[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 21, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                          HONORING CHARLES KEY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 21, 2010

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and 
congratulate Charles Key upon being awarded with the ``Lifetime 
Achievement Award'' by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 9896. Mr. Key 
was honored on Saturday, January 30, 2010, in Chowchilla, California.
  Mr. Charles Key was raised in Henryetta, Oklahoma. At seventeen years 
old he enlisted in the United States Navy. Mr. Key completed Navy Boot 
Camp at the Navy Recruit Training Center at San Diego, California. 
After boot camp he was designated and trained as a Machinist Mate and 
was assigned to the USS Boxer CV-21, a twenty-seven thousand ton Essex 
class aircraft carrier. While on the Boxer, Mr. Key completed two 
deployments to the Western Pacific from 1950 to 1951.
  The USS Boxer was returning from the Far East in 1950 when North 
Korea invaded South Korea. The carrier made a rapid turn-around as it 
was carrying needed Air Force and Navy planes, as well as personnel, 
and headed to the war zone in the Pacific. During the following months, 
Mr. Key and his shipmates worked diligently to keep aircraft in the air 
by providing air support for the United Nations' fighting forces 
ashore. Between 1951 and 1952, while aboard the USS Boxer, Mr. Key made 
three additional Korean War cruises. The planes from the USS Boxer hit 
transportation and infrastructure targets in North Korea and gave close 
air support to troops on the front lines. On August 5, 1952, while 
engaged in combat operations, a fire broke out on the hanger deck. The 
fire resulted in nine deaths, several aircraft were lost and there was 
significant damage to the hanger deck. Mr. Key and his shipmates worked 
non-stop, and within two weeks the USS Boxer returned to combat duties 
off the Korean coast.
  Upon returning to the United States, Machinist Mate 3rd Class Key was 
honorably discharged from the Navy at the Naval District in San 
Francisco. For his service, Mr. Key was awarded the China Service 
Medal, the Navy Occupation Award, the Korean Service Medal, the United 
Nations Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his civilian 
career, Mr. Key was a California licensed electrical and air 
conditioning contractor.
  Mr. Key is a Life Member of the Chowchilla Veterans of Foreign Wars 
Post 9896 and a member of the First Christian Church of Madera. Mr. Key 
and his wife, Christine, had two sons, three grandchildren and two 
great-grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate Charles Key 
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. Key many years of continued success.

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