Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize William Ferry, a World War II Army veteran from Boone, Iowa, and to express my appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his country.

The Boone News Republican is currently running a series of articles that honors one Boone County veteran every Tuesday from Memorial Day to Veterans Day. William Ferry was recognized on Tuesday, October 5. Below is the article in its entirety:

Boone County Veterans: William Ferry

(By Greg Eckstrom)

William Ferry joined the Army, along with his cousin, for

pretty much the usual reasons.

``My cousin and I, we were going to be big shots,'' Ferry

said with a laugh.

In many ways, Ferry was.

Originally from Pilot Mound, and returning to Boone after

World War II, where he lived at the same address his whole

life, Ferry entered his military career by volunteering

rather than being drafted.

``My cousin and I decided to join the Army and see the

world, so we went down and joined the Army,'' he said.

``Well, that's the last I'd seen of him for three years.''

Ferry, although speaking in a serious voice, seemed to put

a lighter spin on his military experience than some. In

recalling his basic training at Spokane, Wash., Ferry

remembers learning how to type.

``They asked if I could type,'' he said. ``And they gave me

a book and said, `Here, you've got a week to learn.' They

give me a book and let me go.''

The definition of self-taught. Ferry breezed through the

book and learned to use a typewriter, admittedly saying that

fortunately he didn't have to learn how to type extremely

quickly.

While going through basic training in Washington, Ferry met

the woman he would later marry . . . a marriage that happened

prior to Ferry heading overseas for service. The position

that Ferry was assigned to, however, didn't lend itself to

easing the worries of his new bride's parents on their

daughter's husband.

``They put me in a cryptographic section, which is decoding

and encoding secret messages,'' he said. ``The FBI checked

out my family, her family and everybody she knew and

everybody they knew. Her folks got to wondering what was

going on.''

The background check passed, however, and Ferry was sent

overseas.

``They got us on a boat, and they made MPs out of us,'' he

said. ``We had to be an MP . . . had to work four hours on

and four hours off for seven days a week for 31 days. And we

ended up in India.''

The boat pulled into a harbor with a large sign supported

on two columns, reading ``Gateway to India.'' They had landed

in Bombay.

Ferry was put onto a train and traveled for a week until he

arrived at his post--a building that, putting it lightly, was

a rather safe place to be stationed.

``We went to a building that was inside of a compound that

had about a 10 foot wall around us,'' he said. ``We worked

behind locked doors and we had to decode and encode incoming

messages and outgoing messages to the headquarters.''

The work was interesting, however the climate was hot.

Ferry said it took him six months just to get used to the

heat. Then came the monsoons.

``They blew the roof off of our barracks one night, which

was made out of grass,'' he said. ``I never heard it rain so

hard than down there when that monsoon hit. It really

rained.''

Ferry recalls one night that he was working alone at the

compound, decoding a message that had come in while a general

paced back and forth behind him. Ferry wasn't sure what he

was there for, but he decoded the message, and watched the

general grab it and take off. He found out the next day that

the message he had decoded was the one giving the orders to

bomb Hiroshima.

Heading back to the United States following his time

overseas, Ferry recalls arriving in Miami and the feeling of

relief to be back in his country.

``I got back to Miami, got down and kissed the ground,'' he

said.

Returning, arguably as a big shot, Ferry fondly recalls his

time in the service, noting his favorite part as being the

opportunity to travel.

``Just seeing the world,'' he said.

I commend William Ferry for his many years of loyalty and service to our great nation. It is an immense honor to represent him in the United States Congress, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Ken Barkwill, a World War II Air Force veteran from Boone, Iowa, and to express my appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his country.

The Boone News Republican is currently running a series of articles that honors one Boone County veteran every Tuesday from Memorial Day to Veterans Day. Ken Barkwill was recognized on Tuesday, November 2. Below is the article in its entirety:

[From the Boone News Republican, Nov. 2, 2010]

Boone County Veterans: Ken Barkwill

(By Greg Eckstrom)

Ken Barkwill found himself in World War II as a result of

his love of model planes and trains.

Not in a literal sense, mind you. It's likely that Barkwill

would have been drafted into a branch of the military during

WWII and called to serve his country, but this love of

building models--a seemingly insignificant interest--set in

motion a series of events that guided him through an

intriguing life thus far, and one that was guided by these

interests.

Originally from Marion, this love of building models led a

young Barkwill to a job at the local airport as a youth. As

part of his pay, he received instruction at the airport and

did some flying. He was hooked.

``That's why I wound up in the Air Force,'' he said. ``Back

in '43, there was a draft and I was going to be drafted. I'd

been in the civil air patrol in high school. If you wanted

to, you could go sign up ahead of time, and I wanted to go

into the Air Force, so I went in April and signed up to go

into the Air Force and finally got called up in September.''

Barkwill took his training at Keesler Air Force Base in

Mississippi. The training was, in a word, ``sandy.''

``All I could think of was sand all over the place,''

Barkwill said. ``Hot and sandy.''

After getting through basic training, Barkwill went to

college for five months at the University of Alabama before

going to Texas where he worked on the line with guys waiting

to get into school at Randolph Field in San Antonio. From

there, Barkwill was sent to armament school in Denver, where

after learning from others for his entire military career was

given a strange offer from one of his instructors.

``Barkwill,'' he recalled the teacher asking. ``How would

you like to stay in Denver?''

He was offered a job as an instructor, after being

identified as a ``high achiever'' along with two other

individuals. Having a girlfriend in Denver at the time, the

decision was not difficult . . . especially for someone with

a love of airplanes.

``That was an interesting stint,'' he said. ``We got B-17s

in there. We didn't have a plane with a chin turret on it.

One day they come in and belly-landed a B-17 and we wound up

with that one to teach the chin turret on, because it didn't

wipe it clear out. And then, B-29s were just out when I was

there. We got some through there, too, and got to teach

armament on them.''

Barkwill worked as an instructor from December of 1944 to

July of 1945, when he was sent to a replacement depot in the

Philippines.

Upon arrival, Barkwill recalled a great deal of

uncertainty. The depot was a jumping off point, and all he

could do was wait for his orders, which came one day in the

form of a simple phrase: ``Get your gear together, you're

shipping out.''

He got on a truck and was transported down the road a few

miles. Barkwill unloaded in a new camp with some others

before being given his orders.

``There were several of us pulled out of the depot and

moved down the road a ways to an outfit called recovered

personnel,'' he said.

``And we were supposed to go in behind the first wave of

troops in to Japan and evacuate POWs.''

Fortunately, the cover of the first wave of troops was not

needed, as the two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan,

effectively ending the war.

The war was over, but Barkwill's duties on the recovered

personnel outfit were still needed, and he was sent to POW

camps in Japan to look for soldiers, check out graves for

information and report back.

``It was interesting work,'' he said.

From there, Barkwill was sent to a different unit--this one

in Cebu City in the Phillipines--for some more interesting

work. He was to investigate claims that the Filipinos made in

regards to G.I.s' stealing items.

``It was interesting,'' he said. ``They come in to our

office. We set up an office down in Cebu City, and they come

in and file applications with their claims. We had a bunch of

Filipinos working for us, and they'd fill out their forms for

them, and then we'd have to go out and investigate. Try to

figure out whether they were legitimate or not. That was

fun.''

Everything from stolen chickens, cows and bicycles was

investigated, as best he could, by Barkwill and his men. He

was there for only about a month before finally coming home

in February of 1946.

For Barkwill, his military experience, while not always

pleasant, was beneficial.

``I . . . can't say I enjoyed it, but it was something I'll

never forget,'' he said. ``It was . . . an education. Quite

an education. To this day, I don't think it hurts anyone to

spend some time in the military. I feel it's quite an

enlightening education.''

That experience is also one that is not easy to share with

a stranger. Barkwill said that it's a difficult topic for

many veterans to share, with even their own families.

``I've enjoyed talking to a lot of old guys like myself

around,'' he said. ``We've talked about things that happened.

You get to talking about what happened here and there, and

you talk about things you haven't thought about for years and

things you never told your kids. My daughter from Colorado,

it was just a couple of years ago, found out a little bit

about my military history. She was asking me questions and so

I sat down and told her a little bit about what had happened.

It was interesting overseas to see what the Japanese had

done, what they were doing and how they had dug in. They were

there forever. They found some of them in recent years still

living in the hills still thinking the war is on.''

It's also interesting, he said, how your memories work.

Barkwill's wife, Mary, joked that he could remember his time

in the military with such clarity, yet he doesn't remember

what he did yesterday.

``Yeah, some of it comes back, Mary,'' he laughed. ``It's

amazing how your memory works.''

Many of the memories came to Barkwill without any trouble

as he recalled specific incidents. Being caught in a typhoon

in Japan, finding a place for a haircut and a shave over

there, and most of all arriving back in the United States

after serving.

``Anybody that goes into the military, you get what you can

out of it,'' he said. ``You go and serve your time and hope

that you get home. I tell you, that's a thrill. When you get

on a ship and come back under the Golden Gate Bridge and see

that bridge up there and see that harbor and that ship pulls

up to the dock and you know you're back on terra firma in the

United States. That was very, very exciting for me.''

For Barkwill, it all started with a young man building

models . . . and after the hobby managed to lead him into the

military, it also brought him to the Boone & Scenic Valley

Rail Road in 1983, where he joined the Boone Railroad

Historical Society and designed and oversaw the construction

of the depot for the new railroad. His reason for doing so?

Model trains.

It's amazing where a love for a simple hobby can take you,

and the stories that follow as a result.

I commend Ken Barkwill for his many years of loyalty and service to our great nation. It is an immense honor to represent him in the United States Congress, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the excellence in education in the Fourth Congressional District of Iowa, and to specifically congratulate Kee High School in Lansing, Iowa, for making the list of the 2010 Blue Ribbon Schools.

The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement. Kee High School scored in the top ten percent in Iowa with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds improving their performance on state assessments or nationally-normed tests.

I consider it a great honor to represent Kee High School Principal Patrick Heiderscheit, the teachers, students, school board members and administrators of Eastern Allamakee Community Schools in the United States Congress. I wish Kee High School continued academic excellence as they provide a positive impact on future generations to come.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Leo Thomsen of Jefferson, Iowa, on the celebration of his 100th birthday on October 4, 2010.

Leo was born on October 4, 1910, in Greene County, Iowa. He grew up in Paton, Iowa where he later became a farmer and worked at a grain elevator. In 1940, Leo married Bernice Anderson and they were together until her death in 1988. They have two daughters, Mary and Judy; and have five grandchildren, Cesar, Tony, Marisa, Matt and Brad. Leo is currently residing at the Regency Park Nursing and Rehab Center in Jefferson, Iowa.

There have been many changes that have occurred during the past one hundred years. Since Leo's birth we have revolutionized air travel and walked on the moon. We have invented the television and the Internet. We have fought in wars overseas, seen the rise and fall of Soviet communism and the birth of new democracies. Leo has lived through 18 United States presidents and 22 governors of Iowa. In his lifetime, the population of the United States has more than tripled.

I know that my colleagues in the United States Congress join me in sending warm wishes to Leo on the milestone of his 100th birthday. I am extremely honored to represent him in Congress, and I wish him happiness and health for many more years to come.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Amanda Terhark of Iowa Falls, Iowa, as the recipient of the Art Educators of Iowa (AEI), 2010 Outstanding Middle School Art Educator award for her dedication to her students and art. She accepted the award on October 2, 2010, at the AEI conference in Sioux City, Iowa.

Amanda splits her time as an art teacher at Riverbend Middle School and Rock Run Elementary School and has been teaching art for seven years. This is her first teaching position and the first time she is getting recognized for her work.

When Amanda found out she was nominated for the award last summer, she asked Riverbend Middle School's principal Jeff Burchfield to write a letter of recommendation. In his letter, Mr. Burchfield praised her work both in the classroom and the community. He wrote: ``She has high expectations for student performance and behavior, yet her teaching style is one of mutual respect and admiration . . . [Amanda] genuinely cares for the students in her classroom, and this is evident in the way that she interacts with them and builds connections with them.''

Amanda has always put her students first. She was instrumental in starting an art club at Riverbend Middle School five years ago and in 2008, for her final project for her master's degree, Amanda involved her students by including some of their artwork in her exhibit.

Amanda Terhark is an incredible teacher, and her dedication to her profession and to her students should make every Iowan proud. It's an honor to represent her and the people of the Iowa Falls Community School District in the United States Congress, and I know that my colleagues in the House join me in congratulating Amanda on this well- deserved award and thanking her for her dedicated service to her community and America's youth.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Maggie Parks of Marshalltown, Iowa, as the recipient of the Art Educators of Iowa, AEI, 2010 Art Teacher of the Year award for her dedication to her students and art. She accepted the award on October 2, 2010 at the AEI conference in Sioux City, Iowa.

Maggie, who has been with the Marshalltown Community School District for 13 years, is currently an art teacher at Fisher Elementary School and at Woodbury Elementary School. The AEI Art Teacher of the Year award is the highest honor that can be given by the organization.

One of Maggie's goals is to help improve art education throughout the state by serving on boards and assisting other teachers. She is responsible for starting a new mentoring program for first year art teachers in the state. Maggie would keep a list of things that would work and share it with other teachers in the state.

In the past, Maggie was the president on the AEI board and served in several capacities with organization. She is highly respected in the school district as well as in the state of Iowa and is perceived by her peers as a leader at the school, district, and state level.

Maggie Parks is an incredible teacher, and her dedication to her profession and to her students should make every Iowan proud. It's an honor to represent her and the people of the Marshalltown Community School District in the United States Congress, and I know that my colleagues in the House join me in congratulating Maggie on this well- deserved award and thanking her for her dedicated service to her community and America's youth.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Carolyn E. Dallinger of Huxley, Iowa, as the recipient of the 2010 Iowa Professor of the Year award. She was honored at a reception in Washington, D.C., on November 18.

The U.S. Professors of the Year program, which is sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, is the only national program to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring.

Carolyn is currently an Assistant Professor of Social Work and Criminal Justice at Simpson College. She enjoys incorporating service learning components within her classroom teaching whenever possible. An example of

this includes having her social policy students serve meals to hungry or homeless people.

Besides being involved in sporting events and extracurricular activities at Simpson College, Carolyn also serves as a junior/senior high school youth group leader for her church. The youth group has taken several mission trips across the country to serve less fortunate people. She is also a member of the church choir and participates as a church accompanist.

Carolyn Dallinger is an incredible teacher, and her dedication to her profession and to her students should make every Iowan proud. It's an honor to represent her in the United States Congress, and I know that my colleagues in the House join me in congratulating Carolyn on this well-deserved award and thanking her for her dedicated service to her community and America's young adults.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Harold Gildea, a World War II Army veteran from Boone, Iowa, and to express my appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his country.

The Boone News Republican is currently running a series of articles that honors one Boone County veteran every Tuesday from Memorial Day to Veterans Day. Harold Gildea was recognized on Tuesday, September 28. Below is the article in its entirety:

Boone County Veterans: Harold Gildea

(By: Greg Eckstrom)

Harold Gildea, a Luther native and World War II veteran,

has had a varied military experience.

During his time in the service, he's escorted General

George S. Patton, had a chance meeting with a prisoner of war

overseas from Boxholm, saw the end of World War II and helped

guard a boat full of beer.

Typical? Not really, but what was in World War II?

Gildea was born in Luther, a town his family had lived in

for 150 years. After graduating from Luther High School, he

signed up for the draft on Feb. 16, 1942 and was drafted

after graduation. By September of 1942, he was processed at

Camp Dodge and sent to Missouri to become a Military

Policeman with the 211th Military Police in the Army.

``I don't know how come, but I was chosen to be in this

military police company in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.,'' he said

. . . a decision that he considered lucky, ``in a way.''

After training, Gildea was met with an assignment that was

far from normal. He was sent to California at the end of May

to help accompany Gen. Patton across the Mojave Desert. While

the assignment was an honor, it was hot, to say the least.

``He'd run these tanks through an intersection, and our men

would be there to direct him,'' Gildea said. ``You could only

stand out in the intersection about 30 minutes and your feet

would start to scald. We'd have to have men in there to keep

changing. Those tanks, the dust would be 8 to 10 inches deep,

and that hot sun's over 120 degrees.''

From California, he was sent to southern New Guinea to

relieve MP's in the area. The fourth morning he was there,

Gildea was at breakfast when he spotted a soldier that looked

familiar.

``I don't know why I put it like I did, but I said, 'Would

you know any of the McFarlands from Madrid?''' Gildea said.

``He just sat there and stared at me. He said, `I am one.'''

The chance encounter overseas with a fellow Boone County

native was interesting--almost as interesting as Gildea's

next assignment. He had been in southern New Guinea for only

two weeks when he was put on guard duty . . . keeping watch

over interesting cargo.

``We'd been there probably about two weeks and some ships

come in, and they assigned us to guard this one ship,'' he

said. ``When we got down there it was loaded with beer. A

whole ship loaded with beer. Well, [Gen. Douglas] McArthur

wouldn't let them have it, so they assigned us as duty to

guard that beer to make sure it stayed there.''

For six weeks, the beer sat in the ship. It wasn't until a

few soldiers figured out how to break open a port window and

throw some of the beer into the ocean to scoop up later that

any of it could be consumed. Finally, the beer was released

and Gildea's strange guard duty was over.

Gildea moved around to several different areas, being

assigned to various guard duties and police work. He

remembers the climate being hot and humid, with not much for

areas to escape the weather.

At a staging area where soldiers prepared to enter Japan,

in Leyte, Gildea found himself in the hospital with an

illness. While there, soldiers from Corregidor liberated

American women and children from a prison there. These former

prisoners were sent to the hospital that Gildea was

recovering.

``I had been there for three weeks, and I was getting to

where I could get up and move around,'' he said. ``They come

in one morning and wanted to know if some of us boys could

get up and help the women and children with their stuff. They

were putting them through their interrogation. I went up to

this lady and little girl and spoke to her and said I'd be

glad to help her. We got to visiting, and the little girls'

folks were from Boxholm, Iowa. Her mother had died in prison,

and her dad was some place out in the jungles.

``This lady . . . I can't remember where this lady was from

. . . this lady brought the girl back to Boone,'' Gildea

said. ``They were in Boone and called my folks and went up

and talked to them.''

The dropping of the atomic bombs brought about the end of

the war, and with it great relief from many soldiers. Gildea

had already been training to go to Japan. He was a part of

three platoons in the company--one dealing with traffic

control, one with prisoners and one general guard duty. While

being given their duties, one that struck the soldiers was

tagging bodies.

``That's how bad they were figuring it was going to be,''

he said.

Gildea was 3/4 of a mile away from the U.S.S. Missouri

while the peace treaty signing was being done.

``We could see it through good field glasses,'' he said.

``You could see people moving around. We could say we've seen

it, I guess.''

Following the end of the war, Gildea was sent to Yokohama,

where he stayed in the third floor of a large building.

Everything in the area had been fire bombed, however this

building had been spared. He also recalled one other building

in the area that was still standing.

``There was a little Methodist church,'' he said. ``It was

made of brick, and it never burned.''

It was while staying in this building that he made a trade

with a Japanese man that was moving out of the building. He

had several postcards of the building on his desk, which

Gildea asked for, and the man agreed. He then asked Gildea

for some chocolate from his rations . . . he had a little boy

who had never tasted chocolate. Gildea obliged.

``He had a little boy who was seven years old and never

tasted chocolate,'' he said. ``It was kind of amazing to

think that he wanted that candy.''

Gildea's time overseas was varied. His recollections vary

from the odd to touching to humorous. He enjoyed his time

overseas, however quickly reminds folks that at the time, it

was not much of a choice. Whether being drafted or not, for

most men at the time, serving their country was something

they did without much thought.

``We had no other choice,'' he said. ``It's just our duty

and we had to do it.''

I commend Harold Gildea for his many years of loyalty and service to our great nation. It is an immense honor to represent him in the United States Congress, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3787, which I joined my colleague the gentleman from Minnesota in introducing. Our military increasingly depends on the National Guard and Reserve to keep our country safe. Men and women who served our country faithfully for decades deserve full recognition as veterans, even if they were never deployed. The legislation would extend full veteran status under federal law to retired members of the Guard and Reserve. Current law does not consider Guard and Reserve members to be veterans unless they were deployed for more than 30 days. The policy excludes many soldiers in the Guard and Reserve who, while never deployed for long periods of time, carried out critical support roles during times of war and peace, engaged in frequent and often dangerous training exercises, and stood ready to risk their lives to protect our nation during military careers that spanned decades. This legislation recognizes the service and sacrifice of National Guard and Reserve retirees and grants them the full honor of being called veterans that they have earned. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, which is a matter of honor and fairness to our citizen soldiers.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize and congratulate Jerry Stevenson of Charles City, Iowa, who recently was awarded the Pilgrim Degree of Merit by the Loyal Order of Moose.

Jerry Stevenson, who was a member of the order for 36 years, was inducted into the Pilgrim Degree of Merit for services above and beyond the call duty to the Charles City Moose Lodge and to the Loyal Order of Moose as a whole. Jerry is now among an elite group of about 3,000 members who have earned the Pilgrim Degree of Merit--the highest honor that can be given by the organization--and the coveted gold jacket that comes with it.

The Loyal Order of Moose is a fraternal and service organization founded in 1888, with nearly 800,000 men in roughly 1,800 Lodges, in all 50 states and four Canadian provinces, plus Great Britain and Bermuda.

The Loyal Order of Moose, along with other units of Moose International, supports the operation of Mooseheart Child City & School, a 1,000-acre community for children and teens in need, located 40 miles west of Chicago; and Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community for its members near Jacksonville, FL. Additionally, Moose Lodges conduct approximately $50 million worth of community service annually, both through monetary donations and volunteer hours worked.

I am honored to represent Jerry Stevenson in the United States Congress. I know that my colleagues join me in congratulating Jerry and wishing him continued success.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the retirement of Major General Raymond L. Webster, Assistant to the Surgeon General of the Iowa Air National Guard and to express my appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his state and country.

Major General Raymond L. Webster earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Saint Louis University in 1974, followed later by a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Missouri in 1978, a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1983, and attended Air War College through correspondence in 2001.

In 1974, General Webster's long and distinguished career in America's armed forces began when he was commissioned as a Health Professions Scholarship Student at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine. He served on active duty in the Air Force from 1979-1986 as a squadron flight surgeon, resident in aerospace medicine, and chief of aeromedical services. In 1986, he joined the Iowa Air National Guard as a physician/flight surgeon and in 1993 became the 132nd Medical Squadron Commander. In 2001, General Webster became the first Air National Guard Medical Assistant to the Air Force's Space Command. Prior to this, he served as the Air National Guard Assistant to the Air Combat Command Surgeon General.

For the past 36 years, General Webster has served faithfully and honorably, earning a long list of military awards and decorations. Most recently, he will be receiving the Distinguished Service Medal from the President of the United States, as authorized by Congress. General Webster's long-standing commitment to the Iowa Air National Guard and his country has earned him the respect and honor of all who have served with him. For this I offer him my utmost congratulations and thanks.

I commend Major General Raymond L. Webster for his many years of loyalty and service to our great nation. It is an immense honor to represent General Webster in the United States Congress, and I wish him a happy retirement from the Iowa Air National Guard and all the best in his future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Elizabeth Lorentzen of Decorah, Iowa as the recipient of the Art Educators of Iowa (AEI) 2010 Outstanding High School Art Educator award for her dedication to her students and art. She will receive the award on October 2, 2010 at the AEI conference in Sioux City, Iowa.

Elizabeth is currently an art teacher at Decorah High School and has been teaching art for 39 years. In addition to high school art, she has taught art education classes at Luther College and drawing classes through Decorah/Northeast Iowa Community College's Continuing Education Program.

Over the years, Elizabeth has maintained deep relationships with her students by taking interest in their successes and challenges. She is known to use her lunch break to help students who are having difficulties in completing a project. It is because of Elizabeth's passion that many of her students have chosen to pursue a career in art or art education.

Elizabeth has received the Luther College Partners grant eight times, was the 2008 Decorah Walmart Teacher of the Year, and she is the winner of two McElroy grants. Two of her students have won the Fourth Congressional District art competition and had their work hung in the U.S. Capitol for a year.

Elizabeth Lorentzen is an incredible teacher, and her dedication to her profession and to her students should make every Iowan proud. It's an honor to represent her and the people of the Decorah Community School District in the United States Congress, and I know that my colleagues in the House join me in congratulating Elizabeth on this well-deserved award and thanking her for her dedicated service to her community and America's youth.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a great achievement by Patricia Yungclas of Webster City, Iowa. Patricia was named an Iowa Master Farm Homemaker by Wallaces Farmer magazine. She was joined by three other farm homemakers who were recognized during a ceremony in Des Moines on September 10, 2010.

Since 1940, Wallaces Farmer has been a sponsor of the Iowa Master Farm Homemaker Award. The honor recognizes these women for their fine work with their families, homes and community service.

The example set by Patricia demonstrates the rewards of hard work, dedication and community service. Her triumph is an honor that we all can admire and be proud of.

I am honored to represent Patricia Yungclas in the United States Congress. I know that my colleagues join me in congratulating Patricia and wishing her continued success.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Jeremy Jacobsen, a U.S. Marine veteran from Boone, Iowa, and to express my appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his country.

The Boone News Republican is currently running a series of articles that honors one Boone County veteran every Tuesday from Memorial Day to Veterans Day. Jeremy Jacobsen was recognized on Tuesday, September 21. Below is the article in its entirety.

I commend Jeremy Jacobsen for his many years of loyalty and service to our great nation. It is an immense honor to represent him in the United States Congress, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.--

[From the Boone News Republican, Sept. 21, 2010]

Service

(By Greg Eckstrom)

The term is used frequently, most often when referring to

what our soldiers are doing overseas--they're serving. While

used frequently, however, many often don't devote a great

deal of thought to why the word is used. It's used to

describe our soldiers, without thought of the significance of

the word.

Boone resident and Marine Corps veteran Jeremy Jacobsen,

however, embodies this term. He didn't join the military for

an enrollment bonus, for college money or because of family

tradition--in fact, his grandfather was his only direct

relative at the time that had joined the service. For

Jacobsen, it was something he wanted to do . . . he wanted to

make a difference. He wanted to serve.

``It was one of those things I always knew I wanted to

do,'' he said. ``It had nothing to do with family. I just . .

. I just knew. I always knew I was going to be in the

military, probably since I was about 12 years old. I knew

that was what I was going to do.''

This decision did not come easily, however, for the Atkins,

Iowa kid as he fought tooth and nail to enlist early at age

17. His parents and relatives all urged him not to do it, but

they could see his determination, and finally his mother

signed off on it, allowing him to enlist.

``Me and my best friend in high school, we were pretty

politically active in high school, and with that came a deep

desire to do something for our country,'' he said. ``We both

loved our country. He would have enlisted with me, but he had

a heart murmur. So he couldn't. So I just kind of did it for

the both of us.''

Jacobsen graduated high school in 2001, and the next day he

went to boot camp. He graduated from boot camp on Aug. 24,

2001--less than a month before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist

attack.

``Pretty much my Marine Corps career was the start of Sept.

11,'' he said. ``It was kind of a shock.''

Many of the recruiters had told soldiers that were signing

up that they would likely never see war. Jacobsen was in the

field, training with other soldiers, when the attacks

happened, and with no outside communication available to

them, they heard only through their superiors. The news was

hardly believable.

``Our sergeants told us what had happened, and we thought

they were lying,'' he said. ``We thought it was just a way to

make us take our training more seriously. And then they

caught on to that, so they let us listen to President Bush's

address to the nation, and that's when we were pretty much

all in shock. It was just silence. From there, I think we

became more serious at that point, because we realized . . .

since we were newly enlisted, at some point in time, every

single one of us was going to see war.''

Jacobsen became a field radio operator, joined the Waterloo

Unit--Charlie Battery 114. He spent four years with the unit

until being activated on June 12, 2005--a date that was

memorable, because it was his daughter's first birthday.

After training in California, Jacobsen went to Iraq in

September of 2005. He was an Operations Non-commissioned

officer, with his job being to process Iraqi prisoners that

were brought in. They worked with officials in the country to

begin collecting information on prisoners--fingerprints,

names and evidence involved.

Being in a position where he would have initial contact

with the prisoners, many thought Jacobsen had the power to

decide what happened. In their experience, they thought that

Jacobsen would be the one pondering their fate--a jarring

experience for the Marine.

``They thought that was it or I had the power to decide

their fate, and they'd fall to the ground crying,'' he said.

``Pleading for their life or trying to kiss me. I had a lot

of empathy for them.''

Working through an interpreter, Jacobsen helped process the

prisoners--many of whom were ``good guys,'' just in the wrong

place at the wrong time, and were immediately released after

processing. The prisoners, he said, were grateful to have the

soldiers there.

``In the Iraqi government, they didn't feel like they had

any future,'' Jacobsen said. ``They could be killed at any

time. If they were arrested, they were either imprisoned for

the rest of their life or killed. There was no system of

justice. And so, they were happy we were there.''

Being in a position where the prisoners even had a thought

that he might take their lives shook Jacobsen to his core.

``I found myself early on brought to tears for them several

times,'' he said. ``Take everything out of the equation. Take

out way back when they said they had weapons of mass

destruction, take out the reason of maybe there's a national

interest in the future because they have oil, take out all

the political stuff. Just for humanitarian reasons. Just so

they can be treated like people . . . that was enough for me.

And for every Marine in my unit there with me, that was

enough. We felt like, everything aside, all the other

political stuff aside, what we were doing and what we were

seeing was good. We felt like we were doing good, and they

felt like we were doing good, so that justified us.''

Jacobsen worked a shift that helped his time in Iraq fly

by. He would work 24 hours straight, sleep for 20 hours, eat

a meal and start the routine all over again. For this reason,

a normal ``day'' for Jacobsen was in reality 48 hours. While

this made time fly by, it also set him up for a jarring

adjustment when he returned to the United States. He spent

the remainder of his enlistment in the U.S. with a Des Moines

infantry unit, ending his military service career as an E-5 .

. . a sergeant.

Now living in Boone with his wife and three kids, looking

back at his military career, Jacobsen misses many aspects of

it.

``The camaraderie that you have with that group of Marines

is probably the number one thing that I still miss to this

day,'' he said. ``You have that group of guys . . . we've

been together already that four years I've been at the unit,

we go through all this training together, we spend every

single day together and we know we've got each other's backs.

You know you can count on that other guy if something

happens. And there's something about that that connects

you.''

Being back in the United States has been difficult for

Jacobsen, as it is for many veterans. The feeling of having

served overseas is nearly impossible to describe, he said. It

wasn't until he joined the local VFW that he found he wasn't

alone.

``It's weird . . . you never quite feel like you belong

here anymore,'' he said. ``You gain a different perspective,

and nobody around you shares that perspective. It's

different. Unless you've been there, you never quite

understand it. I just joined the VFW. Went to my first

meeting . . . and that was the first time I talked with

people who understood that.''

When asked what advice he might give a young man or woman

looking to enlist, Jacobsen said the advice he would give

them would make him a bad recruiter, but it's one that he

considers necessary. It's based around a simple question: why

are you enlisting?

``I want to know if they're enlisting for college purposes,

or for national pride purposes. I'm a firm believer it's got

to be this one . . . it can't be the college purpose,'' he

said. ``If it's `I'm getting this benefit along with

something I want to do just because I have pride in my

country and I want to serve my country,' that's the perfect

reason to enlist and I would tell them you'd do good at it.''

As for the Marines Corps, Jacobsen said anybody can do it,

despite your size or stature, as long as they have that pride

and passion.

``It doesn't matter if you're a small guy or an overweight

guy. They're going to fix you,'' he said. ``They're going to

fix that in boot camp and they're going to teach you how to

exercise or teach you how to eat properly. They're going to

give you those tools that you didn't have. The thing about

the military is they're the best run organization on the

planet. They're the oldest. The military has been around

since the dawn of time, and so they've got a lot of history

to go off of. Our country was founded by a war. Our first

organization, our first business, was the military.

Everything they do is for a reason. Everything's training in

the Marines Corps . . . I know it's the same way with every

branch.''

Looking back on his career, the camaraderie he built with

his friends, the insight he gained in speaking with Iraqis,

and the work he did overseas, Jacobsen said if he could go

back and do it all over again, very little would change. In

fact, the only thing he would do differently, he said, is

push himself more, give just a little bit more, work just a

little bit harder, and make just a little bit more of a

difference.

``I worked as hard as I could over there, but you always

look back and think, `I could have done this much more in my

time in the service,' '' Jacobsen said. ``Because it does

end. I look back, and it's fond memories and you miss it, and

you just wish you would have tried your hardest in everything

you did.''

That, better than Webster's could define it, is the

definition of ``service'' as it applies to the military. And

that is how it should be seen.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Phil Golding, a World War II Army veteran from Boone County, Iowa, and to express my appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his country.

The Boone News Republican is currently running a series of articles that honors one Boone County veteran every Tuesday from Memorial Day to Veterans Day. Phil Golding was recognized on Tuesday, August 24. Below is the article in its entirety:

Boone County Veterans: Phil Golding

(By Alexander Hutchins)

Not all military experiences are life-changing tales,

fraught with peril and excitement.

For former Boone County resident Phil Golding, his

experiences in the military were rather mundane.

He was never shot at, ``to my knowledge,'' he said. He

never received, nor wanted, a Purple Heart. A Boone resident

for nearly 50 years, Golding, however, recalls his times in

the United States Army with fond memories, with his three

most volatile army jobs being battery clerk, gas truck driver

and ammo truck driver.

Golding was inducted into the U.S. Army at Camp Dodge from

Glidden, Iowa, in Carroll County, assigned to active duty on

July 3, 1943, ``policing the camp grounds for cigarette

butts'' prior to the crowds of visitors swarming into the

area.

``I was given a G.I. haircut, clothes and equipment, then

sent to a tank destroyer facility at Camp Hood, Texas, for

four months of infantry basic training before spending 4\1/2\

months on campus at the University of Illinois in the Army

Specialized Training Program ostensibly to be an engineer,''

Golding recalled. ``This changed when the war in Africa,

Italy and Europe called for fresh blood.''

Golding, along with hundreds of other ``non-essentials,''

as he referred to himself, were transported by troop train to

the Eighth Armored Division at Camp Polk, La.

Before long, they would be replacing armored units in

combat zones, but first there were inspections.

``We spent the hot summer of 1944 being inspected to death

before the Germans got a shot at us,'' Golding said. ``We

boarded a troop ship in early fall. Somewhere, mid-Atlantic,

a couple hundred of us below deck playing cards, writing home

or reading, when something big banged hard against the

bulkhead only a few feet away! We never knew what, but one

officer didn't wait to panic, he went bananas, bounding up

the stairway shouting, `Don't panic . . . let me outta here!

Let me outta here!' ''

It was a couple months later when the group ate their

Thanksgiving turkey in what Golding referred to as ``Jolly

ol' England.'' After next celebrating Christmas with an

English family, they finally received their equipment on New

Years Day: tanks, trucks, 105 mm howitzers, and more.

The soldiers were rushed across the channel to Europe, but

the Battle of the Bulge was over by then, so the troops were

held behind the front lines, in reserve, freezing in France

for six long, cold weeks.

Golding recalls an incident next that happened in a muddy

orchard.

``We then pulled our trucks, heavy with ammo, into a pretty

Dutch orchard, just before the frost left, leaving our trucks

axle-deep in sod, eight-wheelers spinning, wench cables

straining and shear pins shearing,'' he said. ``After the

tank-retriever drug us out one by one, the poor Dutchman's

grove looked like a plowed field. Even the road past his farm

looked plowed, ready to plant.''

He also recalls a spectacular site during his time overseas

serving in the Army.

``Watching the bombers go east, then back west, with bomb

bays open and parachute cords trailing was thrilling--we knew

our paratroopers were on the other side of the river, waiting

for us to cross the Rhine River on a pontoon bridge,''

Golding said. ``The day after on the far side of the river

was a different thrill when our captain circled our trucks on

a hill, visible for miles, and we took a few German artillery

rounds. Not much happened where we were, I hurried dressing

and moved from the 200 rounds of steel cased white phosphorus

105 mm artillery shells in our truck, which was my bed the

night before.''

The end of World War II was a strange sight for Golding. He

recalls that he was near the Elbe River when he awoke to the

scene.

``I got up one morning and wandered out the back side of

our barracks and there was a whole battalion with rifles

stacked and lining up at a chow truck for breakfast, it took

me a minute to realize this was a German battalion getting

fed, with rifles stacked, apparently unconcerned that they

were in the backyard of a bunch of American G.I.s, who also

seemed unconcerned,'' he said. ``More curious than

concerned.''

And so, the war ended, and Golding returned home to Boone,

happy for his military experience, and happy for his safe

return, albeit with a few more entertaining stories than when

he left.

``Compared to most, my experiences in the U.S. Army were

mundane, thank the Lord,'' Golding said.

I commend Phil Golding for his many years of loyalty and service to our great Nation. It is an immense honor to represent him in the United States Congress, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.