[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 4, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE CHAPLAIN GROVER DeVAULT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 4, 2009

  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, I stand today to honor Pennsylvania State 
Police Chaplain Grover DeVault. Grover has spent his entire adult life 
ministering to the spiritual and emotional needs of those around him.
  Early in his professional life, Grover served as a chaplain in the 
United States Army, including time spent in Vietnam. In this capacity, 
Grover provided guidance and counseling not only to members of his 
military unit, but the people of Vietnam as well, whose lives were 
upended by war in their homeland. It is my understanding that Chaplain 
DeVault was wounded as a direct result of enemy action during his 
active duty service. The event occurred on February 27, 1969, while he 
was stationed in Da Nang, Vietnam. For this, I recommended him for a 
Purple Heart.
  He retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel, but his ministry 
did not end there. Grover has remained very much involved in 
ministering to our troops and veterans in various capacities. His work 
on their behalf is no longer a duty, but a commitment that he has made 
because of his personal belief in the importance of ministering to the 
spiritual needs of those who serve our nation.
  One of the ways he continues to serve our troops is as a missionary, 
along with his wife Nancy, with Cadence International. Cadence is an 
evangelical mission agency dedicated to reaching the military 
communities of the United States and the world with the Good News of 
Jesus Christ.
  In addition to his work with our troops, he actually established the 
chaplaincy program within the Pennsylvania State Police force and has 
provided chaplain services to the Troop J Lancaster Barracks of the 
State Police for many years. It was in this capacity that he provided a 
desperately needed service as a counselor to the emergency personnel 
who responded to the tragedy at the Amish school in Nickel Mines, 
Pennsylvania in 2006.
  Grover is a man of great integrity who has dedicated his life to 
serving the spiritual needs of the men and women who serve our nation. 
I am pleased to honor him here in the House of Representatives, and I 
thank him for the important work he has done in spreading the Gospel to 
a community that is so important to our nation.

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