[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E733-E734]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE LIFE OF PAUL REUTER

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                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 4, 2010

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of a 
recently departed constituent, Mr. Paul Reuter, a proud WWII veteran, 
family man and kind soul well thought of by all who knew him.
  Born in 1920 in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, Paul enlisted in the Army Air 
Corps right out of high school, serving as a radio operator on B-18 and 
B-17 aircraft. He was soon transferred to the 14th Bomb Squadron 
located in the Philippine Islands. When the Japanese bombed the 
Philippines after Pearl Harbor, Mr. Reuter and his fellow soldiers at 
Clark Air Field were captured and forced to take part in the infamous 
Bataan Death March across the island as prisoners of war. They spent 
five weeks in the notorious Tabayas Road detail during which an 
estimated 18,000 men died while being forced to cut a road through the 
mosquito and snake infested jungle with little food, rest or water.
  After Bataan, Mr. Reuter spent over three years in Japanese prison 
camps, forced to perform slave labor in Japan's Seitetsu Steel Plant. 
Upon his liberation on September 9, 1945, shortly after the bombing of 
Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, Mr. Reuter weighed a mere 90 pounds. He 
credited his ability to avoid starvation due to growing up during the 
Depression. Nothing his captors fed him, which included bug infested 
rice, was too rich for his pallet. Through this dark time, his deep 
religious convictions, love of country and desire to be reunited with 
his family kept him mentally strong, if not physically.
  Even after such sacrifice, Mr. Reuter's passion to serve and protect 
his country remained undiminished. He would go on to serve in the 
military for 15 more years, rising to the rank of Master Sergeant. In 
1960, he hung up his fatigues for good, but shortly thereafter joined 
NASA. A strong believer in the value of an education, Paul went to 
school at night to earn his associates degree in Applied Science, a 
path he likely would have taken earlier but for the war. At NASA, Mr. 
Reuter got a front row seat for history and one of America's proudest 
moments, serving as part of the team that helped put the first man on 
the moon.
  Following his retirement from NASA, after 40 years of government 
service, Paul turned his focus to helping his fellow veterans, the 
``Battling Bastards of Bataan.'' He served as an officer with the 
American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, an organization which 
fought for Bataan veterans' rights and sought to serve as a reminder 
that ``the precepts of courage, devotion to duty and sacrifice 
displayed by the men and women of Bataan, both Filipino and American, 
have not and will not become outmoded.'' In the 1980's, Paul received 
his long overdue Bronze Star for combat, along with a Purple Heart.
  Over the years, Mr. Reuter has been quoted extensively in books, 
interviewed on television and participated in any number of history 
specials recalling his wartime experiences.
  A dedicated husband and father, he and his wife Nickolena were 
married 62 years until her passing in 2008. They were proud parents to 
five children, grandparents to 12 grandchildren, and Paul was about to 
be blessed with his fourth great grandchild.
  Mr. Reuter left us on April 16, 2010 at the age of 89. He was a man 
who lived enough for five men, never forgetting to show appreciation 
for those around him, dedicated to the common good for all.

[[Page E734]]



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