[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 31, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING ALLEN BUSHMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 31, 2009

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Allen 
Bushman upon being named as a ``Distinguished Life Member'' by the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 9896. Mr. Bushman was honored on 
Saturday, January 31, 2009.
  Allen Bushman was born in March 1930 in Fairview, Utah, and at age 
eighteen he enlisted in the newly formed United States Air Force. He 
completed his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He 
went on to serve in a variety of assignments, including an aircraft 
engineering mechanic for the B-29 and B-36 bombers and the KC-97 
Stratotanker. These aircrafts were instrumental during the Korean War, 
completing missions from Japan and Okinawa to bomb targets in North 
Korea. After the war, Mr. Bushman completed Aircraft Maintenance 
Technician School and qualified as an Inflight Air Refueling Boom 
Operator. The Stratotanker was an aerial refueling tanker; it was vital 
to the Air Force as the B-47 became the primary bomber for world-wide 
strategic operations.
  During the 1960s, Mr. Bushman completed courses at the USAF Advanced 
Flying School and was selected for advanced training for the KC-135 and 
completed the Combat Crew Training Squadron Course. He also completed 
the Management Course for Air Force Supervisors and the Special Vehicle 
Repairman Course. Mr. Bushman was assigned as the boom operator on the 
KC-135 where he flew on missions from Okinawa and Guam, refueling the 
B-52 and other aircraft flying to and returning from missions over 
North Vietnam. During his twenty-two years of service he served with a 
number of wings and squadrons including 22nd Bomb Wing, 98th Bomb Wing, 
111th Bomb Wing, 95th Bomb Wing, 90th Air Refueling Squadron, 99th Air 
Refueling Squadron and 924th Air Refueling Training Squadron.
  Master Sergeant Bushman retired from the Air Force at Castle Air 
Force Base on February 28, 1970. He was awarded with the Air Force 
Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service, the Air Medal with two Oak 
Leaf Clusters, the Korean Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Air 
Force Good Conduct Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, National 
Defense Service Medal and the Air Force Longevity Service Award for his 
service during the Korean War, Vietnam War and the Cold War. Upon his 
retirement, he completed a two year business management course at 
Merced College and became a fence contractor. He is a life member of 
Chowchilla Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 9896, and a member of the 
Church of Latter Day Saints. He and his wife, Carla Gene, continue to 
live in Chowchilla, California; they have nine children, twenty-seven 
grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate Allen Bushman 
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. Bushman many years of continued success.

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