[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 24, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H8391]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING CAPTAIN CLYDE CAMPBELL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, on Thursday evening, July 26, Gregg 
County, my home district, First District of Texas, will gather for a 
day of remembrance in honor of our great servicemembers who were held 
as prisoners of war or were missing in action.
  July 26 is a special day because it would be the 63rd birthday of 
U.S. Air Force captain Clyde Campbell, that is the man around whom this 
occasion is centered.
  I, unfortunately, will be unable to attend since I will be here in 
Washington. Unfortunately, Captain Campbell will also be unable to make 
it on his own birthday celebration because he or his remains have not 
been brought home from Laos.
  Clyde Campbell was born in Eagle Lake, Texas, in 1944, and graduated 
from Longview High School in 1962. After graduating from Texas A&M 
University, he answered the call to service and joined the United 
States Air Force. An ambitious and talented young pilot, Captain 
Campbell was stationed at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Airport Base in 
Thailand, ready to sacrifice his all for the Nation that he loved so 
dearly.
  In March 1969, he took off in his Douglas A1 Skyraider on a bombing 
pass, but Captain Campbell's plane was shot down and crashed in Laos.
  It is now 2007, almost 40 years later. Although his crash site has 
been identified, Captain Campbell's remains are in a land that is not 
his home.
  The Campbell family has spent nearly four decades requesting help to 
have this patriot returned. But so far, that help has not come. I am 
ashamed that the Federal Government has not used anywhere near the 
devotion to giving his family closure as the devotion Captain Campbell 
provided this Nation in her time of need.
  This family deserves better. Captain Campbell deserves better, and I, 
as are many others around here, am determined to see that his remains 
are removed from Laos and given a proper burial here in the United 
States.
  He and those who gave their last full measure of devotion for this 
country, as well as their beloved family members who have waited so 
long, deserve action, and they deserve results.
  Captain Campbell and the Campbell family deserve our deepest 
gratitude for their sacrifice. May God bless them and comfort them, and 
may God and the Campbell family forgive this Federal Government for its 
30 years of inadequate service to them.

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