[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 44 (Thursday, March 29, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO JERRY CLEVELAND WHITMIRE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 29, 2001

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Jerry 
Cleveland Whitmire who passed away on December 19, 2000. Mr. Whitmire 
was a loyal servant of his community and of his country as an infantry 
officer in Korea and Vietnam. I believe the eulogy given by Reverend 
Charles M. Blackmon gives the most appropriate praise to this wonderful 
South Carolinian. Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join me today in honoring 
Mr. Whitmire.

                  Eulogy for Jerry Cleveland Whitmire


                           December 19, 2000

       We are gathered, this afternoon, for a soldier's funeral. 
     On his last journey in this world, Jerry Cleveland Whitmire--
     ``Trigger''--will be draped in the flag of the United States 
     of America, the flag for which he fought. And he will be 
     escorted at each step by an Honor Guard, fellow soldiers of 
     the United States Army.
       Ladies and gentlemen, I have presided at more military 
     funerals than I can possibly count. I am always impressed by 
     the dignity and precision of the Honor Guard. I am also 
     impressed by something else: These superbly trained soldiers 
     are here for a specific purpose. They are here to remind us 
     that it is not only family and friends who have come here to 
     say farewell to Jerry. A grateful nation has also come here 
     to say farewell. America is here to say farewell to a son, a 
     dutiful servant, a hero.
       It strikes me that to truly understand and appreciate this 
     man, we need to look at his roots. We need to go back two 
     generations to Jerry's grandfather and namesake, Jeremiah 
     Cleveland Whitmire. Jeremiah was born in 1838. He was a 
     blacksmith and yeoman farmer in the foothills of upper 
     Greenville County. He did not own slaves--no Whitmire ever 
     owned slaves. And when the legislature here in Columbia voted 
     to secede from the Union, Jeremiah might not have agreed with 
     all the reasons.
       But Jeremiah was a man of duty and loyalty. When the war 
     came, he hiked north to Ashville, where he mustered with the 
     14th North Carolina. In the ensuing years, he fought with 
     gallantry in the Army of Northern Virginia: at Richmond, 
     Spotsylvania Courthouse, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, to the 
     bitter end at Appomattox. At the conclusion of the war, his 
     duty done, Jeremiah walked the hundreds of miles back to his 
     beloved farm in Greenville.
       Let me say this: Jeremiah would have been very, very proud 
     of his grandson Jerry. He would have been proud that Jerry 
     chose to go to The Citadel. He would have been proud of 
     Jerry's decision to go into the infantry. He would have been 
     proud that in the bitterest, coldest engagements in Korea, 
     Jerry stood and fought at the point of maximum danger--as 
     commander of rifle company on the front line. He would have 
     understood Jerry's agony when a comrade fighting at his side, 
     an African-American, sustained a terrible wound in the chest. 
     Jerry cradled that man in his arms as he died.
       Likewise, Jeremiah would have been proud of Jerry's combat 
     service in Vietnam. He would have been proud that when the 
     rest of America had become divided and uncertain--Jerry 
     remained resolute and dutiful. Jerry was a soldier--he 
     volunteered for a second combat tour in Vietnam.
       And finally, Jeremiah would have been proud that at the end 
     of the fighting, Jerry always returned to that same farm in 
     upper Greenville County--land that Whitmires have farmed for 
     more than two centuries. Jerry worked that land as a dairyman 
     and cattleman throughout his adult life. He loved it with all 
     his heart. Right up to the last, Jerry was happiest when he 
     was tending his cattle, walking the bottomlands, jumping over 
     creeks, climbing the highest hills. On that farm, Jerry 
     Whitmire was at home.
       Of course, for family and friends gathered here, we do not 
     remember Jerry as a fierce warrior. We remember him as the 
     gentlest of gentlemen--a man who was always full of laughter, 
     a man who loved to make other people laugh. I'm told that, at 
     the golf clubhouse at Fort Jackson, they serve a brew called 
     ``Trigger Beer'' in recognition of his good spirits.
       Jerry Whitmire was not a man of extraordinary virtues. He 
     was a man of ordinary virtues possessed in extraordinary 
     abundance. Kindness. Generosity. Charity. Honesty. Decency.
       It's ironic. Jerry was a soldier who knew war intimately. 
     But if the world did a better job of practicing those virtues 
     that Jerry lived by, there would be no need for soldiers 
     because there would be no war.
       His brothers, James and Charles, will always remember him 
     as an alter boy at Christ Episcopal in Greenville. Countless 
     times they watched their baby brother Jerry carrying the tall 
     silver cross down the center aisle. Jerry was--to the core--a 
     Christian man. If he had one role model from the Gospels, it 
     surely must have been the Good Samaritan. When it came to 
     helping people and animals in need, Jerry knew no boundaries. 
     He would always stop and help.
       In the Gospels, Christ admonishes his followers to give 
     away their possessions, including the shirts on their backs. 
     On so many occasions, Jerry followed that command almost 
     literally. He was constantly giving his time and money to 
     other people. He was quick to forgive debts.
       This same generosity applied to the dogs, cats, and cattle 
     that had the good fortune to have him as their master. For 
     several decades, now, Jerry has spent more money on hay and 
     upkeep for his cows than he ever made by selling them at 
     market. Truth is, Jerry never owned the cows--the cows owned 
     him. And that was just fine with him.
       The result of this lifetime of generosity and giving is 
     that Jerry did not die a rich man. Money was not what drove 
     him. Jerry understood that we make a living by what we make, 
     but we make a life by what we give. He was forever giving: 
     himself, his labor, his money. As a result he takes to the 
     grave the only wealth that really matters: the wealth of a 
     life well lived . . . the wealth of our respect and 
     admiration and love.
       Of course, for Jerry, his greatest wealth was his family, 
     especially Tweetie, his beloved wife and partner of nearly a 
     half century. Yes, Jerry had a powerful love for his 
     daughters Laura and Marguerite. And yes, he loved his 
     grandchildren. But truth be told, in his last years, he had a 
     very, very special place in his heart for the youngest: his 
     greatgrandson Daniel.
       And as Danny grows up to be a teenager and then a man, he 
     will have the enormous privilege to learn more about Trigger, 
     the great-grandfather he loves so much. Daniel will do well 
     to live by his great-grandfather's example.
       There is an old expression: Sometimes life is not as simple 
     as it seems--it is even simpler. And so it is with people. 
     Sometimes their lives can be captured best in the fewest, 
     simplest words. To capture the essence of Jerry's life, I 
     once again go back to his great-grandfather, Jeremiah. 
     Jeremiah is buried at Ebeneezer Baptist church not far from 
     the Greenville farm. And on the gravestone, his epitaph is 
     exactly eight words long. It says: ``Confederate Soldier, 
     Christian Citizen, Faithful to Every Trust.''
       With one necessary amendment, those same words can now sum 
     up Jerry Cleveland Whitmire's life: American soldier, 
     Christian citizen, faithful to every trust.
       We will remember him with love.
       May he rest in peace.

       

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