[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 12, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


A TRIBUTE TO MR. BRYAN SWILLEY, OF PORTAGEVILLE, MISSOURI, WWI VETERAN 
                            AND CENTENARIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JO ANN EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 12, 1999

  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, May 15, 1999, the American 
Legion Post 595 in New Madrid, Missouri, will be honoring Mr. Bryan 
Swilley at their annual Armed Forces Day Ceremony. At the age of 102, 
Mr. Swilley is the sole World War I veteran in Missouri's Eighth 
Congressional District, and his name will be added to the World War I 
veterans wall being constructed in Poplar Bluff, MO.
  Mr. Swilley was born on December 27, 1897, to Tib and Louise Swilley 
in Portageville, New Madrid County, MO. During the over 100 years of 
his life, Mr. Swilley lived within a five mile radius of his current 
home in Portageville. He attended the local schools where he competed 
on the Country Track team and learned to play the violin.
  After graduating high school, Mr. Swilley spent a few months in St. 
Louis with a high school friend. Mr. Swilley then returned home to New 
Madrid County to pick cotton. He usually picked 400 pounds of cotton in 
a day--placing it in a nine foot sack on which he had written his name 
with pencil in Old English. Through this experience, Mr. Swilley became 
so skilled in identifying the grades of cottons that in 1927 he won a 
$10 gold piece for his high rank in cotton classing contests held in 
New Madrid, Caruthersville, and Kennett. Mr. Swilley also worked as a 
night watchman for Swift and Co. Oil Mill and taught at two local 
schools where he was beloved and respected by his students. During 
World War I, Mr. Swilley served at the Student Army Training Corps 
military camp located on the campus of Washington University in St. 
Louis.
  Perhaps Mr. Swilley's greatest achievement was his 76 year marriage 
to Lena Frizzell. Mr. Swilley and Ms. Frizzell were married on 
September 8, 1920, and the couple had six children, Mozart, Neva, Bryan 
``Bo,'' J.K., B.W., and Donald. The Swilleys observed their 75th 
wedding anniversary the year before Lena's passing on February 20, 
1996.
  Mr. Swilley is truly a wonderful example of an American dedicated to 
family, country, and the rural way of life. I want to thank Mr. Swilley 
for the contributions he selflessly made to our country during the 
Great War. May he be in our thoughts and in our prayers on this Armed 
Forces Day.

                          ____________________