[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 194 (Thursday, December 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H14213-H14214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN MEMORY OF GENERAL MAX THURMAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Hayworth] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon to remember the life 
and the contributions of a great American. Gen. Max Thurman had his 
final battle with leukemia end 1 week ago. His remains were laid to 
rest earlier today at Arlington National Cemetery.
  During almost four decades of military service, Max Thurman found his 
duty offered him diverse challenges, from Vietnam, the U.S. Army 
Recruiting Command, ultimately to commander of our forces during 
Operation Just Cause in Panama, an operation for which he delayed his 
retirement from military service.
  His devotion to duty was so intense that he earned several nicknames 
during the course of his military career. Indeed, one of those 
nicknames, I suppose, speaks volumes to those who served under his 
command, for they came to call him Maxatollah. But that devotion to 
duty, that intensity, that ability that Max Thurman brought to the U.S. 
Army served that fighting force well in a massive transition from a 
conscripted army to a volunteer force.
  Max Thurman faced a challenge not only on the field of battle but 
among those who would make their livings trying to influence Americans 
on Madison Avenue, for it was Max Thurman who worked just as tirelessly 
in his recruiting command to fashion a message to young Americans, to 
reshape and rethink and rearticulate a call to duty. It was Max Thurman 
who worked with those from the civilian world to encapsulate a phrase 
that spoke not only to the promise of youth, not only to the promise of 
this great country, but to the promise of service in the U.S. Army, for 
it was Max Thurman who helped to coin the phrase ``Be all that you can 
be.''
  Indeed, his reputation won him a certain celebrity. The story goes 
that once upon a time, in the airport, I believe, in Chicago, a lady 
approached him and simply said, ``General, are you the `Be all you can 
be' man?''
  And Max said, yes, he was that man.
  But he was far more. Those privileged to serve with him, both on the 
field of battle and in other commands, talk of his reputation, of his 
intensity, of his dedication to service, of that commanding voice but, 
yes, also that distinctive walk that would reverberate in the Marshall 
Corridor in the Pentagon, as if this were a man born to command.

[[Page H 14214]]

  My personal recollections are different, for I did not know the 
Maxatollah, not in that sense. My father grew up with Max in the 
southern town of High Point, NC, and Max Thurman preceded me to North 
Carolina State University where he earned his degree in chemical 
engineering.
  The Max Thurman I knew was a kind, decent and yes, dare I say gentle 
man, one always willing to stop and answer questions in a kindly 
fashion.
  Yes, we heard his command voice in Panama, in Operation Just Cause, 
and yes, we mourn his passing and pass along our condolences to his 
brother, Lt. Gen. Roy Thurman, now retired, and to all those who served 
with him.
  But it is safe to say that Max Thurman lived up to the slogan ``Be 
all that you can be'' because he was all he possibly could have been.

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