[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 18, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5626-H5627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING LIEUTENANT COLONEL ALFRED VELAZQUEZ RASCON
(Mr. WALZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute.)
Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the heroic efforts of
Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Velazquez Rascon of the United States Army.
Lieutenant Rascon was a medic with the 173rd Airborne and was awarded
the Medal of Honor for extraordinary courage in action on March 16,
1966, in Vietnam. The following is directly from his commendation:
Disregarding heavy enemy fire, Lieutenant Colonel Rascon
rushed to the aid of wounded machine gunners and placed
himself as a shield between himself and the enemy. After
saving two men, he entered the line of enemy fire to retrieve
an abandoned machine-gun, allowing for suppressing fire while
he treated the wounded. When the sergeant of the platoon went
down with injuries, Lieutenant Colonel Rascon once again
placed himself as a shield between the wounded man and the
enemy. Although sustaining multiple wounds himself,
Lieutenant Colonel Rascon refused to leave the field until
the last had been treated.
[[Page H5627]]
Lieutenant Colonel Rascon came out of retirement and joined the
United States Army Reserves and served this Nation in both Iraq and
Afghanistan in our recent conflicts.
It is for his amazing valor and heroism that I am proud and humbled
to honor and remember the actions of Lieutenant Colonel Alfred
Velazquez Rascon.
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