[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 144 (Thursday, September 11, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S8370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       TRIBUTE TO LARRY THORNTON

 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, today I want to share a story with 
my colleagues about the accomplishments of one of my constituents. It 
begins with a feature story in Landscape Superintendent and Maintenance 
Professional magazine and ends with selection as the Air Force 
Association's 2008 Department of Veterans Affairs Employee of the Year 
Award. The link between the two is a fine veteran and fellow Hawaii 
resident, Mr. Larry L. Thornton.
  In June of last year, Landscape Superintendent and Maintenance 
Professional magazine featured an article entitled ``Maintaining 
Honor,'' on the quality of the grounds-keeping at the National Memorial 
Cemetery of the Pacific. The national cemetery, located on the island 
of Oahu and known to Hawaii locals as ``Punchbowl,'' is a crown jewel 
of America's memorials, and the last resting place of thousands who so 
valiantly served their Nation. Millions visit Punchbowl annually, to 
walk the grounds, to stand silently in its beauty, and to pay tribute 
to those laid to rest there.
  The article featured pictures of the groundskeepers, each identified 
by first and last name. Unbeknownst to the readers, these hard working 
stewards are injured veterans, some with disabilities for which others 
may have written them off as unable to contribute a day's labor. But 
thanks in large part to one man, one of their fellow veterans, they 
succeed beyond such expectations, one day at a time. That man, their 
supervisor for VA's Compensated Work Therapy Program for disabled 
veterans, managed to escape the feature photos. That man is Punchbowl's 
Cemetery caretaker foreman, Larry Thornton.
  Fortunately, Mr. Thornton could not escape the limelight when he 
finally received just recognition for his work with disabled veterans 
and for his dedicated labor to maintain a national shrine. This year 
his work was recognized and earned him the Air Force Association's 
Department of Veterans Affairs Employee of the Year Award for 2008. I 
join the Air Force Association in commending this fine veteran, Mr. 
Thornton, for his service to his fellow veterans and our Nation. His 
service began long before this award, and I am sure that it will 
continue long after it. I am doubly proud of him, as a Senator from 
Hawaii and as the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

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