[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 6, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO COLONEL RUSSELL AUSTIN NEWMAN (RET.)

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                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 6, 2003

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, on March 22nd, 2003, Tennessee lost one of 
its finest soldiers. Colonel Russell Austin Newman (ret.) was a man who 
spent his life dedicated to serving and protecting Tennessee and its 
citizens.
  Colonel Newman was born in Knoxville, TN on December 9th, 1929. He 
grew up there and attended the University of Tennessee, where he earned 
a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration in May of 1953. He was 
commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry in the U.S. Army from 
ROTC.
  His military education included the Infantry Officers Basic Course, 
the Armor Officers Advanced Course and the U.S. Army's Command and 
General Staff College, C&GSC. Colonel Newman, during his career, served 
in numerous command and staff positions while on active duty and in the 
National Guard. He served as the first Regimental Commander, designated 
as the First Colonel of the 278th Armored Calvary Regiment, ACR, in 
Knoxville when it was initially organized in the Tennessee National 
Guard in 1977. This unit became one of only two heavy armored cavalry 
regiments in the Nation. It is today an enhanced brigade of the Army 
National Guard of the United States, a very prestigious designation 
that keeps it a state-of-the-art unit.
  Colonel Newman served as an instructor for the Tennessee Military 
Academy's Officer Candidate School, the Army National Guard 
Professional Education Center, and the United States Army Command and 
General Staff College. His military awards include: the Legion of 
Merit, the Army Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal 
and the National Defense Service Medal.
  Many East Tennesseans served under Colonel Newman's command. As a 
former Guardsman, I served as his Judge Advocate General. I appreciated 
both his leadership and friendship.
  After retiring from the military in June of 1985, with nearly 32 
years of military service, Colonel Newman joined the Tennessee 
Emergency Management Agency, TEMA. In March of 1986, when TEMA was 
organized into regions along the lines of the State's three Grand 
Divisions, Colonel Newman was named the first director of the East 
Region and retired from that post in March of 1999.
  Colonel Newman was well known throughout East Tennessee in both roles 
and through public service. He was the first of only seven officers to 
command the 278th ACR and his later emergency management work included 
developing plans for local governments that still bear his stamp. 
Colonel Newman did not limit his work to East Tennessee; one of his 
first acts after becoming East Region director was to go to West 
Tennessee and help write the regional earthquake response plan.
  Colonel Newman was a past president of the National Guard Association 
of Tennessee and served numerous public service organizations in East 
Tennessee, including tenure as Chairman and member on the Board of 
Directors of Goodwill Industries, President of the Knoxville-Knox 
County Volunteer Emergency Rescue Squad, Vice Chairman of the Knox 
County Emergency Management LEPC, President of the North Side Optimist 
Club, Chairman of the Knox Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, and a 
counselor for the John Tarleton Home for Children.
  Colonel Newman was the only son of Russell A. and Georgia Newman. His 
loving daughter, Ann Rita Ditmore, son, Sergeant Charles Newman, only 
grandson, Hunter Ditmore, son-in-law, Floyd Ditmore, sister and 
brother-in-law, Barbara and Howard Bozeman, and brother-in-law, J. W. 
Morton, all of Knoxville, Tennessee, mourn the passing of this great 
commander, soldier, leader, father, grandfather, father-in law, brother 
and brother-in-law.
  A celebration of life and reception was held at the Tennessee Army 
National Guard Armory on Tuesday, March 25, 2003, prior to inurement at 
the Tennessee Veterans Cemetery in Knoxville.

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