[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 116 (Thursday, September 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HAROLD LEWIS (PONT) FREEL--ONE OF THE THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT AND A 
                             GREAT AMERICAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 8, 1999

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, Harold Lewis Freel, known by everyone as 
``Pont'' was a great man who will be greatly missed. The second in a 
family with eight children, he quit school in the 10th grade to pick 
corn to help his family survive. During the ``dust bowl'', when he was 
17, his family moved to Moffat, Colorado. The family arrived in the San 
Luis Valley in a pickup truck which is still on the property today. 
From this humble beginning, Point achieved much by hard work and 
dedication to the values that have made the United States of America a 
great country.
  During World War II, Pont was a Tech Sergeant in the Army Air Corps, 
flying thirty-eight missions in a B-17. He was shot down on March 16, 
1944 over Yugoslavia and was held by the Germans as a prisoner of war 
for fourteen months. General Patton, riding aboard a tank, freed him in 
the final days of the war. After the war, he worked feeding cattle for 
others, and worked construction to get his own start in the ranching 
business. Hard work and ``stubbornness'' helped Pont survive the trials 
of life. When he died, he had a ranch, which encompassed 5,300 deeded 
acres and he ran 500 head of cattle. There was no horse he couldn't 
ride, no job too big and no person lacked value.
  Pont had four biological children, two stepchildren and many others 
that called his ranch home. His home was always open to children who 
needed a place to live and to learn how to live. Sometimes they came 
for the summer, but stayed for many years. His hand and home was always 
open to those in need.
  Pont believed in service to his country, community, to all children 
and to schools. Although he had only a 10th grade education, he 
recognized the value of an education for the youth of this country. He 
served on the Moffat and Mountain Valley School Boards for a total of 
twenty-six years. Pont was elected County Commissioner of Saguache 
County at the age of 67 and served for four years, using his knowledge 
of big equipment to concentrate on the roads of this large rural county 
in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.
  He was a model of American ideals for his community and young people 
everywhere, embodying patriotism, strength, gentleness and service 
throughout his lifetime. With his passing, a great American has 
disappeared from our midst. One of the thousand points of light has 
gone out, but his memory lives on in those who were privilege to have 
known him.

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