[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 41 (Monday, March 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3494-S3495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                               MATT URBAN

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, a friend of mine named Matt Urban passed 
away over the weekend, leaving a legacy of superlative achievement in a 
military career that will enlighten generations to come about what it 
means to be a soldier, a patriot and a hero.
  [[Page S3495]] I would like to share my memory of Matt Urban and a 
few of the things that impressed us in Michigan about this citizen and 
civic leader, this family man who was I believe the most decorated 
soldier in the history of the U.S. military.
  He will be remembered in our hearts and in our history books for his 
staggering courage and fearless valor in the face of the grave danger 
that comes with war. Duty to country and loyalty to the men with whom 
he fought side-by-side drove him on the battlefields of victorious 
campaigns across North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, and Belgium in World 
War II.
  Matt's military career was legendary. Indeed, his exploits on the 
battlefield are larger than life. He earned 29 combat medals, including 
seven Purple Hearts, the Medal of Honor, the American Campaign Medal, 
and French Croix de Guerre with a Silver gilt Star. Each and every 
medal tells a story of a man who seemed to show no fear, a man 
determined to carry on the fight for freedom for his countrymen.
  His final Medal of Honor, awarded in a White House ceremony in 1980, 
marked an act of heroism that had come to characterize his feats in 
combat. He rescued his men, who were caught in a hail of German 
gunfire, by climbing aboard an empty tank and training its cannon on 
the enemy.
  We all pray the battles Matt Urban survived are the likes of which no 
soldier will ever see again.
  These battles were waged at a great cost, but they also gained great 
and lasting rewards for our Nation and our allies. Matt Urban was a 
disciple for democracy, fighting hard battles in the trenches of Europe 
so that we and our grandchildren may live free from tyranny and 
prosper.
  Matt Urban's greatness was not just on the battlefield. In Monroe and 
later in Holland, MI he served as a valued employee in their recreation 
departments working to make the lives of children from those towns 
brighter and happier. He capped his career as a city employee in 
Holland managing the civic center, an ideal vocation for one of our 
State's leading citizens.
  While Matt Urban's body is laid to rest, his memory and impact on our 
lives lingers on. As a member of a screening committee I assembled to 
nominate Michigan's finest young men and women for appointments at our 
military academies, he served as the vibrant link connecting 
yesterday's soldier to tomorrow's generation of new leadership. The 
tradition of duty, honor, and country and the motivation to do right 
that he inspired in the lives he touched continues today in the spirits 
of the young men and women he helped usher into new military careers.


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