[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 53 (Monday, March 30, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E813-E814]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING PHIL LYBARGER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 30, 2009

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Phil 
Lybarger upon being named as a ``Distinguished Life Member'' by the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 9896. Mr. Lybarger was honored on 
Saturday, January 31, 2009.
  Mr. Lybarger was born in Merced and raised in Chowchilla, California; 
he graduated from Chowchilla High School in 1960. He worked in 
manufacturing in the San Jose area before enlisting in the United 
States Army. After completion of basic training at Fort Ord, he 
reported for training at the Medical Training Specialist School at Fort 
Sam Houston in Texas. He was then sent for airborne training at Fort 
Benning, Georgia. He made five jumps from a C-19 to earn the silver 
wings of a paratrooper. After airborne training, he received orders to 
join the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Mr. Lybarger reported to the Oakland 
Navy Terminal and boarded the USS Billy Mitchell and headed for 
Okinawa. Once the ship arrived in Okinawa he participated in numerous 
field exercises including off-island exercises to Formosa (now Taiwan) 
and training sessions with Nationalist Chinese troops. He attended 
jungle warfare/Assault training and participated in an exercise 
assaulting the East China Sea island of Irimote.
  Upon completion of his tour to Southeast Asia, Mr. Lybarger was 
assigned to the 18th Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort 
Bragg, North Carolina. At about the same time, the Dominican Republic 
was in the beginning of civil war. Former President Lyndon Johnson 
ordered the U.S. military to restore order, and Mr. Lybarger was 
deployed along with 42,000 Marines and soldiers to the Dominican 
Republic. He was deployed with the

[[Page E814]]

first wave of troops and remained on the island for as a platoon medic 
for seven months.
  Mr. Lybarger returned to the U.S. and was discharged as a Private 
First Class. During his service he was designated as an expert marksman 
with the M-1, M-14 and M-16 rifles. He was awarded Army parachutists 
wings and made twenty-two jumps including three night jumps. For his 
service, he was awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the 
National Defense Service Medal.
  After life in the military, Mr. Lybarger attended Fresno City 
College, De Anze College, San Joaquin Valley College and the University 
of Maryland (Extension) on the G.I. Bill and was employed in 
manufacturing management. He is a member of the First Church of 
Religious Science of the Mind and volunteers as an Ombudsman for the 
State of California Department of Aging. He is a Life Member of 
Chowchilla Veterans of Foreign War Post 9896, Past Junior Vice 
Commander of the 11th Veterans of Foreign War District and Past 
Commander of Post 9896. He is a member of the 82nd Airborne Association 
and the 173rd Airborne Society. Mr. Lybarger and his wife Virginia 
continue to live in Chowchilla; they have three children and nine 
grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate Phil Lybarger 
upon being named as a ``Distinguished Life Member'' by the Veterans of 
Foreign Wars, Post 9896. I invite my colleagues to join me in wishing 
Mr. Lybarger many years of continued success.

                          ____________________