[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 119 (Tuesday, September 14, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HOBERT FRANKLIN WAS A TRUE HERO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 14, 1999

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask that we all pause for a 
moment to remember a man we have lost. Though he is gone, he will live 
on in the hearts of all who knew him and be remembered for long years 
by many who didn't. Hobert Franklin was, for the most part, a regular 
guy. He enjoyed toying with cars, riding his motorcycle, and spending 
time with those who were important to him. He probably wouldn't have 
ever thought of himself as a hero, but, he was.
  Hobert Franklin was a man who acted on his instincts. Last Friday 
night, September 3, he was at the grocery store purchasing a money 
order with his wife. He looked out the window and saw a man trying to 
drag his wife into the parking lot. His instincts told him to walk 
outside to try to help. Without saying a word, he stepped between the 
two people. His thoughts were on protecting the woman, not his own 
personal safety. Unfortunately, the man pulled a gun and shot Mr. 
Franklin. He died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.
  When remembered by friends and family the thing that comes up over 
and over again is the way he was always willing to help anyone who 
needed him. Just minutes before the shooting he ran into a friend to 
whom he promised help with a truck that was acting up. His nephew said 
that whenever anyone needed help Hobert would just drop anything he was 
doing. He was a good man who gave selflessly of himself.
  Hobert Franklin is someone who will be missed by all of us. Those who 
knew him will miss spending time with him. But, even those of us who 
never knew him personally feel a sense of loss. We, as a society, have 
lost someone who was rare to begin with. Mr. Franklin made the ultimate 
sacrifice to help a total stranger. Hopefully we can all learn from the 
example that Hobert Franklin set. And, perhaps we can all try to become 
a little bit more like him.

                          ____________________