[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 188 (Tuesday, November 28, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S17545-S17546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         TRIBUTE TO MAURICE ``FOOTSIE'' BRITT, AN AMERICAN HERO

  Mr. BUMPERS. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to one of 
America's greatest heroes, and certainly one of Arkansas' greatest, if 
not the greatest, hero in the history of our State. He is Maurice 
``Footsie'' Britt, born in the small town of Carlisle, AR, and raised 
in the small town of Lonoke, AR. He was a football star at the 
University of Arkansas and Honorable Mention, All American.
  I first met Footsie in the barbershop of my hometown of Charleston, 
population 1,200. He had his campaign literature under his right arm--
or his right stub. He did not have a right arm. He was running for 
Lieutenant Governor on the Republican ticket with Winthrop Rockefeller. 
He had all his literature under his stub and would use his left hand to 
pull it out and hand it to you.
  As I got out of the barber's chair and paid the barber 50 cents for 
the haircut, this was 1966, Footsie Britt walked in. He had been a real 
hero to me, and I was honored to meet him. Winthrop Rockefeller became 
the first Republican Governor since Reconstruction in my State. In my 
opinion, he would have never been elected if he had not had Footsie 
Britt as his running mate.
  But to go back, he was the first American to ever receive the three 
highest awards the American military can grant for valor and bravery in 
one war. He held the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished 
Service Cross, and the Silver Star. I do not know whether anybody has 
ever equaled that since then or not.
  What happened to the right arm? It lay on the battlefield near Anzio, 
Italy, where he had been a lieutenant in World War II. As I walked 
around the battlefield at Anzio last year, as the President and 
numerous Members of Congress went to Normandy and Anzio, I thought 
``Where did Footsie lose his arm?''
  Madam President, he not only received the three highest honors that 
our military can bestow, he received the highest honor that Britain 
bestows on any non-Englishman, the Military Cross, and the highest 
award that can be bestowed by Italy on any non-Italian, the Cross of 
Valor.
  He was in charge of a platoon and leading a group of men near the 
beach at Anzio. He saw that some of his men were getting out in front 
of the others. He knew that the Germans were ahead of them and on 
either side of them. And as he had feared, the others got so far ahead 
of the rest of the group that the Germans had them surrounded. They 
knew it, and they surrendered.
  The Germans took the American soldiers as shields, as hostages, and 
began to march them toward the other Americans that Footsie commanded. 
The Americans held their fire, obviously. And just as they got close 
enough, Footsie shouted, ``Now hear this order by me. Hit the mud!'' 
And every one of the American hostages immediately fell down and lay in 
a prone position. The Germans, not speaking English and being 
dumbfounded by the order, were confused just long enough for Footsie 
and his men to mow all the Germans down, saving all the hostages.
  If Footsie Britt had an enemy in this country, I am not aware of it. 
He was a beloved public servant, not a strident partisan, just an all-
around good guy. He saw his duty and did it. He was later appointed 
head of the Arkansas Small Business Administration where he served for 
14 years. His wife, Pat, preceded him in death several years ago.
  Two weeks ago I went to the John L. McClellan Veterans Hospital in 
Little Rock, as I do every Veterans Day. The first room I went to was 
Footsie Britt's. He had lost a piece of a foot as 

[[Page S 17546]]
well as his arm at Anzio, and being an acute diabetic, 48 hours before 
had had one of his feet amputated. I walked into the room, and I could 
hardly believe that Footsie had had that foot operated on and removed 
just 2 days before.
  He said, ``Senator, I just want you to know I think Betty Bumpers was 
the most gracious First Lady the State ever had. She was always 
unfailingly polite and friendly to me. And I hope you will tell her 
that.'' Shortly thereafter, they had to amputate more of the leg, and 
his heart just gave out.
  To youngsters I speak to in high schools and colleges, I always 
remind them of how lucky they are to live in this country, how many 
sacrifices so many brave men and women have made to provide them with 
the freedom, the rights they enjoy, all the protections of our sacred 
Constitution. They do not understand what I am saying. They cannot 
possibly understand what I am saying. But I say it again today, Madam 
President. They, you, I, and every American have lost one of our 
greatest heroes with the death of Maurice ``Footsie'' Britt, a true 
immortal.

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