[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 141 (Monday, September 8, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1722]]
            HONORING THE MEMORY OF BYRON BERNARD, B.B., BOON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 8, 2008

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to the 
memory of Byron Bernard, B.B., Boon, of Linden, Texas. Mr. Boon was 
born January 10, 1919, in Carterville, Texas, to Andrew Camp Boon and 
Eudora Kerr Boon.
  B.B. attended East Texas Teachers College with my wife Mary Ellen. He 
began his career teaching school at Warren Springs. He later became 
principal at Almira Schools, and from 1940 to 1941 supervised the 
National Youth Administration in Linden.
  He joined the Army on Christmas Day in 1941 and entered the Army Air 
Corps on the 12th of January in 1942. B.B. ferried all types of 
airplanes throughout the United States and Canada. He flew BT-13s, AT-
6s, B-17s, B-24s, B-25s, P-51s and was involved in the moving of troops 
and cargo. One of his flying assignments was to keep the route from 
Alaska to the Hudson Bay open so the Germans could not get a foothold 
in Newfoundland.
  Between 1947 and 1949, he was an instructor in the Pilot's Aircraft 
Instrument Training School at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, Louisiana. 
On one particular flight to Richmond, Virginia, his plane caught on 
fire. True to his sense of humor, he announced ``Byron Bernard Boon 
says bail out boys, she's burning.'' All the crew bailed out, and 
everyone survived.
  On February 2, 1949, he was in a midair collision at Barksdale AFB, 
was critically injured and spent over a year of rehabilitation in 
Walter Reed Hospital. Captain Boon married Louise Bozeman in the chapel 
at Walter Reed Hospital on September 24, 1949. Shortly after their 
marriage he was forced to retire from the Air Force due to injuries 
sustained in the crash.
  In October 1950, B.B. returned to Cass County and bought an insurance 
agency in Linden. He became active in the community, serving various 
community and church boards. He was a member of the Linden Masonic 
Lodge #192, a Shriner, a member of the Linden Lions Club, Linden 
Chamber of Commerce, former mayor of Linden and served on the Linden 
Municipal Hospital Board of Directors. He was also an avid pilot, 
owning and flying airplanes until he was 80.
  He is survived by two daughters and one son-in-law, Sue and Larry 
Hill and Brenda Deming all of Linden; five grandchildren and spouses, 
Tanya and Kenneth Recer and Chris and Sonya Hill of Longview, Tammy and 
Andy Kozsuch of Tyler, Justin and Kim Deming of Pflugerville and 
Jonathan and Katherine Deming of Mesquite; seven great-grandchildren, 
Ryan Recer, Seth Kozsuch, Sarah Kozsuch, Kate Kozsuch, Kaden Kozsuch, 
Emma Hill and Payton Deming; and numerous nieces and nephews.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in a final salute to Captain Byron 
Bernard Boone, a man who gave so much to his family, his community and 
his country.

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