[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E3]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO COLONEL AARON BANK

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 1998

  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
honor Colonel Aaron Bank on his birthday. Colonel Bank is one of our 
great military leaders and one of our great Americans.
  Colonel Bank helped found, organize and train the United States 
Army's elite Special Forces group which is known today as the Green 
Berets. He was hand-picked to organize and develop the Army's Special 
Forces division because of his depth of knowledge and experience in 
unconventional warfare.
  Colonel Bank served his country through several wars. In 1942 he was 
recruited for the newly-formed Office of Strategic Services (OSS). In 
1944, he parachuted as part of a three man team into occupied France to 
promote resistance there. While in France he sabotaged the Germans' 
efforts by blowing up railroad lines, bridges and electric networks. He 
gathered resistance fighters which had increased to 3,000 and turned 
back the Germans in a series of fire fights.
  At the end of World War II, Colonel Bank was sent to train Vietnamese 
troops. In an extraordinary feat, Bank parachuted into Laos to search 
for missing prisoners of war. After serving in Vietnam he was sent to 
Europe again and assigned to Army counterintelligence to catch Soviet 
bloc agents. By 1952 he was formally designated commander of the 10th 
Special Forces Group, the Green Berets.
  Throughout his career Colonel Bank has demonstrated his keen 
intelligence, his compassion and his patriotism. He has engendered the 
utmost respect for his fellow mankind. His devotion and love of country 
form the foundation upon which he has built his beliefs.
  Colonel Bank was a hero yesterday and is a hero today. His bravery, 
his devotion to freedom and his love for his country fill us with pride 
and admiration. Happy birthday and best wishes!

                          ____________________