[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 107 (Wednesday, July 31, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S7736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO JESSE W. ALLEN

 Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would like to take a minute to 
recognize a man whose lifelong dedication to civic, military, and 
religious service has enriched not just my State of Nevada but the 
Nation as a whole.
  Jesse W. Allen grew up in the poverty-stricken era of the Great 
Depression in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After losing his father at the 
age of fourteen, Mr. Allen dropped out of grade school in order to 
support his family. His labor taught him responsibility, integrity, and 
the value of hard work. Mr. Allen embraced these values and imparted 
them on others throughout his life.
  At age 17, Jesse Allen enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In his forty-one 
months of service, Jesse proudly served his country; first by dodging 
German submarines across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the U.S.S. Texas, 
and then by fighting off Japanese fire and suicide bombers as a gun 
captain in the South Pacific. By the time Mr. Allen was honorably 
discharged in 1945, he had received 13 Battle Stars, a Silver Star, and 
a Presidential Unit Citation.
  After leaving the service, Jesse returned to Tennessee where he made 
up for his lack of a formal education by acquiring his GED and 
enrolling in Tennessee Temple Bible College. For three years, he worked 
full time at night in a woolen mill so that he could support his family 
while attending college on the GI Bill. This hard work paid off in 1948 
when Mr. Allen was ordained as a minister.
  Jesse began spreading Christian principles throughout the United 
States on street corners, in jails, nursing homes, home meetings, and 
even in the tuberculosis sanatarium. Eventually, he established many 
churches and drew such a following that his preaching was carried on 
radio stations throughout the Southeast.
  Jesse lived by the same Christian values that he preached. He went 
into the bootleggers' back woods, where few dared to go, to bring out 
the sick and elderly who needed to see a doctor. He worked with 
families suffering from marriage problems and with troubled teens 
throughout the Nation. My home State, Nevada benefitted from his 
passion as Mr. Allen worked with abused, neglected, and abandoned 
children at the Southern Nevada Children's Home in Boulder City, and 
later, as he opened his own home to afflicted youths from Clark County. 
His group home achieved record success rates for Clark County Juvenile 
Services for five consecutive years, earning him a commission as an 
Honorary Deputy Constable.
  Today, Mr. Allen is the father of four and the grandfather of 
fourteen. He has lived an exemplary life of patriotism, citizenship, 
and dedicated service. He overcame the obstacles of his impoverished 
upbringing to help others, using values that inspire those he touches 
to do the same. For this reason, I am proud to recognize Mr. Jesse W. 
Allen. Men like him are rare, but are one of our country's greatest 
assets.

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