[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 31, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING JAMES SABIN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 31, 2009

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate James 
Sabin upon being named as a ``Distinguished Life Member'' by the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 9896. Mr. Sabin was honored on Saturday, 
January 31, 2009.
  Mr. Sabin graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1958 and 
soon after graduation he joined the U.S. Navy. He completed Navy boot 
camp and was on his way to Norman, Oklahoma for training at the 
Aviation Fundamental School. Upon completion of training he was 
designated as an Aviation Mechanic and was sent the Naval Air Station 
in Corpus Christi, Texas. He served at Corpus Christi for twenty-six 
months then was assigned to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Soviet Union and 
Cuba had entered into a close alliance and Soviet Premier Nikita 
Khrushchev had begun secretly installing Soviet missile sites in Cuba. 
Conflict was coming and Mr. Sabin found himself on the front line. The 
Navy sent battle groups into the area while the Army and Marines 
prepared to send airborne and amphibious units into Cuba.
  Mr. Sabin served in Guantanamo Bay for fourteen months, between 1961 
and 1962. For his service he was awarded the National Defense Service 
Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. 
Upon exiting the military he attended junior college and worked as a 
salesman for a soft drink company. He also became involved with the 
ministry and in 1981 he became Pastor of the Cathedral of Faith in 
Chowchilla. He has been involved in the ministry for thirty-seven 
years. He became a funeral director for the Worden Funeral Chapel in 
1992, serving the needs of families at times of great sorrow with 
sincere compassion.
  Mr. Sabin and his wife, Sandra, have two children and four 
grandchildren. He is a life member of the Chowchilla Veterans of 
Foreign Wars, Post 9896, where he serves as Post Chaplain and a member 
of the First Assembly of God Church.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate James Sabin 
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. Sabin many years of continued success.

                          ____________________