[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 75 (Thursday, June 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6177-S6178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DEATH OF MAJ. GEN. JIM PENNINGTON

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a man who 
was known to many of us in this Chamber, retired Major General Jim 
Pennington, who passed away on June 5, 1998.
  Those of us who worked on national security and veterans related 
matters knew General Pennington very well. He served as both the 
President of the National Association for Uniformed Services and the 
Administrator for the Society of Military Widows. In those capacities, 
he was an able and effective advocate for a strong defense and for 
providing for an appropriate quality of life for those who serve and 
have served the Nation as members of the armed forces.
  General Pennington had an impressive career as a soldier. He joined 
the Army on June 6, 1944, the day the Allies invaded Normandy and began 
their march toward Germany and victory, and he fought in the Battle of 
the Bulge. In his more than 37-year career, Jim Pennington rose from 
the rank of private to sergeant major, and then ultimately major 
general, the rank he held when he retired from military service in 
1981.
  As many tens of thousands of other World War II veterans did, Jim 
Pennington used the G.I. Bill to get a college education. This was an 
invaluable program that not only provided an important benefit to those 
who spent years of their lives in military service, but it created a 
generation of Americans who possessed the skills and knowledge required 
to make the United States the world's leader in matters of commerce, 
global security issues, and technology.
  I had the pleasure of working closely with General Pennington on a 
number of issues throughout his tenure as the President of the National 
Association of Uniformed Services and the Administrator of the Society 
of Military Widows. I always welcomed his advice and insight, and 
without question, he served the members and organizations he 
represented well. Jim Pennington

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will be greatly missed and my sympathies go out to his family and 
friends.

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