[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


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                 RECOGNITION OF COL. RICHARD E. MATLAK

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                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 17, 1997

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Col. Richard E. 
Matlak for his 28 years of honorable and outstanding service to the 
U.S. Army and to the Nation. On Friday, June 13, 1997, Col. Richard E. 
Matlak was honored at the Algonquin Club in Boston, MA. I recognize him 
here in honor of this event.
  Colonel Matlak has a long tradition of service and has received 
numerous decorations. He has received the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star 
Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Army 
Commendation Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Achievement Medal, 
Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, 
National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with two Overseas 
Service Bars, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Time Device, Army Service 
Ribbon, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with 60 Device. The 
personal extolments of his superiors, subordinates, evaluators, and 
peers, however most colorfully decorate the colonel as a great soldier 
and military leader.
  Not only has Colonel Matlak shown exemplary character in his over 27 
years of commissioned service, but he also dedicated his life to the 
field of education. The list of awards the colonel received through his 
work as an educator is equally prestigious. In addition to his numerous 
academic recognitions, the colonel has authored dozens of books, 
articles, reviews and conference papers on the subjects of Literature 
and Poetry.
  Col. Richard E. Matlak is a dedicated leader, an accomplished 
academic, a learned professor, a superior mentor, and an honorable 
citizen of our Nation. I am proud to commend him for his admirable 
years of service to his community, to our institutions of learning, and 
to the United States of America.

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