[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 20, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING PRIVATE FIRST CLASS RICHARD M. DAWSON, USA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT J. WITTMAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 20, 2010

  Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to 
a fallen hero. Private First Class Richard M. Dawson of the United 
States Army served this country proudly and with the highest level of 
honor. He gave the ultimate sacrifice to this nation by paying with his 
life while fighting for freedom in one of this country's most trying 
conflicts, World War II.
  PFC Dawson grew up on a farm in Haynesville in Richmond County, known 
affectionately by his family as ``Norris''. He enlisted in the U.S. 
Army in 1938 and was one of a select few chosen to join the Allied 
effort to regain control of Burma from the Japanese. In 1944, his Army 
Air Force unit was stationed in Dinjan, India, flying transport 
missions over ``the Hump'' of the Himalaya Mountains to supply 
American, British and Chinese forces fighting the Japanese in China and 
Burma. Despite reported bad weather conditions, his aircraft commander 
demonstrated extreme courage and elected to carry out its vital cargo-
drop mission in the northern most portion of Burma. The Army reported 
the twin-engine C-47 Skytrain and its crew of seven took off to drop 
ammunition at Myitkyina in the mountains of northern Burma. Tragically, 
the aircraft never reached the drop zone and all seven crewmembers 
perished. Efforts to find the cargo plane were unsuccessful until late 
2002 when a missionary provided U.S. officials with a data plate from a 
C-47 crash site approximately 31 miles northwest of Myitkyina. A Joint 
POW/MIA Accounting Command team excavated the crash site in 2003 and 
2004, recovering additional remains and crew-related equipment which 
included an identification tag for Dawson.
  The remains of the Richmond County airman were buried July 15, 2010 
in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
  PFC Dawson is survived by his 78 year-old sister Christine King, who 
remembers the day in 1944 that a telegram arrived to tell the Dawson 
family that their son and brother was missing. He was 25 years old at 
the time. Dawson was a loving son who wrote frequent letters to his 
mother, beginning each one imploring her not to worry about him. This 
is a prime example of Dawson's selflessness which was exemplified 
throughout the duration of his service.
  I extend to PFC Dawson's relatives my sincere condolences and deep 
appreciation for his service to our nation. We are forever appreciative 
of the sacrifice he made to further the cause of freedom. We hope that 
his remaining family will find comfort in knowing he will rest in peace 
among America's finest who answered our nation's call to duty and who 
did so with bravery and valor.

                          ____________________