[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 28, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE SERVICE OF DR. GAYLE ALEXANDER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ANDY BARR

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 28, 2015

  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding 
individual, Dr. Gayle Alexander, of Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Alexander, 
a part of the greatest generation, served our nation in the United 
States Army.
  Alexander grew up with a love for airplanes. He got his pilot's 
license at the age of fifteen, after just a few lessons. Following the 
attack on Pearl Harbor, Alexander volunteered and was accepted 
immediately into the Army Air Corps as a pilot. He was assigned to be a 
flight instructor, training other pilots for combat flying.
  After two years, Dr. Alexander finally got his wish to be a part of 
combat and was sent to England to fly B-24 and B-17 bombers that hit 
targets in Nazi-held Europe on a daily basis. He named his plane the 
``Kentucky Kloudhopper''. Alexander spent much of the time flying a 
``Mickey ship'' equipped with special radar and led other bombers to 
their targets. On one mission, he and his crew barely made it back to 
England with 308 holes in their plane, two engines out, and part of the 
tail missing.
  On his nineteenth mission, Dr. Alexander led one of the biggest raids 
of the war, with 1,200 bombers attacking a German oil plant. His plane 
was blown to bits just moments after dropping its bombs. Alexander 
struggled to deploy his parachute, reached the ground, and was 
immediately captured. He spent seven long months in German POW camps, 
where he received virtually no medical care and endured bedbugs, 
starvation, bitter cold, and long distance marches. He and his fellow 
POWs were finally liberated on April 29, 1945 by General George Patton 
and his troops. Dr. Alexander returned home on a hospital ship, 
weighing barely 113 pounds.
  Dr. Alexander eventually recovered. He became a veterinarian and had 
a long and successful career in Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Alexander has 
shared a video of his war memories, his uniform, and other memorabilia 
with the American Air Museum in Duxford, England.
  The bravery of Dr. Alexander and his fellow men and women of the 
United States Army is heroic. Because of his courage and the courage of 
individuals from all across Kentucky and our great nation, our freedoms 
have been preserved for our generation and for future generations. He 
is truly an outstanding American, a patriot, and a hero to us all.

                          ____________________