[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 109 (Thursday, September 7, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S9105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            COWBOY ARTILLERY

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I rise today to express our Nation's 
deepest thanks and gratitude to the men of the 300th Armored Field 
Artillery Battalion, Wyoming Army National Guard. On Friday, September 
9, 2006, the 300th AFA Battalion will gather for a reunion 56 years 
after the Battle at Soyang during the Korean war.
  In 1951, the members of the battalion put down their plowshares and 
picked up their rifles and arrived in Korea to push back three corps of 
the Chinese People's Volunteers that launched a major offensive against 
the 2d Infantry Division, to which the 300th was attached. In his 
memoir, a Wyoming National Guardsman, William W. Day IV, described his 
early days in combat:

       The guns are hot and ammo can't be uncrated fast enough. 
     The motor pool is using every truck to haul ammo. The cooks, 
     clerks and everyone available are preparing ammo while the 
     gun crews stay at their posts and continue to pour a 
     withering fire on the enemy.

  The 300th provided devastating artillery fire support that pounded 
enemy positions for 7 days inflicting thousands of enemy casualties. 
During the morning of May 18, 1951, the battalion was given the mission 
of destroying an enemy roadblock allowing retreating U.N. forces to 
fall back to more secure positions. The heroic and determined stand of 
the 2d Division and its attached units allowed the Eighth Army to 
regroup and outflank the enemy.
  Among many others, the battalion has been awarded the Presidential 
Unit Citation for its valiant efforts in the struggle for the freedom 
we all enjoy. Today, the Wyoming Army National Guard carries on the 
courageous traditions of the Cowboy Artillery.
  Mr. President, the 300th AFA Battalion epitomized the ethos of the 
Citizen Soldier. It is because of folks like the members of the 300th 
that we continue to live safe and free. America's men and women who 
answer the call of service and wear our Nation's uniform deserve 
respect and recognition for the enormous burden that they are willingly 
bare. They put everything on the line every day, and as a result, our 
Nation remains free and strong.

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