[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 143 (Wednesday, October 22, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8986-H8987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO MAJOR GENERAL FRANK WORTH ELLIOTT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Ewing] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. EWING. Mr. Speaker, I come here tonight saddened with the
responsibility of informing this House of the loss of a great American,
a man who served his country for many years, a man who reached the rank
of Major General in the Air Force, a citizen of the 15th district of
Illinois and a friend and somebody who will be missed a great deal by
all who knew him.
Mr. Speaker, memorial services for U.S. Air Force Major General Frank
Worth Elliott of Rantoul, Illinois, will be held at the United
Methodist Church
[[Page H8987]]
in that community on Friday of this week. Private burial will take
place at a later time.
Mr. Elliott was born on December 2, 1924, in Statesville, North
Carolina, son of Frank W. and Lois Young Elliott. He married Evaughn
``Bonnie'' Close on January 7, 1950, at Rapid City, South Dakota. His
wife survives him. He is also survived by two sons, Frank Elliott of
Santiago, Chile; Jeff Elliott of Albany, Georgia; and a brother, Jim
Elliott of North Carolina, along with five grandchildren in whom he
took great pride and affection.
General Elliott graduated from high school in 1941, and he attended
college in California and in North Carolina, before he enlisted in
December of 1942 in the U.S. Air Force. He later did complete his
college work at Charleston, Illinois, at Eastern Illinois University in
1973.
He completed pilot's training and was commissioned a Second
Lieutenant in March of 1944. He completed a tour of combat duty as an
air crew commander of B-24s with the 15th Air Force in Italy during
April of 1945, and he was promoted to Captain in that same year.
General Elliott remained in the service after World War II. He served
in a number of different capacities, in operational supply and aircraft
maintenance positions, until 1963 when he was promoted to the grade of
Colonel while serving as the Deputy Commander for an operations wing of
B-52s based in California.
He has attended the War College right here in Washington, D.C.
General Elliott commanded the 92nd Bomb Wing at Fairchild Air Force
Base in Washington from January 1969 to January 1970, when he was
promoted to Brigadier General. He was the commander of the 14th
Strategic Air Division at Beale Air Force Base, California, and from
1970 to July of 1971, he was assigned to the Air Force base in Thailand
as Commander of the 307th Strategic Wing.
General Elliott was promoted to Major General and then as Commander
of the Chanute Technical Training Center at Chanute, Illinois, which
brought him into Illinois again, and into the 15th Congressional
District. He served there with distinction. He retired from the Air
Force in September of 1975 after completing 33 years of active service.
Later, after a few years of retirement, we were so pleased when
General Elliott returned to Rantoul to serve as an economic development
consultant to the Village of Rantoul. This was at a time when the
community of Rantoul was quite fearful. There was a great deal of
concern in the community because the Chanute Air Force Base was being
closed under the base closure passed by this Congress. A large number
of jobs were being lost to the community.
General Elliott was a man for all seasons, a man who came to the
rescue of his adopted community. He served them well. He will be
greatly missed. I am glad to come here tonight to put this in the
Record for his memory.
{time} 1745
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Brady). Under a previous order of the
House, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Frost] is recognized for 5
minutes.
[Mr. FROST addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in
the Extensions of Remarks.]
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