[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 66 (Thursday, April 24, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO TORREL HUSKEY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 2008

  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the service and 
sacrifice of my constituent, Mr. Torrel Huskey. Mr. Huskey is a 91-
year-old World War II veteran living in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1943, 
Mr. Huskey was assigned to the 3496th Quartermaster Brigade as a truck 
driver on the ``Red Ball Express,'' ferrying men, supplies and 
equipment to the front lines of battle as part of Operation Overlord.
  During these missions, Mr. Huskey often dodged obstacles such as 
barbed wire and land mines and repeatedly came under attack from enemy 
small arms fire, mortar fire, artillery barrages and strafing runs by 
the German Luftwaffe. It was during one of these attacks that Mr. 
Huskey was wounded from enemy mortar fire.
  With shrapnel embedded in his legs, and at the insistence of his 
commanding officer, Mr. Huskey bandaged his own wounds and carried on 
with his duties. He continued driving, despite his wounds, risking 
death or permanent injury because that was his job--to keep the wheels 
of the battlefront moving forward as the Allies raced to the Rhine.
  When the ``Red Ball Express'' ended in September 1944, Mr. Huskey was 
assigned the arduous task of locating hastily buried comrades and 
transporting them to the U.S. gravesites sprinkled throughout France, 
Belgium and elsewhere in Europe.
  In June 2006, I was contacted by Mr. Huskey's oldest daughter, Lynda 
McClelland, with a request for assistance to obtain the Purple Heart 
medal for her father.
  After nearly 2 years of researching medical records, reviewing 
morning reports and hearings before the Army Board for the Correction 
of Military Records, I learned that Mr. Huskey's files were destroyed 
during the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. There 
exists no record of Mr. Huskey's injuries or treatment for the wounds 
he sustained in action either in his medical records file or in 
existing morning reports. Therefore, the recommendation for the award 
of the Purple Heart was denied.
  It is a shame that Mr. Huskey is still without the Purple Heart 
Medal, despite the fact that the Department of Veterans Affairs has 
found Mr. Husky to be service-connected for both Post Traumatic Stress 
Disorder and scars from the residuals of shrapnel embedded in his legs 
and knees.
  It is for these reasons that I ask my colleagues to join me in 
honoring Mr. Torrel Huskey. Without the service and sacrifice of Mr. 
Huskey, and all of the men and women of the ``greatest generation,'' 
our Nation would not be the resilient and flourishing country it is 
today. By continuing his mission, despite being wounded, Mr. Huskey 
lent great credit to himself, the Army Motor Transport Brigade and the 
United States of America.

                          ____________________