[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 36 (Monday, March 2, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E507]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO FIREFIGHTER LIEUTENANT JIMMY McCASKEY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARSHA BLACKBURN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 2, 2009

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to rise today to 
honor and recognize the bravery of Bartlett Firefighter Lieutenant 
Jimmy McCaskey.
  While vacationing in Florida Lt. McCaskey showed the highest form of 
human compassion and bravery when he risked his own life to save a 
father and son caught in the grasp of a powerful rip current generated 
by a hurricane while hundreds of beachgoers stood on the shore and 
watched. When Lt. McCaskey reached the two swimmers he lifted the 
father who was already blue in the face out of the water, onto his 
boogie board and kept him alert for 20 agonizing minutes while being 
relentlessly battered down upon from all directions by a surging sea 
until help finally arrived. Thankfully, this fisher of men narrowly 
escaped his own death.
  In honor of this extraordinary act of selflessness, Lt. Jimmy 
McCaskey was awarded the Medal of Valor which is one of the highest 
honors for bravery a firefighter can receive. This award is 
administered by the 100 Club of Memphis and was presented to Lt. 
McCaskey due to his outstanding performance without regard for personal 
safety which should stand as an inspiration to all men and women across 
Tennessee and our Nation.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in both thanking and 
congratulating Lt. Jimmy McCaskey for his heroism; he is, indeed, a 
worthy recipient of this outstanding honor. And may God bless all of 
the Jimmy McCaskeys of America.

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