[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 20, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6023-S6024]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING FIRST SERGEANT NICK BACON

 Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to the life, 
service, and memory of 1SG Nick Bacon, U.S. Army (Ret.). First Sergeant 
Bacon, the last living Medal of Honor recipient from Arkansas, passed 
away July 17, 2010, at the age of 64. His life will be remembered not 
just for his heroic military service, which earned him the prestigious 
Medal of Honor, but also for his work on behalf of veterans in Arkansas 
and across this Nation.
  Narrowly surviving a helicopter crash in his first tour of duty, then 
Staff Sergeant Bacon volunteered for a second tour of duty in Vietnam; 
this time he was leading a squad with the 1st Platoon of B Company of 
the 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade, Americal 
Division. On August 26, 1968, in an operation west of Tam Ky, Staff 
Sergeant Bacon and Company B drew heavy resistance from enemy forces. 
In the ensuing action, Bacon led two platoons in stifling the enemy 
assault, singlehandedly killing multiple enemy soldiers, destroying an 
antitank weapon, and directing fire on enemy positions as Company B 
rescued multiple soldiers trapped to the front.
  Due to these brave actions, President Nixon awarded Bacon the Medal 
of Honor on November 24, 1969. The Medal of Honor is the highest 
military decoration awarded by the U.S. Government. It is reserved for 
those members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish 
themselves ``conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of 
his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an 
action against an enemy of the United States.'' That definition most 
certainly fits the heroism that Nick Bacon, then a staff sergeant, took 
the night of August 26, 1968.
  Nicky Daniel Bacon was born November 25, 1945, in Caraway, AR. 
Following his family's move to Arizona, he joined the army to escape 
the difficulties of farm labor. He forged his mother's signature so 
that he could join the army at age 17. He served in the U.S. Army from 
1963 to 1984, retiring at the rank of first sergeant.
  First Sergeant Bacon returned home to Arkansas in 1990, where he 
continued to seek opportunities to serve his community, particularly 
the men and women of the U.S. military. He was appointed director of 
the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs in 1993 and was essential 
to the development of the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery, the 
Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery Beautification Foundation and the 
founding of the Arkansas Veterans' Coalition.

[[Page S6024]]

  In addition to his work on behalf of Arkansas veterans, First 
Sergeant Bacon was a former president of the Congressional Medal of 
Honor Society. In 2004, he was appointed to serve on the Veterans' 
Disability Benefits Commission, which made more than 100 
recommendations to Congress on ways to improve veteran benefits.
  I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing the life and service 
of 1SG Nick Bacon. I join all Americans in lifting up his wife Tamera, 
his children, and all his loved ones. First Sergeant Bacon was not only 
a great Arkansan, but a great American, and I am humbled to express my 
gratitude for his life and service.

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