[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 54 (Thursday, May 4, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO OFFICER WILLIAM ``BILL'' BURGSTINER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACK KINGSTON

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 4, 2000

  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize Officer William 
``Bill'' Burgstiner, United Nations police officer, of Savannah, 
Georgia. Officer Burgstiner is serving as a U.N. police officer in 
Kosovo, he is a hero by any other name. In late March, 2000, in a war 
torn Kosovo, an abandon baby lay by the side of a road wrapped in a 
bloodied blanket and bleeding from its umbilical cord. The baby's good 
fortune began when Officer Bill Burgstiner was returning from a meeting 
and driving through the village of Prilep, about 50 miles southwest of 
the provincial capital of Pristina.
  A villager flagged him down and took Officer Burgstiner to the baby, 
who was lying on a step, wrapped in a blood soaked blanket. Bill used a 
table cloth to stop the bleeding. He then whisked the child to the 
Italian military hospital, rushed through the front gate and delivered 
Fortunato (the baby's new name) into the arms of Roberto Bramati, a 
doctor. Doctor Bramati credited Officer Burgstiner with saving the 
precious life of little Fortunato.
  A Savannah native, Bill joined the Brunswick Police Department after 
graduating from the police academy. He served from 1990 to 1993, and 
helped organize the department's K-9 unit. A role model in the local 
community he has again shown that his compassion and strength of 
character crosses international borders. It is with great pleasure that 
I recognize Officer William ``Bill'' Burgstiner for his kind 
humanitarian and heroic act.

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