[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 146 (Monday, September 15, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H8072-H8073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  COLONEL OLA LEE MIZE VETERANS CLINIC

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5736) to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs 
outpatient clinic in Gadsden, Alabama, as the Colonel Ola Lee Mize 
Veterans Clinic.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5736

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDING.

       Congress finds that Colonel Ola Lee Mize, a Medal of Honor 
     recipient, is a highly decorated veteran from the State of 
     Alabama.

     SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
                   OUTPATIENT CLINIC IN GADSDEN, ALABAMA.

       The Department of Veterans Affairs community based 
     outpatient clinic in Gadsden, Alabama, shall be known and 
     designated as the ``Colonel Ola Lee Mize Veterans Clinic''. 
     Any reference to such community based outpatient clinic in 
     any law, regulation, map, document, record, or other paper of 
     the United States shall be considered to be a reference to 
     the Colonel Ola Lee Mize Veterans Clinic.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Filner) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my support for H.R. 5736, a bill to name 
the veterans clinic in Gadsden, Alabama, after Col. Ola Lee Mize.
  It is a great honor for me to stand here before you to talk about 
Col. Ola Lee Mize. He received the Medal of Honor for his heroic 
actions during the Korean War, and he deserves our further recognition.
  The Medal of Honor is awarded in the name of Congress to a person who 
distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the 
risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an 
action against an enemy of the United States.
  As a member of Company K, then Sergeant Mize courageously defended 
``Outpost Harry'' near Surang-ni, Korea, on June 11 and June 12 in 
1953. His deed was one of personal bravery. He clearly distinguished 
himself by exhibiting tremendous courage. He served our Nation by going 
beyond the call of duty while facing the enemy and was willing to risk 
his own life to protect the lives of others.
  Colonel Mize and his company faithfully defended a strategically 
valuable position when the enemy launched a heavy attack. Upon learning 
that a comrade on a friendly listening post had been wounded, he moved 
through the intense barrage accompanied by a medical aid man and 
rescued the wounded soldier.
  On returning to his main position, he established an effective 
defense system and inflicted heavy casualties against attacks from 
determined enemy assault forces which had penetrated into trenches 
within the outpost area. During his fearless actions, he was blown down 
by artillery and grenade blasts three times, but each time he 
dauntlessly returned to his position, tenaciously fighting and 
successfully repelling hostile attacks.
  When the enemy onslaughts ceased, he took his few men and moved from 
bunker to bunker, firing through apertures and throwing grenades at the 
foe, neutralizing their positions.
  When an enemy soldier stepped out behind a comrade, prepared to fire, 
Col. Mize killed him, saving the life of his fellow soldier. After 
rejoining the platoon, moving from man to man, distributing ammunition 
and shouting words of encouragement, he observed a friendly machine gun 
position overrun. He immediately fought his way to the position, 
killing ten enemies and dispersing the remainder. Fighting back to the 
command post and finding several friendly wounded there, he took a 
position to protect them.
  Later, securing a radio, he directed friendly artillery fire upon the 
attacking enemy's routes of approach. At dawn he helped regroup for a 
counterattack which successfully drove the enemy from that outpost. 
Col. Mize's valorous conduct and unflinching courage reflect lasting 
glory upon himself and upon the noble traditions of the military 
service.
  Besides having been awarded the Medal of Honor, Col. Mize has been 
awarded the Bronze Star, Good Conduct with Two Loops, National Defense 
Service, Korean Service with two Bronze Stars, and the United Nations 
Service.
  Today, by passing H.R. 5736, which would designate the outpatient 
clinic in Gadsden, Alabama as the Colonel Ola Lee Mize Veterans Clinic, 
we honor his bravery and courage and of course that of all soldiers.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Alabama, Robert Aderholt, for 
introducing this bill. And I urge the support of my colleagues.
  I would reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of H.R. 5736, a bill 
to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in 
Gadsden, Alabama, as the Colonel Ola Lee Mize Veterans Clinic. I will 
shortly, as has been pointed out by the chairman, recognize the bill's 
primary sponsor, Mr. Robert Aderholt of Alabama, for him to more fully 
discuss Col. Mize's contributions to our Nation. They are indeed very 
impressive.
  While serving as a master sergeant during the Korean War, his company 
was defending an outpost when the enemy launched a heavy attack. 
Sergeant Mize rescued a wounded comrade at a listening post and 
returned to the main position where he established a defensive position 
and in turn inflicted many, many enemy casualties.
  Taking the offensive, Sergeant Mize held off the enemy attacks. He 
organized an effective counterattack and directed artillery fire. He 
was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valorous conduct and unflinching 
courage, upholding the most noble traditions of our military service. 
Mr. Mize's military career did not end just in Korea. In the early 
1960s, Mr. Mize joined the Army Special Forces, better known as the 
Green Berets. He spent another 20 years in the Green Berets, including 
time spent commanding the Special Forces School at Fort Bragg. And he 
served nearly 4 years of duty in Vietnam where he was shot three times.
  Col. Mize retired from the military after Vietnam, having been 
awarded a number of decorations in addition to the Medal of Honor.
  So it's altogether right that we honor one of our Nation's heroes by 
naming this facility in Gadsden, Alabama after him.
  At this point I yield as much time as he may consume to the author of 
the bill, Mr. Aderholt of Alabama.
  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman and 
ranking member for their support of this piece of legislation. And of 
course as it has been said, we're here today to honor Ola Lee Mize by 
naming the veterans clinic in Gadsden, Alabama after him. Col. Mize was 
a soldier in the United States Army during the Korean war. And as has 
already been mentioned, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his 
actions on June 10 and 11, 1953.
  Most people may be surprised to learn that just over 100 recipients 
of the Congressional Medal of Honor are alive today. And only one of 
them lives in Alabama. And I'm honored that Ola Lee Mize resides in the 
district I represent, which is the Fourth District of Alabama.
  Ola Lee Mize was the son of an Alabama sharecropper. He dropped out 
of school in 1946 after the ninth grade. And he did that so that he 
could take care of his mother, his brothers and his sisters. A few 
years later he decided he could do better. So he left a job that was 
paying $15 a week and then enlisted in the United States Army.
  However, when he went to apply to the Army, he was rejected because 
he weighed only 120 pounds. But he was persistent, and recruiters 
finally let him enlist. Mize's military career

[[Page H8073]]

would see him courageously rise to the high ranking position of colonel 
after the humble beginnings of a young high school drop-out who was 
once rejected by the Army.
  Col. Mize's story is a great example to all Americans who aspire to 
great things in the face of challenges. The Medal of Honor is the 
highest military decoration awarded by the United States Government. It 
is bestowed on a member of the United States Armed Forces who risk 
their life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action 
against an enemy of the United States. Col. Mize exemplifies this. And 
I think it is appropriate and fitting that he be honored again by the 
naming of this clinic in Gadsden, Alabama.
  Colonel Ola Mize earned his Medal of Honor when he was a sergeant for 
the U.S. Army with Company K of the 15th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd 
Infantry Division.
  During one particular battle in the Korean war, his company was 
committed to the defense of an outpost in the southern region of what 
is now South Korea. And at the time, the Chinese were under heavy 
attack of the area.

                              {time}  1615

  With all the company's officers dead or wounded, Mize worked to 
establish a defensive position while dragging wounded into the shelters 
made by timbers pulled from American bunkers destroyed by enemy fire. 
Over the next several hours, he assembled an impromptu patrol that went 
from bunker to bunker firing out of the open spaces in an effort to 
make the Chinese believe that they were still opposed by a vigorous 
force.
  American counterattack forces reached Mize's position about noon on 
the 11th day of June, and after helping to resecure the outpost, Mize 
got permission to take his wounded men back to American lines. Upon 
reaching friendly territory, Mize, the regimental commander and the 
division commander, were all standing together. The two commanders did 
not recognize Mize, whose uniform at the time was in tatters, his 
flight jacket smoking, and his face badly swollen from burns. ``Who are 
you,'' demanded the regimental commanders? ``Sergeant Mize,'' he 
answered. ``You're not Mize,'' the commander responded. ``He's dead.''
  His Medal of Honor citation states that Sergeant Mize's valorous 
conduct and unflinching courage reflect lasting glory upon himself and 
upon the noble traditions of military service.
  Several months later, informed that he would receive the Medal of 
Honor, Mize told the commanding officers that he didn't want it because 
it really should go to the entire platoon. Reluctantly, he was flown 
back to the United States so he could attend a ceremony in Denver, 
Colorado. He was decorated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on 
September 7, 1954. In the early 1960s, Ola Mize joined the Special 
Forces and did three tours in Vietnam. He retired as colonel in 1981.
  Ola Mize is a great soldier that has served our country with bravery 
and class, and it is my pleasure today to offer this resolution in his 
honor.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 5736.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FILNER. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5736.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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