[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 18 (Wednesday, February 6, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF WILLIE F. MONDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. RICHARD HUDSON

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 6, 2013

  Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, Bill Monday of Locust, North Carolina, 
dedicated his life to the service of his country. His military career 
and civic service make admirers of all those fortunate enough to have 
known him.
  Bill Monday selflessly volunteered for service in June of 1940 and 
was sent to Ft. Bragg as part of the 4th Field Artillery Battalion in 
the United States Army Air Corps.
  Bill's long and distinguished career in the Corps began with his 
enlistment and ended with his promotion to Captain after his skill and 
commitment to duty qualified him for Officer Candidate School. He went 
on to qualify and earn his wings as a Field Artillery Liaison Pilot.
  During his military career, Bill was stationed throughout the South 
Pacific though the bulk of the action he saw was in the ferocious 
campaign for the Philippines in October of 1944. In this campaign 
Bill's intrepid flying ability allowed him to land on small dirt roads 
and school yards in order direct fire, provide reconnaissance, and drop 
supplies to cut off troops. All of this was done with nothing more than 
a thin layer of plywood to protect him from the rain of anti-aircraft 
and small arms fire.
  It was here, flying up to ten miles behind enemy lines in an unarmed 
aircraft, that Bill earned a Silver Star in December of 1944. This was 
followed up by the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters in June and 
September of 1945.
  His Silver Star citation reads: ``Flying from short, hazardous 
fields, he was not able to take an observer with him, but was 
nonetheless able to make accurate and skilled adjustments of artillery 
fire. By his outstanding courage and willingness to meet military 
necessities beyond the call of his normal duties, Lieutenant Monday 
conducted himself in a manner worthy of the highest traditions of the 
military service.''
  After the war ended, Bill returned to Fort Bragg. After being 
discharged in August of 1949 he settled in Locust, NC with his wife, 
Virginia, where he lived a long prosperous life.
  Bill loved flying and said that even during wartime there was a peace 
to flying and that he never felt closer to God than when he was in the 
air alone. As he is laid to rest, let us hope that he finds that same 
peace.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to call his extraordinary service and devotion to 
the United States to the attention of my colleagues and other readers 
of the Record.

                          ____________________