[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 65 (Monday, May 23, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        ROY M. WHEAT POST OFFICE

  Miss COLLINS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 3839) to designate the U.S. Post Office located 
at 220 South 40th Avenue in Hattiesburg, MS as the Roy M. Wheat Post 
Office.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3839

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The United States Post Office building located at 220 South 
     40th Avenue in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, shall be known and 
     designated as the ``Roy M. Wheat Post Office''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the building referred 
     to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the Roy 
     M. Wheat Post Office.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Michigan [Miss Collins] will be recognized for 20 minutes, and the 
gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Petri] will be recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan [Miss Collins].
  Miss COLLINS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I support the passage of H.R. 3839, which will designate 
the U.S. Post Office building located at 220 South 40th Avenue in 
Hattiesburg, MS, the ``Roy M. Wheat Post Office''.
  Mr. Wheat served as a noncommissioned officer in the Marines, 
attaining the rank of Marine lance corporal. He became Mississippi's 
sole recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor in the Vietnam war.
  Corporal Wheat was presented this award posthumously, for his act of 
heroism in sacrificing his life to save the lives of two fellow 
Americans by physically throwing himself on an antipersonnel mine.
  I am pleased to join Congressman Taylor and the citizens of 
Hattiesburg, MS, in their desire to name the postal facility located at 
220 South 40th Avenue in Hattiesburg, MS, the Roy M. Wheat Post Office. 
I support the passage of H.R. 3839, and urge my colleagues to support 
the measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3839, legislation designating 
the U.S. Post Office located at 220 South 40th Avenue in Hattiesburg, 
MS, as the Roy M.Wheat Post Office.
  On August 11, 1967, Marine Lcpl. Roy Mitchell Wheat and two other 
marines were assigned to a security mission for a Navy construction 
battalion. Shouting a warning to His comrades, Corporal Wheat in a 
valiant act of heroism hurled himself upon the mine, absorbing the 
impact of the explosion with his own body.

  Corporal Wheat gallantly gave his life for his country with this 
unselfish action to save his fellow marines.
  Marine Lcpl. Roy Mitchell Wheat was Mississippi's sole recipient of 
the Congressional Medal of Honor in the Vietnam war.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Miss COLLINS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to my colleague, the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Taylor].
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, if the Chair will indulge me, 
I would like to begin by apologizing to my son, Gary, who is going to 
graduate from kindergarten in a few hours, for his father's absence, 
and I hope we all understand that there are times in lives when fathers 
cannot be with their sons, and this is one of them. I wish I was there.
  However, we are here to honor a father who is no longer with his son, 
and in the first instance, a son who is no longer with his father. 
Unfortunately, Congress cannot bring people back to life, but we can 
ensure that some lives are remembered.
  The first of these lives that the committee has been kind enough to 
see to it that others can remember involves a young man from 
Estabuchie, MS, by the name of Roy Wheat. I want to thank the gentlemen 
from Mississippi, the Honorable G.V. ``Sonny'' Montgomery and the 
Honorable Mike Parker, for their help in passing this bill to name the 
post office in downtown Hattiesburg, MS, after Roy Wheat.
  Roy volunteered for Vietnam in August 1967, while serving as a fire 
team leader in the First Platoon of Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh 
Marines. He and two other marines were assigned the mission of 
providing security for a Navy construction battalion crane and crew.
  After the marines had set up security positions in a tree line 
adjacent to the work site, Corporal Wheat reconnoitered the area to the 
rear of their location for the possible presence of guerillas. He then 
returned to within 10 feet of friendly position, where he 
unintentionally triggered a well-concealed bounding type antipersonnel 
line. Immediately a hissing sound was heard which was identified by the 
three marines as that of a burning time fuse.
  Shouting a warning to his comrades, Corporal Wheat, in a valiant act 
of heroism, hurled himself upon the mine, absorbing the tremendous 
impact of the explosion with his own body. The inspirational personal 
heroism and extraordinary valor of his unselfish action saved his 
fellow marines from certain injury and possible death. It reflected 
great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the 
Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval service. He gallantly gave his life for 
his country.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to mention Roy's father, J. C. Wheat, who 
is back home in Mississippi today. I just want to thank Mr. Wheat for 
his patience in the passage of this measure, and I would also like to 
thank the mayor and city council of Hattiesburg for honoring Roy. 
Although Roy was not from Hattiesburg, it is the nearest large postal 
facility to his home, and they were kind enough to make this possible.
  Mr. SPEAKER, I would also like to thank Dr. Charles Sullivan of the 
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College for bringing Roy's heroism to 
my attention, and for seeing to it that the gentlewoman's committee 
could give their thoughts to this measure and hopefully their support.

                              {time}  1350

  Miss COLLINS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Michigan [Miss Collins] that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3839, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  The title of the bill, as amended, was amended so as to read: A bill 
to designate the United States Post Office building located at 220 
South 40th Avenue in Hattiesburg, MS, as the Roy M. Wheat Post Office.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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