[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 12 (Thursday, February 10, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E117-E118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       IN HONOR OF ALFRED RASCON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 10, 2000

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a hero, former Army medic 
Alfred Rascon.
  After a delay of nearly 3 1/2 decades. Alfred this week finally 
received the nation's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.
  Mr. Speaker, Alfred was born in Mexico, and moved to Oxnard, 
California, in my district, with his family when he was a small child. 
His family raised him there and instilled in him the values of honor, 
integrity, a love of his adopted land and a reverence for life and his 
fellow human beings.
  At age 17, he left Oxnard and joined the Army. He trained to be a 
medic and a paratrooper. On March 16, 1966, in the jungles of Vietnam, 
Alfred was severely and repeatedly wounded as he crawled from comrade 
to comrade to render aid, to protect his comrades and to retrieve 
weapons and ammunition needed in the firefight they were in.
  By the time Alfred was loaded into a helicopter, he was near death. A 
chaplain gave him last rites. He survived. Because of his efforts, so 
did his sergeant and at least one other in his platoon.
  But the medal Alfred was due was lost in red tape, until this week, 
when the record was corrected.
  During the intervening 34 years, Alfred left the Army, completed his 
college education, because U.S. citizen, returned to the Army, returned 
to Vietnam, and left the Army as a lieutenant. Now married with two 
children, Alfred is an inspector general for the U.S. Selective 
Service.
  When President Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to Alfred, the 
hero downplayed his actions in Vietnam as ``common valor that was done 
every day.'' We know differently. We know that Alfred is special. We 
know we would do well to emulate his values and his humility. We honor 
him to remind us of the ideal American: someone who

[[Page E118]]

works hard, is willing to risk everything in times of crisis, and who 
shrugs it off as just the right thing to do.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues will join me in honoring Alfred 
Rascon for his heroism in Vietnam 34 years ago and for being the role 
model he remains today.

                          ____________________