[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 76 (Wednesday, June 14, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1151-E1152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING SEVEN U.S.N. AIRMEN

                                 ______
                                 

                   HON. CHARLES W. ``CHIP'' PICKERING

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 14, 2006

  Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, sixty-four years ago today, a twin-engine 
Navy PBY-5A amphibious reconnaissance aircraft departed the Naval Air 
Station on Kodiak Island, Alaska as part of the Kiska Blitz--the 
bombing of Japanese targets in Kiska Harbor at the western end of the 
Aleutian Islands. On board were Ensign Robert F. Keller, Aviation 
Machinist Mate First Class Leland L. Davis, Seaman Second Class Elwin 
Alford, Seaman Second Class Dee Hall, Aviation Machinist's Mate Second 
Class John H. Hathaway, Aviation Radioman Second Class Robert A. Smith, 
and Aviation Pilot Third Class Albert J. Gyorfi. Flying into a storm of 
inclement weather and enemy antiaircraft blasts, the plane was hit and 
crashed on the side of the Kiska Volcano. None of the crew survived.
  In August 1943, the United States successfully retook Kiska Island 
from the Japanese and the remains of seven men were found amid the 
wreckage at the crash site. They were buried in a common grave with a 
wooden marker reading ``SEVEN U.S.N. AIRMEN.'' After the war, the grave 
could not be located again.

[[Page E1152]]

  In 2002 a wildlife biologist working in the Alaska Maritime Wildlife 
Refuge found the wreckage, the grave was located and following positive 
genetic identification, the bodies were returned to their families. 
Last month, on May 10, these soldiers were buried at Arlington National 
Cemetery with Full Military Honors.
  I met the family of Elwin Alford and learned of their lives. Alford 
and his parents were from the Bogalusa, Louisiana--Sandy Hook, 
Mississippi area. Leland Davis was from Hinds County, Mississippi and 
his sister and brother finally have peace. Alford, Davis and their 
brothers-in-arms gave their lives over six decades ago and we still 
feel their legacy today. So many families lost their loved ones in the 
great crusade against German Fascism and Japanese Imperialism. And for 
many, closure comes very late.
  I want to take this opportunity to commend the Joint POW/MIA 
Accounting Command. More than 78,000 Americans are unaccounted for from 
World War II, another 8,100 from the Korean War and 1,800 from the 
Vietnam War. But the Accounting Command continues to bring these heroes 
home and assist with closure for families still bearing the wounds of 
wars long completed.
  Mr. Speaker, today we have brave American men and women fighting in 
Afghanistan and Iraq and around the world against the forces of terror. 
In Mississippi, we lost another native son, a lion of liberty, just 
last week. I hope families know that six weeks from now, six months 
from now, or sixty-four years from now, those sacrifices will not be 
forgotten.

                          ____________________