[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 15, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING VIETNAM VETERAN PAUL GIBERT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 15, 2012

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and pay tribute to 
Corporal Paul Gibert for his valiant service as a Marine in the Vietnam 
War, upon his homecoming from a recent revisit to Vietnam. Mr. Gibert 
served his country loyally and with great devotion, putting his life at 
risk on numerous occasions to save wounded fellow Marines.
  Corporal Gibert enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1966, at age 19. 
After completing basic training, escape and evasion courses, and 
advanced language Vietnamese courses, he was assigned as a recon scout 
with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. His storied unit was known as the 
``The Walking Dead'' because of its record setting casualty rate.
  As a recon scout fluent in Vietnamese, he was routinely assigned to 
go ahead of his unit and participate in extremely dangerous recon work 
in villages that had not yet been secured. It was not uncommon for him 
to be given inaccurate information from locals who were actually 
working for the North Vietnamese, making his job one of the most 
dangerous jobs in the Marine Corps.
  In April 1967, during Operation Buffalo, the 9th Marines suffered a 
severe setback. Corporal Gibert was called up from a rear area to 
support a unit that had been so severely attacked they were actually 
piling the dead and wounded onto tanks to evacuate them. Virtually all 
of the Marines in the attacked unit were either killed or wounded. 
Reaching down to help a wounded Marine, Gibert was hit by shrapnel from 
an exploding artillery shell, piercing his shoulder. He was evacuated 
and recuperated for six weeks in an Air Force hospital in Cam Rahn Bay, 
after which he was sent back to his unit.
  In September, only a few months later, he was back in the hospital 
for jungle rot in his leg, which had swollen up to the size of a 
barrel. With the exception of his recovery time in the hospital, 
virtually all of his time in Vietnam was spent near the Demilitarized 
Zone. Corporal Gibert was awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds, and 
his unit received two Presidential Unit Citations for exceptional 
valor.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to ask my colleagues to join me in 
commending Corporal Paul Gibert for his bravery and commitment to his 
country. I sincerely thank him for his service, and wish him well as he 
returns from his recent trip back to Vietnam for what I know had to be 
a deeply emotional experience.

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