[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 36 (Friday, March 12, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  A TRIBUTE TO COLONEL ROBERT PURCELL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KAY GRANGER

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 12, 2010

  Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Air Force Colonel 
Bob Purcell who died in Fort Worth, Texas, on December 6, 2009.
  He was born on February 14, 1931 in Louisville to the late William 
Tilden Purcell and Mary Baldwin Purcell. He was a 1949 graduate of St. 
Xavier High School in Louisville. Upon graduating from St. Xavier, he 
attended the University of Louisville, Speed Scientific School. He 
attended primary flight training at Marianna Air Base in Marianna, 
Florida. He received his basic training at Greenville Air Force Base in 
Mississippi. He graduated in December 1954 as a 2nd lieutenant and also 
received his pilot wings. He went to advanced training in the F-100, 
assigned to Kadena AFB in Okinawa. He subsequently upgraded to the F-
105 and flew combat missions in Vietnam until he was shot down on July 
27, 1965. He was the 17th American captured. He remained a prisoner of 
war for seven-and-a-half years. He repatriated on February 12th, 1973.
  After repatriation, he returned to school and completed studies 
earning a BA from Bellarmine University and an MA in Political Science 
from Auburn University. He was also a graduate of the United States Air 
Force Air University Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base. He 
finished a distinguished Air Force career as a full Colonel.
  After he retired from the Air Force, Percy became a simulator pilot 
Instructor with American Airlines in Ft. Worth, Texas. He was a former 
member of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Louisville where he 
also attended elementary school.
  He loved his family, his friends and his country. He was a true 
American hero, and I am honored that we live among such men of courage 
and character.

                          ____________________