[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 70 (Friday, May 9, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING YEOMAN 1ST CLASS ANDREA JEAN SMALL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JEB HENSARLING

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 9, 2014

  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor today to recognize Yeoman 
1st Class Andrea Jean Small for her exceptional service to our country. 
In April of 1943, at the age of 23, she joined the Navy in lieu of 
nursing school. Mrs. Small completed her basic training in Cedar Falls, 
Iowa. Upon completion, she moved to Washington, DC to begin her 
service.
   As one of the first WAVES--Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency 
Service--Mrs. Small left her childhood home of Peoria, Illinois, was 
among the first women to serve our country in a military capacity 
during WWII. Due to the scarcity of manpower and the urgency of 
protecting our nation, nearly 400,000 women took on new roles in all 
military branches during the war.
   At the age of 95, Mrs. Small can still remember many of the 
experiences she had prior to and during her service in Washington. She 
can recall hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor just as she was 
leaving church on that cold December morning, and the funeral 
procession of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on April 14, 1945. Perhaps the 
fondest memory was the night she met the man who would later become her 
husband of 29 years, Yeoman 1st Class Joe Breithaupt, at a Navy USO 
party. The two were married on July 13, 1945, just three months after 
they had met. After completion of their service, the two made their 
home in the Corsicana area, where they raised three sons. Following 
Joe's death from cancer, Jean later remarried to Mr. Marlyn Small, and 
they were married for nine years until his passing.
   Humbly, I echo the words of President Ronald Reagan, ``We will 
always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, 
so we will always be free.'' And humbly, I offer my sincere gratitude 
to Yeoman 1st Class Andrea Jean Small for her service and acts of 
bravery that allow us the freedoms we enjoy today.

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