[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 172 (Thursday, December 5, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        TRIBUTE TO ARLEIGH BIRK

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD M. NOLAN

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 5, 2013

  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, as we approach the 72nd anniversary of the 
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, I rise to pay 
tribute to one of the true American heroes of that day, and of the long 
World War that followed--former Boatswain's Mate First Class Arleigh 
Birk, United States Navy.
  Today, as Arleigh approaches his 94th birthday, he and Marion, his 
lovely wife of 67 years, still live in their family home in the 
northern Minnesota community of Hoyt Lakes, where they retired after 
Arleigh's 25 years of employment at Erie Mining Company from 1957 to 
1982.
  Seventy-two years ago, on Sunday, December 7, 1942, Arleigh was 4,028 
miles west of Hoyt Lakes, stationed on the USS Honolulu, watching as 
Japanese warplanes filled the skies and the USS Arizona exploded in 
fire. The Honolulu itself sustained damage in the attack, and Arleigh 
was transferred to the USS Denver where he remained in the Pacific 
Theatre until the war's end.
  During those years in the Pacific, Arleigh and his mates on the USS 
Denver were part of the force that engaged and sank the Japanese 
destroyers Minegumo and Murasame in the 1943 Battle of Blackett Strait.
  In October 1943, they earned the Navy Unit Commendation for 
outstanding performance in the battle of Empress Augusta Bay for 
helping sink one enemy light cruiser and a destroyer, and heavily 
damaging two heavy cruisers and two destroyers.
  On July 4, 1944, Arleigh and the crew of the USS Denver bombarded Iwo 
Jima, fought numerous battles throughout the Pacific, and fought off a 
Kamikaze attack on November 27th during action in the Leyte Gulf.
  In September 1945, Arleigh and the Denver sailed from Okinawa to 
cover the evacuation of Allied forces imprisoned in the Wakayama area 
before heading home to Norfolk, Virginia, where they arrived on 
November 21st.
  Arleigh was honorably discharged from the Navy on January 12, 1946--
and honorably married to Marion a little over a year later.
  On behalf of a grateful Congress and a grateful nation, we honor and 
thank Arleigh Birk for his service in the preservation of American 
freedom.

                          ____________________