[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 9, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E473-E474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING MAJOR PETER CLEARY OF CONNECTICUT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 9, 2002

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay 
tribute to Major Peter McArthur Cleary, United States Air Force 
Reserves, of Connecticut, who had been missing in action in North 
Vietnam since October 10, 1972. As a boy growing up I knew Peter and 
his family. In February 2002, his family was provided a report from the 
United States Army Central Identification Laboratory, which concluded 
that the crash site and remains of Major Cleary have been positively 
identified. The crash site is located in the vicinity of Dan Hoa 
Hamlet, Y Leng Village, Minh Hoa District, Quang Binh Province, 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The grid coordinates are 48Q WE 83141/
60666. The family of Major Cleary has accepted the report and Major 
Cleary will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on April 12, 2002.
  Major Cleary was a pilot attached to the 523rd Tactical Fighter 
Squadron at Udom Airfield, Thailand. Major Cleary flew Fast Forward Air 
Control (Fast FAC) missions in F-4 Phantoms over North Vietnam. His 
tour was from March 1972 to October 10, 1972.
  The mission of the Laredo Fast FACS was to fly alone over North 
Vietnam and identify and direct air strikes on enemy targets. According 
to Major Cleary's commander, Richard B. Corbin, the Fast FAC was one of 
the most demanding and productive missions in Southeast Asia, and ``the 
hand-picked aircrews that fly them are the most respected and highest 
qualified personnel from each unit.''
  On October 10, 1972, Major Cleary was assigned as a Laredo Fast FAC 
over Quang Binh Province on the coast of North Vietnam. He had directed 
an air strike consisting of two F4 Phantoms on a coastal 130mm 
antiaircraft site. He had completed an air-to-air refueling and was 
flying on station awaiting a second air strike when he was cleared to 
return to base. He was tracked on radar going inland in the vicinity of 
the city of Ron. Major Cleary did not return and was declared missing 
in action.
  Major Cleary is a highly decorated flyer. He earned three 
Distinguished Flying Crosses, ten Air Medals, and the Purple Heart. 
Major General Robert Marsh, United States Air Force, provided the 
citations to accompany the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross 
(basic through second Oak Leaf Cluster), the Air Medal (first through 
ninth Oak Leaf Cluster), and the Purple Heart during an awards ceremony 
at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford Massachusetts on November 2, 1979:
  ``The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded for extraordinary 
achievement while participating in aerial flight as an F-4D Aircraft 
Commander over hostile territory on July 26, 1972. On that date, Major 
Cleary controlled six flights of strike aircraft in the heavily 
defended Quang Khe area of North Vietnam. In spite of nearly unworkable 
weather conditions and heavy antiaircraft fire from the region, he 
directed the destruction of one petroleum pumping station, two ferry 
landings, one river craft storage area, and one large river craft.
  The Distinguished Flying Cross (First Oak Leaf Cluster) is awarded 
for heroism while participating in aerial flight as an F-4D Aircraft 
Commander deep within hostile territory on October 7, 1972. On that 
date, Major Cleary was assigned to an extremely hazardous and important 
forward air controller mission in an F-4 Phantom aircraft over Quang 
Khe, North Vietnam. He successfully located and directed the 
destruction of a hostile surface-to-air missile site. With complete 
disregard for personal safety, in the face of numerous rounds of 
antiaircraft fire, Major Cleary intentionally exposed himself in order 
to offer more protection to other flyers as they expended their 
ordnance.
  The Distinguished Flying Cross (Second Oak Leaf Cluster) is awarded 
for extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight 
as an F-4D Aircraft Commander over hostile territory on June 18, 1972. 
On that date, Major Cleary flew an important and extremely hazardous 
strike mission directed against a heavily defended hostile military 
supply depot deep within hostile territory. Despite intense 
antiaircraft artillery fire and the constant threat of lethal surface 
to air missiles, Major Cleary delivered all ordnance precisely on 
target, resulting in the destruction of vast quantities of military 
supplies and equipment of critical value to the opposing armed force.
  The Air Medal (First through Ninth Oak Leaf Cluster) is awarded for 
meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight from March 
19, 1972 to October 1972. During this period, the airmanship and 
courage exhibited by Major Cleary in the successful accomplishment of 
these important missions, under extremely hazardous conditions, 
demonstrated

[[Page E474]]

his outstanding proficiency and steadfast devotion to duty.
  The Purple Heart is awarded for wounds received in action on October 
10, 1972.''
  Major Peter McArthur Cleary, the oldest of four children, was born on 
June 27, 1944 at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. His 
parents, John McArthur Cleary and Helen Fifield Cleary lived in East 
Hartford, Connecticut at the time of Peter's birth. In the late 1940s, 
they moved to Higbie Drive in Mayberry Village in East Hartford. It is 
here that I first met Peter. Major Cleary had two brothers William and 
Tom, who were my age, as well as a sister Maureen (now known as Cleary 
M. Donovan). Mayberry was a small community teeming with baby-boomers, 
many of Irish decent. Flanagan, Grady, Kelly, Dagon, and Shaughnessey, 
all made up the neighborhood I recall with great fondness. In fact, 
John Cleary wrote a piece about Mayberry for the Hartford Times. Its 
focus was family life in the Mayberry neighborhood. In 1956, the family 
moved to Colchester, Connecticut. John and Helen Cleary lived in 
Colchester until their deaths in 1984 and 2001, respectfully. Major 
Cleary attended grade school in Colchester. He spent his high school 
freshman and sophomore years at St. Bernard High School in New London, 
Connecticut. Major Cleary then attended Mother of the Savior Seminary 
in Blackwood, New Jersey. Upon graduation in 1962, he began studying to 
be an Edmundite priest at St. Edmund's in Mystic, Connecticut. Major 
Cleary left after one year and transferred to St. Michael's College in 
Winooski, Vermont. He graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree 
in English. Although Major Cleary moved many times in his young life, 
he considered Colchester, Connecticut his hometown.
  Major Cleary married Barbara Kingsley of Yantic, Connecticut in 1967. 
They had two beautiful children, a son Sean and a daughter Paige.
  I would urge my colleagues to join me today in recognizing and 
honoring the sacrifices of Major Cleary and his family, and in 
welcoming him home. It is a great honor for me to record in the 
Congressional Record the achievements of this American Hero, and salute 
his family. Arlington National Cemetery is a long way from Mayberry 
Village and Higbie Drive, and while Major Peter Cleary will lie at rest 
with the nation's heroes, we who remain will forever carry his memory 
in our hearts.

                          ____________________