[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 83 (Friday, May 30, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E880]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES WARREN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 30, 2014

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, it brings me sadness and honor to pay 
final tribute to Lieutenant Colonel James Warren, USAF (Retired). He 
died Saturday, May 17, 2014, of cancer in Vacaville, California. He was 
90.
   James served 35 years in the United States Air Force during World 
War II, Korea and Vietnam as a Tuskegee Airman, the first African 
American aviators in the United States Armed Forces. During his 
distinguished career, James flew over 12,000 hours and 173 combat 
missions. He was the first navigator to bring home a group of American 
POWs from North Vietnam aboard ``Homecoming One,'' and flew the Apollo 
14 crew from splashdown near American Samoa back to the Manned Space 
Center in Houston, Texas. Throughout this extensive career James was 
awarded numerous medals for his exceptional service, including the 
Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, three 
Meritorious Service Medals, the Air Medal with eleven Oak Leaf Clusters 
and the Air Force Commendation Medal.
   James Warren was a man of humble beginnings, born on August 16, 
1923, into the racially segregated world of Gurley, Alabama. His mother 
worked hard to save enough money to buy him a bus ticket to Highland 
Park, Illinois, when he was 15 years old.
   After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the aviation cadet 
program, arriving at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama in November of 
1942. Soon after in March of 1943, James was commissioned as a Second 
Lieutenant in the Army Air Force, later graduating from Hondo 
Navigation School in August of 1944 and assigned to the 477th 
Bombardment Group, Medium.
   Unfortunately despite his extensive military accomplishments, James' 
biggest battles were to break down the barriers of segregation. In 
1945, James and his fellow African American members of the 477th 
attempted to integrate an all-white Officers' Club at Freeman Army Air 
Field. The incident led to the arrest of 102 officers, including one of 
its instrumental leaders, Lt Col Warren. This incidence is generally 
regarded by Civil Rights historians as a seminal moment in the drive 
toward full integration of the Armed Forces and later as a model for 
civil disobedience of the Civil Rights Movement.
   For seven decades, Lt Col Warren was a living legend as a proud 
American, a decorated veteran, and as both a member and representative 
of the valiant Tuskegee Airmen. Even in retirement James continued his 
selfless service, tirelessly promoting the accomplishments of the 
Tuskegee Airmen and all African American participation in armed 
conflicts across the globe and sharing his infectious passion for 
flight with the next generation of Vacaville youth.
   The challenges he faced, fought for, and overcame are a true 
inspiration.
   I invite my colleagues to join me as I offer my condolences to his 
loving family, Xanthia, his wife of 61 years, and sons, James, Stewart 
and Dwayne and daughter, Sharron. He will be greatly missed. His legacy 
will live on as a source of inspiration for generations to come.
   I wish Lieutenant Colonel James Warren ``high flight.''

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