[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 13, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E890]]
                      IN HONOR OF PHILIP G. BARDOS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DAVID DREIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 13, 2008

  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate 
the remarkable career and accomplishments of Philip G. Bardos, born 
into a Greek immigrant family on March 14, 1927. His life has been one 
of service to our nation, to the State of California and to every 
community in which he has lived. He deserves our honor for his military 
service, contributions to our space program and defense technologies, 
entrepreneurial success, work as an educational leader and untiring 
efforts as a volunteer for innumerable organizations and worthy 
programs.
  Born in Pennsylvania to George and Victoria Bardos, an immigrant 
couple from the island of Rhodes, Phil is the eldest of their six 
children. Toward the close of the Second World War, Phil was drafted 
into the United States Army and at the end of the war, was appointed to 
the United States Military Academy by Congressman Thomas F. Morgan, 
former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
  On June 24, 1950, after graduation from West Point with a bachelor of 
science degree, the new second lieutenant of infantry married the 
beautiful Sandra Mitchell, the lady who has been his support and 
inspiration ever since. But the call to duty came early in their 
marriage. From late 1951 to 1953, Phil saw combat and was wounded in 
the Korean War.
  After recovery from his wounds, Phil served as an aide-de-camp to LTG 
William Lawton, Chief of Staff of the Far East Command. On his return 
to the United States, he served in the President's Honor Guard, 3rd 
Infantry Regiment at Fort Myer, Washington DC., from 1956 to 1958. 
During these years he was one of the officers assigned to duties in 
President Eisenhower's office and as an aide at State dinners.
  Although Phil resigned from the Army in January 1960, he continued to 
serve in the Army Reserves and retired after thirty five years of 
service as a lieutenant colonel. Long after Phil and others of his West 
Point class had retired, he authored Cold War Warriors, a book 
published in 2000 that chronicles the accomplishments and achievements 
of the Class of 1950.
  In the 1960s, Phil put his West Point science and engineering 
training to work in the burgeoning field of space and defense 
technology. From 1960 to 1963, he was employed by Bendix Corporation in 
North Hollywood, California as an assistant chief engineer for the 
Mercury program, the first man-in-space program. From 1963 to 1965, he 
was employed by Northrop Corporation as manager of the Tactical 
Analysis group for drones. And then, from 1965 to 1967, he worked at 
the Bell & Howell subsidiary, Consolidated Electrodynamics Corporation, 
in Pasadena, California.
  In the next stage of his career, Phil became an entrepreneur, forming 
a highly successful management consulting business, Bardos & 
Associates, in 1967. Later, he purchased a small high technology 
company, Torr Vacuum Products, built it up and then sold it to a large 
conglomerate in 1986.
  Despite the intense pressures of business life, Phil has always found 
time for involvement in public affairs. After an unsuccessful run for 
Congress in 1964, he threw himself into volunteer activities for the 
GOP. Working closely with the indomitable Margaret Brock, he served as 
president of a Republican volunteer organization for Los Angeles County 
and as chairman of various fundraising events, including a dinner for 
Ronald Reagan in Los Angeles in 1965.
  In 1971, Phil was elected to the Los Angeles Unified School District 
Board and re-elected in 1975. He twice served as president of the board 
and is credited by many with steering L.A. schools through one of their 
most difficult periods. Those who worked with him on the Board remember 
his calming influence and his ability to develop balanced solutions 
when emotions were running high.
  Phil served as president of the Great Western Council of the Boy 
Scouts of America from 1974 to 1979, and was honored with the 
prestigious Silver Beaver award. He was appointed by Governor George 
Deukmejian to the Board of Trustees of the California Community 
Colleges in 1987. Appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the Committee of 
Bar Examiners in 1989, he was elected to serve as chairman of the body, 
the only non-lawyer ever to do so. In 1992, he was Vice President for 
planning of the organizing committee for the United States World Cup 
Soccer. And, most recently, he has served as a volunteer member of the 
Operation First Response for assisting U.S. wounded military personnel.
  Phil's career is a chronicle of accomplishment and success, but it is 
his family that has always been closest to his heart. He is immensely 
proud of the two sons, Tom and Paul, whom he and Sandy raised, and 
right to be so, for they have followed in his footsteps. Both were 
Eagle Scouts and both are successful entrepreneurs and owners of their 
own businesses. And now, Phil has the pleasure of seeing his 
grandchildren launch their careers.
  Madam Speaker, this country will always be great so long as we have 
individuals of the caliber of Phil Bardos to dedicate themselves to a 
life of service to their Nation, state and community.

                          ____________________