[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 135 (Friday, September 18, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                         SGT. RAYMOND J. KOOMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 18, 2015

  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Sergeant Raymond 
J. Kooman, who served bravely in World War II and survived as a 
prisoner of war in a German prison camp. Sgt. Kooman is being honored 
today at the 2015 POW/MIA Recognition Month Ceremony in Hackensack, NJ 
for his service.
  In 1942, Sgt. Raymond J. Kooman, son of Mr. and Mrs. S. Kooman, 
enlisted in the service at the age of 19, serving in the United States 
Army, 28th Infantry Keystone Division. The red keystone, official 
emblem of the State of Pennsylvania, is the official shoulder sleeve 
insignia of the 28th Division which was originally a Pennsylvania 
National Guard organization. The Germans called it the `Bloody Bucket' 
because of the blood-red keystone insignia and vicious fighting tactics 
during the Normandy Campaign. It was the 28th Infantry that paraded 
through the streets of Paris after the city's liberation. The division 
traces its history back to Benjamin Franklin's ``Battalions for 
Associators'' organized in 1747.
  In October 1943, Sgt. Kooman was deployed to the European 
battlefront. He had been in action since D-Day and served with 
reconnaissance patrols, and in attacks on enemy strongholds. He 
continued to serve as a rifleman with the infantry in the European 
Theatre. On September 14, 1944 Sgt. Kooman was wounded when a German 
sniper shot him in the leg. He recovered quickly from his injuries and 
three weeks later he was sent back into action. After five months of 
fighting in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, the 28th Infantry 
was deployed along a 25-mile stretch of the Our River, from 
northeastern Luxembourg to Wallenstein, Germany.
  On December 18, 1944, just three months after being injured, Sgt. 
Kooman was captured and taken prisoner by enemy German troops in 
Luxembourg. He was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and was 
eventually held as a POW in Stalag IV B in Germany. Sgt. Kooman weighed 
155 pounds when he enlisted and weighed only 80 pounds when he was 
liberated by British soldiers. He also fell ill to dysentery, as had 
all prisoners. However, somehow, Sgt. Kooman found the will to survive. 
He still carries the prisoner identification tag he was forced to wear. 
Sgt. Kooman describes his experience as such: ``We had 3,007 prisoners 
in our camp. Everybody slept on the floor in this prison. There were no 
beds and no toilets. There was nothing to eat--35 men to one loaf of 
bread. I never took my socks off, yet walked 800 miles in 35 days, the 
death march. I buried a lot of people, a lot of soldiers. Every day, I 
buried them.''
  After a year in captivity, he was eventually liberated by the British 
Army in 1945. His story of survival in the midst of so much agony is 
both inspirational and a snapshot of the true brutality of war.
  In recognition for his service in the U.S. Army, Sgt. Kooman received 
several military decorations: the Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal--1st 
Oak Leaf Cluster, World War II Victory Medal, ETO Campaign Medal, and 
the Bronze Arrowhead--Omaha Beach Assault.
  It is an honor for me to recognize Sgt. Raymond J. Kooman, who hails 
from the Borough of Little Ferry, which I am proud to represent within 
the 9th Congressional District of New Jersey.
  The job of a United States Congressman involves much that is 
rewarding, yet nothing compares to recognizing and commemorating the 
life and achievements of individuals such as Sgt. Raymond J. Kooman.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join our colleagues, Sgt. Kooman's family 
and friends, all those whose lives he has touched, and me, in 
recognizing the life and service of Sergeant Raymond J. Kooman.

                          ____________________