[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 16, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E908]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING THE SERVICE OF MR. COLEMAN HATTON

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ANDY BARR

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 16, 2015

  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding 
individual, Mr. Coleman Hatton, of Clark County, Kentucky, for his 
distinguished military service during World War II. Mr. Hatton, a part 
of the greatest generation, served our nation in the United States 
Army.
  Mr. Hatton left the comforts of home and family on December 26th, 
1942 when he was twenty years old. He served as a Tech-4 in Company D, 
23rd Battalion for twenty nine months. His service was in Central 
Europe, primarily in France, England, and Germany.
  Mr. Hatton served as a light tank crewman and was a driver. The light 
tank crew's job was to find the enemy and then draw fire for the big 
tanks. Mr. Hatton drove the lead tank directly behind the unit 
commander. He and his fellow crewmen took turns sleeping in the tanks 
while on guard duty. They went without hot meals for days at a time, 
ate C-rations, and sometimes visited nearby farms for eggs when they 
felt safe from enemy fire. Like many of his fellow soldiers, Hatton 
witnessed the horrors of war. He saw tanks get hit resulting in fires 
that killed all inside. He recovered bodies of dead American soldiers 
and some of these bodies had been desecrated by wild animals. He saw a 
Colonel's head get blown off. Hatton served our country admirably and 
bravely.
  Mr. Hatton survived his service and returned home February 14, 1946. 
He and his late wife were married for sixty six years. He has six 
children, fourteen grandchildren, twenty great grandchildren, and three 
great great grandchildren.
  The bravery of Mr. Hatton and his fellow men and women of the United 
States Army is heroic. Because of the courage of individuals from Clark 
County and from all across our great nation, our freedoms have been 
saved for our generation and for future generations. He is truly an 
outstanding American, a patriot, and a hero to us all.

                          ____________________