[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 15, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      IN MEMORY OF FORMER MICHIGAN STATE REPRESENTATIVE PETER KOK

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                         HON. VERNON J. EHLERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 15, 2003

  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, today I want to honor someone whom I 
consider to be the ideal public servant and one of the finest 
legislators I ever met--Peter Kok of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who died 
Sunday, June 22, 2003 at the age of 83.
  Peter Kok's obituary appeared in papers around the world in the week 
following his death, and with good reason. It was his refusal to bomb a 
defenseless and innocent village in northern Italy while a captain in 
the Army Air Force during World War II that became the basis for Joseph 
Heller's famous 1961 novel, Catch 22, and the subsequent 1968 movie of 
the same name. Rather than bomb the village, he dropped his B-25's 
payload on an open field outside the village and the rest of the 
bombers in his command followed suit.
  For his heroism in completing 67 bombing missions over Italy and 
southern France as a member of the 488th Bomb Squad of the 340th Bomb 
Group, Peter received the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, 
the Airmen's Medal and a Purple Heart.
  After the war, Peter returned to Grand Rapids and established a real 
estate brokerage firm. Later, he decided to jump into the political 
fray by running for the Michigan State House of Representatives in 
1964, defeating two incumbents in a primary; he was then re-elected to 
a total of seven terms before retiring from public office in 1978.
  Peter Kok became a champion for open housing legislation that 
prohibited so-called ``redlining.'' Other pet causes included mental 
health services, special education and environmental legislation--all 
before these causes became popular issues.
  As I said before, Mr. Speaker, Peter Kok was the ideal public 
servant. He was decent, honest and a truly superb legislator. I had the 
pleasure of working with him when I was a member of the Kent County 
Board of Commissioners and later had the honor of holding his former 
seat in the Michigan House a few years after his retirement.
  For those who remember Peter Kok as a pilot, as a real estate agent 
or as a legislator, we all mourn his loss, and we offer our condolences 
to his family.

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