[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 74 (Thursday, May 14, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H3206-H3207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO NEVADA SENATOR HOWARD CANNON

  (Ms. TITUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of 
Nevada Senator Howard Cannon.
  In 1982, I served as Senator Cannon's faculty intern; and every day, 
in my district office, I have the privilege of sitting behind his 
personal desk, loaned to me by his daughter Nancy Downey. It serves as 
a constant reminder of his many heroic acts. From delivering 
paratroopers in the lead plane on D-Day to passionately advocating for 
Nevada's interests on the Senate floor, Howard Cannon's valor and 
courage are truly unmatched.
  This June, Nancy will travel to France to cut the ribbon on the new 
extension of the D-Day Paratrooper Historical Center, which features 
her father's restored C-47, the ``Stoy Hora,'' among other artifacts 
from the invasion. It is a fitting tribute to Senator Cannon and the 
brave men and women who risked or lost their lives so we can live in a 
safer world today.
  The legacy of Howard Cannon cannot be summed up in 1 minute, Mr. 
Speaker, so I will now submit for the Record an article from the Las 
Vegas Review-Journal, titled: ``Humble'' Air Warrior Had Crucial D-Day 
Job: France to honor late Sen. Cannon.

           [From the Las Vegas Review Journal: May 12, 2015]

``Humble'' Air Warrior Had Crucial D-Day Job, France To Honor Late Sen. 
                     Cannon, Others for WWII Roles

                           (By Keith Rogers)

       Among the accomplishments of Nevada's late-Sen. Howard 
     Cannon, from his 33-year political career to his Air Force 
     Reserve service as a major general, his biggest achievement 
     arguably was his role in delivering paratroopers in the lead 
     plane during the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Normandy, 
     France.
       With mental toughness and steady hands, then-Maj. Cannon, 
     co-pilot of the C-47 Skytrain ``Stoy Hora,'' and pilot Col. 
     Frank Krebs, commander of the 440th Troop Carrier Group, 
     spearheaded the assault to free France from the grip of Nazi 
     Germany's forces.
       Had their plane and others in the 45-ship formation not 
     made it to the drop zone near St. Mere Eglise, the soldiers 
     of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment might never have 
     been able to provide the cover and distraction for the 
     massive troop landings on the Normandy coast that marked a 
     turning point in World War II.
       For that, the grand opening of the extension at the D-Day 
     Paratroopers Historical Center featuring the restored C-47 
     ``Stoy Hora,'' the pilot's log book and other artifacts will 
     be held June 12 in Normandy's Saint-Come-du-Mont. A flight 
     simulator with special effects will treat visitors to a 
     simulated 7-minute flight inside the aircraft.
       Cannon's daughter, Nancy Downey of Genoa, and Krebs' 
     daughter, Christine Goyer, will cut the ribbon with Ethan 
     Wolverton, great-grandson of Lt. Col. Robert Wolverton, 
     commander of the 3rd Battalion's stick of paratroopers, who 
     was killed by Germany machinegun fire while he dangled in his 
     harness after his parachute caught on a tree.
       ``In our region, we feel that the pilots and crews have not 
     been significantly recognized for their action on D-Day, and 
     we are attempting to not forget them in our museum 
     extension,'' event coordinator Michel de Trez wrote in 
     Downey's invitation. ``It is also our way to honor those who 
     fought and died on the sector where we are located.''
       In a telephone interview from Minden last week, Downey said 
     she is looking forward to seeing the C-47 her father flew 71 
     years ago.
       ``I think it's a great honor to be a pilot of something 
     that's living history, to be a memorial to people like my dad 
     who risked their lives and lost lives to help, not only 
     France, but the world be a safer place,'' she

[[Page H3207]]

     said, reflecting on her famous father, who died in 2002 at 
     age 90.
       ``He was very humble and unassuming. He's been a tremendous 
     inspiration to me my whole life,'' she said.
       Clark County, too, has assembled some of Cannon's 
     photographs and memorabilia for its Cannon Aviation Museum.
       ``Had we not had the paratroopers, it was highly likely the 
     invasion would not have been successful,'' said Mark Hall-
     Patton, administrator of the Clark County Museum on Boulder 
     Highway in Henderson.
       ``And to have somebody who later was the local DA and 
     Nevada senator who was co-pilot of the lead plane is huge,'' 
     he said.
       ``He was the one who, among other things, deregulated the 
     airlines and played a key role in passage of the Civil Rights 
     Act. He was a Democrat who was able to bring the Republicans 
     in and get that passed for (President Lyndon B.) Johnson,'' 
     Hall-Patton said.
       After his death in 2002, a Review-Journal editorial 
     recognized his political savvy. ``The senator would never 
     tell what deal President Lyndon Johnson offered him for his 
     role in ending the Southern filibuster which would otherwise 
     have prevented the Civil Rights Act from coming to a vote in 
     1964.''
       Cannon served 24 years as one of Nevada's U.S. senators, 
     from 1959 to 1983. As a member of the Armed Services and 
     Commerce, Science and Transportation committees and chairman 
     of the Tactical Air Power, Military Construction and 
     Stockpiles subcommittees, he helped secure funding and 
     upgrades for Nellis Air Force Base.
       Born in St. George, Utah, in 1912, he became intrigued by 
     the budding aviation industry while attending Dixie Junior 
     College in the 1930s.
       ``I admit I was more than just a little impressed by the 
     glamour of flying in those days,'' he said in an interview 
     for the December 1971 edition of Air Line Pilot magazine. 
     ``Lindbergh had recently made his epic ocean-crossing flight, 
     and that added to the pilot mystique that dominated that 
     era.''
       As a second lieutenant in the Utah National Guard, he was 
     called to active duty in 1941 and promoted to first 
     lieutenant in charge of a combat engineers unit. He was 
     assigned to the 40th Division in San Luis Obispo, Calif., 
     when Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 
     1941. Responding to the need for experienced pilots, he 
     joined the Army Air Corps and graduated from light aircraft 
     and glider school in New Mexico as a captain.
       In his biography that Downey helped him write, Cannon 
     described the historic D-Day flight. ``Anti-aircraft fire at 
     us as we passed the Channel Islands but we were too low and 
     out of range from them. . . . As we approached the target, we 
     let down through the stuff and broke out at 700 feet over the 
     green fields of France.''
       He saw one of the U.S. planes explode as his C-47 powered 
     toward the drop zone. ``Many positions firing tracers,'' he 
     wrote. ``Many of them had me flinching. Over target--green 
     light--there go the troops. Time 0140 (1:40 a.m.) 6 June 
     1944.''
       His awards and decorations included a Purple Heart, a 
     Distinguished Flying Cross, a presidential citation, and the 
     French Croix de Guerre.
       On Sept. 17, 1944, Cannon and Krebs were again flying 
     paratroopers behind enemy lines. This time it was for the 
     allied invasion of the Netherlands for Operation Market 
     Garden. After they had dropped the troops, their plane was 
     hit by anti-aircraft flak, forcing them to bail out. What 
     followed was a 42-day odyssey during which they evaded their 
     captors with the help of Dutch civilians.
       ``When I parachuted into Holland, I felt I was nothing--
     someone small and unimportant--a speck in the universe 
     leaving a disabled plane,'' he told Air Line Pilot magazine. 
     ``When I left Holland, I sensed I had accomplished far more 
     than our original mission. I had learned from the `defeated' 
     the true meaning of freedom and how we must never give up 
     fighting for it.''

     

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