[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 30, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E50]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN HONOR OF MAJOR ALBERT V. CLEMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 30, 2001

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on October 19, 2000, in a ceremony held at 
Ft. Benning, Georgia, Ranger Albert V. Clement (Major Ret. Deceased) of 
Fall River, Massachusetts, was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame.
  The Ranger Hall of Fame was formed to honor and preserve the spirit 
and contribution of America's most extraordinary Rangers. The members 
of the Ranger Hall of Fame Selection Board take particular care to 
ensure that only the most extraordinary Rangers are inducted. By any 
standard, Major Albert Clement was an outstanding choice to receive 
this honor.
  Major Clement joined the U.S. Army in June 1941 in response to 
ominous signs of a pending world conflict. He fought for forty-one 
months in the Pacific Islands as a machine gunner and expert 
demolitionist. Shortly after the Korean War started, he volunteered to 
fight there as a Ranger, but was promoted and selected to remain at 
Fort Benning as an instructor. Shortly thereafter, he volunteered 
again, was assigned to the 32nd Infantry, and was chosen to organize 
and lead a raider platoon against menacing enemy forces entrenched in 
the Iron Triangle. Major Clement's Raiders turned the enemy tide and 
filled a critical void left by the formerly assigned 2nd Ranger 
Company. Within four months he was awarded two Silver Stars and one 
Bronze Star for heroism, received two Purple Hearts, was promoted to 
master sergeant and granted a battlefield commission.
  In 1960, Major Clement and two Special Forces professionals were 
called to affect a daring rescue in the Congo. The country had just won 
its independence and was in a state of crisis. Mutiny and rebellion 
were rampant, and hundreds of missionaries and doctors were being held 
hostage and threatened with rape, torture and death. In three weeks, 
239 people were rescued and safely evacuated from various tribal areas, 
with Major Clement leading the way. The mission ranks as a huge special 
operations success story.
  Following retirement, Major Clement worked for the local school board 
and later entered into a commercial fishing venture. As a machine 
gunner in the Pacific, a Ranger at Fort Benning, a Raider in Korea or a 
Green Beret in the Congo, he was destined to live his retired life as 
he had served--in the adventurous outdoors. He died on Friday, October 
16, 1998, after suffering for several years with cancer. He concluded 
his life of selfless service in quiet dignity.

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