[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 165 (Monday, December 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO JOHN TUCKER

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                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Sunday, December 18, 2005

  Mr. CLYBURN Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of the 
National Park Service's (NPS) great treasures, John Tucker. A 35-year 
employee with NPS John is retiring January 3, 2006 after serving as 
Superintendent of the Fort Sumter National Monument for more than 15 
years. I commend Mr. Tucker for his years of exemplary service and 
dedication to preserving and protecting our nation's treasures.
  I came to know Mr. Tucker after being elected to Congress in 1992. 
Because of my love of history and preservation, he and I immediately 
found common ground. We have partnered on a number of initiatives 
during my tenure in Congress with the crowning achievement being the 
Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center. This magnificent $15 million 
structure educates visitors about the causes of the Civil War, and it 
doesn't flinch from the issue of slavery. Mr. Tucker's vision and its 
implementation at this site are visually stunning and historically 
significant.
  The Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center complex is also a great 
example of Mr. Tucker's innovative partnership with the City of 
Charleston. The City built the South Carolina Aquarium adjacent to the 
Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center, and the NPS and the City jointly 
created Liberty Square, a wonderful park setting that accomodates 
public events and provides a respite for weary visitors to the Center 
complex. Mr. Tucker's creativity and willingness to bring a variety of 
entities to the table have resulted in a destination that visitors to 
the Charleston area do not want to miss.
  Mr. Tucker's career with the NPS began the day after his college 
graduation on June 1, 1970. His first assignment was at Cades Cove in 
the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The following January, he 
joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and received his training at 
Parris Island. However, by July 1971, Mr. Tucker was back on the job 
with the NPS.
  He received additional training by the NPS to become a ranger, and 
these skills served Mr. Tucker well as he traversed the United States 
serving at various parks: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 
Cades Cove sub-district: National Capital Park-East, Washington, D.C.; 
Ocmulgee National Monument, Macon, Georgia; and Cabrillo National 
Monument, San Diego, CA. From October 1977 until November 1980, Mr. 
Tucker served as the Chief Ranger at Fort Sumter National Monument, 
where he eventually became Superintendent.
  Mr. Tucker's first Superintendent assignment, however, was at the 
Andersonville National Historic Site from 1980 to August 1989. His work 
there included building relationships with the American ex-prisoners of 
war and restoring historic prison camps. He also had the privilege of 
serving as Superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site 
when it was established in 1988. That same year he was granted NPS's 
Superior Service Award.
  Still the Fort Sumter National Monument beckoned him to return, and 
in August 1989, Mr. Tucker made his final transfer to become 
Superintendent of this collection of Charleston's historical 
treasurers. His arrival in Charleston was marked 6 weeks later by the 
arrival of Hurricane Hugo, another force that left its imprint on this 
historic city. It took him the next 2 years to repair the damage to the 
NPS site wrought by the hurricane's fury.
  In 1990, Charles Pinckney National Historic Site became part of the 
NPS inventory and was put under the auspices of Mr. Tucker at Fort 
Sumter. He has had responsibility in Charleston for 42 historic 
structures, ten monuments and memorials, 182 acres comprised of 
cultural sites, a curatorial collection of over 250,000 objects, five 
historic archaeological sites, and 45 cannon tubes of which 25 are 
carriage-mounted. His outstanding contributions were recognized by the 
NPS in 2002 when Mr. Tucker received the Superintendent of the Year 
award.
  I know firsthand of the extraordinary work John Tucker has done for 
the National Park Service on behalf of the American people. Mr. 
Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. 
Tucker on his tremendous career and his dedication to the preservation 
of our nation's historic and natural treasures. I know that his 
leadership at the NPS will be sorely missed, and I hope that he will 
continue to be involved with many projects in the Charleston area some 
of which both he and I share a deep and abiding passion. I wish him 
good luck and Godspeed.

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