[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H1884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ROBERT NEWTON LOWRY, A TRUE AMERICAN HERO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Denham) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge and honor the 
life of a true American hero, Robert Newton Lowry, on his 95th 
birthday. Bob was born on this day, February 25, 1919, 95 years ago, 
here in Washington, D.C. He considers Modesto, California, his home.
  For high school, Mr. Lowry attended Manlius School, a military school 
in upstate New York. He graduated at the top of his class and was named 
an ROTC honor grad. Bob also received a commission to the United States 
Army, but, unfortunately, he was too young to accept it at the time.
  He then was admitted to Princeton University. During his time there, 
he received the prestigious New York Herald Book Award. He graduated in 
1942 with highest honors, summa cum laude and ROTC. These honors earned 
him another commission, this time to the United States Marine Corps as 
a second lieutenant. In July 1942, following Officer Candidate School 
at Quantico, he began artillery training.
  In February of 1943, Bob sailed out of San Diego Harbor with the 2nd 
Battalion, 12th Regiment of the Third Marine Division. He joined the 
fighting in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, first in 
Guadalcanal, then the original invasions of Bougainville, Guam, and Iwo 
Jima.
  During his time in Auckland, New Zealand, Bob met his wife, 
Lieutenant Commander Mary Dudley. They married in May of 1946. Mary 
died in April 2005, just 2 weeks before their 60th anniversary. Mary 
always maintained that, as lieutenant commander, she outranked him both 
in the military service and in their marriage. They are survived by two 
children, Robert Dudley Lowry and Ann Lowry-Perez, as well as four 
grandchildren: Sam and Joe Lowry, and Michael and Lowry Champion.
  After the battle of Iwo Jima, Bob returned stateside to Norfolk, 
Virginia, where he commanded a Marine guard company at the naval 
station. He was soon appointed commanding officer of the Europa, a 100-
man Marine detachment sent to Europe to provide security for a seized 
German luxury liner. Bob was one of the few Marine Corps officers to 
manage the commissioning of this kind of Navy vessel.
  Bob was released from Active Duty in January 1946 and retired from 
the Marines in 1959 with the rank of major. Following his time in the 
Marines, he enrolled in law school at the University of Virginia in a 
postwar accelerated program, graduating in 1948.
  Bob then began a lifetime of specialty law practice, primarily in 
public utility and transportation. His career started first with the 
Southern Railway and then progressed to his work at a law firm in 
Washington, D.C.
  In 1953, Bob accepted a position with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, a 
renowned law firm in San Francisco, from which he retired in 1989. He 
has greatly enjoyed the company of the Marine Corps League, the Modesto 
Detachment, whose members regularly go out of their way to include him, 
to celebrate his service, as well as they are doing his 95th birthday 
celebration.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring Robert Newton Lowry on his 
unwavering dedication and contributions to this great Nation.

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