[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 10, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1384]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


HONORING WORLD WAR II VETERAN, ORLANDO MARTORANI, AS HE CELEBRATES HIS 
                             100TH BIRTHDAY

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                         HON. WILLIAM L. ENYART

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 10, 2014

  Mr. ENYART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me 
in wishing Orlando Martorani a Happy Birthday as he turns 100 years old 
on October 19, 2014.
  Orlando Pedro Martorani was born October 19, 1914 in Bayamon, Puerto 
Rico. He began a career as a bookkeeper and married Mercedes Delgado 
Garcia in San Juan, Puerto Rico on December 14, 1941, exactly one week 
after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
  Orlando and Mercedes began their life in Puerto Rico and their first 
child, their daughter, Gilda, was born in 1942. In December of 1943, 
Orlando answered the call to military service, joining the U.S. Army as 
a member of the Coastal Artillery Corps.
  The Coastal Artillery Corps was responsible for the defense of the 
coasts and harbors of the United States during the first half of the 
20th Century. As a member of that corps, Orlando was briefly assigned 
to duty in Inglewood and San Diego, California before being stationed 
in Panama, guarding the Panama Canal. He also would be stationed in 
Boston, Massachusetts to guard German Prisoners of War.
  On being discharged in February of 1946, Orlando returned to his life 
in Puerto Rico where he and Mercedes raised their family. After 
retiring in 1980, Orlando and Mercedes came to live in Murphysboro, 
Illinois.
  A short-wave radio enthusiast, Orlando is also a Chicago Cubs fan 
and, even though he has been waiting 100 years, he still has hopes of 
seeing the Cubs win a World Series in his lifetime.
  Orlando cared for Mercedes until she passed away in 2003. He has two 
children, Gilda and a son, Orlando, who is also a U.S. Army veteran who 
served in Vietnam. He also has six grandchildren and one great-
grandchild.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing Orlando 
Martorani a Happy 100th Birthday and wishing him all the best in the 
future.

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