[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 30, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S10262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MONT VERNON CELEBRATES 227TH BIRTHDAY

 Mr. GREGG. Mr, President, I rise today in honor of Mont 
Vernon, NH. This year, while the United States observed the 227th 
anniversary of our independence, the citizens of Mont Vernon have been 
planning the celebration of the town's 200th birthday. It is therefore 
timely and appropriate that we recognize this quintessential American 
community.
  From its first settlement in the early 1700s through today, Mont 
Vernon has represented all that is great about the United States. 
Although it may not share the industrial or commercial legacy of its 
sister cities of Nashua or Manchester, the town's impact on our country 
has been just as vital. This impact is best symbolized by the 
sacrifices the residents here have made in times of conflict. Fifty men 
from what was to become Mont Vernon served in the War of Independence; 
five of them lost their lives. During the Civil War, 35 men enlisted in 
the Union Army and, tragically, seven of them died. The whole community 
demonstrated their support for these soldiers and for the cause for 
which they were fighting by voting at a special town meeting to provide 
wages and outfits for those men who volunteered to serve.
  The town's dedication to protecting the ideals of this country was 
also clear during both World War I and World War II. In the First World 
War, nine residents fought in that conflict. In the Second World War, 
twenty-three of them served including Mildred Coggin, Eleanor Carlton 
and Mary Holt Smith. These three women were nurses whose care of 
injured soldiers was critical to the war effort.
  Of course, Mont Vernon continues to stand for those qualities which 
make New Hampshire such a special place to live: a dedication to public 
service and the spirit of volunteerism. The town's representatives to 
the New Hampshire General Court, Timothy Allen, Pam Coughlin and 
Margaret Hallyburton, are continuing in the path of the town's first 
elected official to that body, Major William Bradford. The members of 
the current Board of Selectmen, Mike Fimbel, John Koch and Peter Savage 
are honorably serving in the tradition the first Board of Selectmen, 
whose members included John Carlton, Joseph Langdell and Jacob Kendall, 
set in 1804.
  So, on this the 200th anniversary of Mont Vernon, we salute its 
citizens and honor their accomplishments, their love of country and 
their overwhelming spirit of independence.

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