have the opportunity to properly honor one of our veterans. Mr. Huntsinger had an outstanding military career with the U.S. Army Air Corps during the Second World War. He flew fifty combat missions out of Italy, and in the incident that earned him the Flying Cross distinction, he demonstrated incredible ingenuity and resourcefulness, saving the lives of his fellow soldiers as they fought for their country. I welcome any opportunity to thank our veterans and to hear their stories, and this is quite a story!

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an individual from my district who has lived an extraordinary life and is now working to share the stories of his incredible experiences during the Second World War.

Growing up on his family's small Missouri farm during the Depression, Fred Randle become well acquainted with hardship and adversity. One of the first members of his family to graduate high school, Fred was looking forward to earning a steady living and beginning a new life with his new bride when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The young man immediately enlisted in the United States Army, unaware of the unique role he would play in determining the outcome of World War II.

During the Quebec Conference of 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of England, and other allied leaders conceived the idea of having an American ground unit spearhead the Chinese Army with a Long Range Penetration Mission behind enemy lines in Burma. Its goal would be the destruction of Japanese communications and supply lines and generally to play havoc with enemy forces while an attempt was made to reopen the Burma Road.

A Presidential call for volunteers for ``A Dangerous and Hazardous Mission'' was issued, and approximately 2,900 American soldiers responded to the call, including Fred Randle. The unit later became popularly known as Merrill's Marauders, named after its leader, Brigadier General Frank Merrill.

Shortly after completing basic training at the age of 21. Randle and the Marauders embarked on their mission. During a rendezvous with other ships in the Mediterranean, about 30 German bombers attacked the convoy without success. Fifteen minutes later, a smaller group of planes arrived and one released a guided missile that struck the side of the HMT Rohna. Witnesses watched the total destruction of the boat with its 1,600 Americans aboard. Fewer than 600 survived.

Fred Randle was among those 600 survivors, and despite the loss of his fellow soldiers, he continued on to ensure the success of the Marauders' mission. I find Randle's wartime experiences truly inspiring, and I salute him for his eagerness to share his story with younger generations so they may understand what it is like to fight for your country, even when faced with unbelievable setbacks. Fred Randle is truly part of America's greatest generation, and his sacrifices and contribution to our country are among the reasons we remain free today.