[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 71 (Monday, May 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S2905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO THE FIGHTING POWELLS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to Col. Tom Murgatroyd 
of Sherman, IL, and his extraordinary family.
  You may have heard the story of President Abraham Lincoln informing 
Lydia Bixby of the death of her five sons in defense of the Republic 
during the Civil War. This is not that story. You may have heard about 
the five Sullivan brothers who died on board the USS Juneau in World 
War II as they fought for freedom in the Pacific. This is not that 
story either.
  No, Tom Murgatroyd's family does share that uncommon courage that 
runs in the blood of so many families with veterans, but this story 
doesn't end in the same way. Like so many great stories, this has the 
wonderful trait of being true. Tom had seven uncles serving in World 
War II, and all seven made it back home.
  George and Addie Powell had 11 sons and 2 daughters. The family lived 
on a farm near Hillview, in Greene County, IL. In the summer of 1941, 
Addie wanted a picture of the whole family together. It is always 
difficult to gather a large family, but that picture was a rare feat 
and it would become a truly special one. That photo taken on Veterans 
Day would be the last time they were all together. Though seven of the 
sons would make it back home from the war, their brother John would 
succumb to lung cancer while those boys were overseas in 1945.
  The sons who enlisted to join the war after Pearl Harbor were Arthur, 
Earl, Fred, George, Everett, Max, and Adrian Powell. You may be 
familiar with the service star pins that mothers of active duty 
servicemembers wore. Addie didn't have a service star pin large enough 
to include all of her fighting family on a lapel. Her solution was to 
put two pins with three stars each on the lapel. I assume she adjusted 
again when her seventh son joined the war. Three of the men were Army 
Air Corps and the other four enlisted in the Navy. The eldest, Arthur, 
already had a 20-year Navy career when the war started, and he returned 
to service as a recruiter. This sense of duty and patriotism extended 
to the entire Powell family, who all pitched in to help with the war 
effort. There would have been an eighth Powell enlisting had the war 
gone on another few years.
  The whole family did their part for the war, but I want to focus on 
Everett for a moment. On March 4, 1944, he was flying his Thunderbolt 
P-47 on an escorting mission with a formation of Flying Fortresses. It 
was his 90th mission and also his mother's birthday. His plane was shot 
down over Belgium. He told his fighter group that he would bail out, 
but he never did. Two weeks later, the family was informed that Everett 
was missing. His mother Addie had a heart attack upon hearing the news.
  Weeks turned to months, and Everett was still missing. Then, on the 
Fourth of July, the family received a message that Everett was alive 
and a prisoner of the Germans. The family's prayers were answered. 
Ruth, sister to the Powell brothers and Col. Tom Murgatroyd's mother, 
recalled that it was rightfully, ``the happiest Fourth of July'' in 
several years. Everett went on to endure 18 months in the German POW 
camp called Stalag 3. When Everett was released, he wandered until 
encountering the American lines and then boarded a ship to come home. 
He said he bought 24 chocolate bars in the ship's store and got so sick 
he never cared for chocolate afterward.
  The family never ceased waiting to hear from their boys. While they 
were away, their sister Ruth made a banner for the family to represent 
the seven family members serving, because the military at the time 
didn't have any banners with more than six stars to represent the 
number of sons serving from one family.
  The sons all wrote letters to their family. Their first questions 
consistently were about the crops back home before asking about family 
and friends. When they did return, their mom, Addie, was always waiting 
down the road to greet her sons.
  The Powell family is an extraordinary example of what so many 
families experience during war. It should not surprise us that several 
of the Powells would continue their military service after the war. 
Everett, though being held in a POW camp, went on to have a nearly 30-
year Air Force career. Many of the children of the Powell brothers and 
sisters went on to serve in the military, including Col. Tom Murgatroyd 
of Sherman, IL. George is the last surviving sibling who had served in 
World War II, and he is now living in Traverse City, MI.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in celebrating the courage of the 
Powell family. Thank you, and all the families like you, who are doing 
their part to support our veterans and serving the country.

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