[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 173 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1682-E1683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF GENERAL JOHN ROGERS GALVIN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SETH MOULTON

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 1, 2015

  Mr. MOULTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of General 
John Rogers Galvin, who died on September 25 of this year at the age of 
86.
   Born in Wakefield, Massachusetts, General Galvin committed his life 
and career to defending and serving our country. As a child, he created 
the Pleasant Street Army to protect his neighborhood during World War 
II, served four years as an enlisted soldier in the Massachusetts Army 
National Guard, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 
1954, and served two tours in Vietnam as a brigade operations officer 
and battalion commander.
   General Galvin's forty-four year military career culminated in his 
service as the Supreme Allied Commander in Chief of U.S. European 
Command and NATO Commander in 1987 during the collapse of the Soviet 
Union and the end of the Cold War. During his tenure, General Galvin 
confronted the breakup of Yugoslavia, provided vital protection to 
Kurds in northern Iraq during the regime of Saddam Hussein, and 
transitioned NATO's military strategy from large-scale containment to

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small-conflict peacekeeping and counterinsurgency.
   Following his retirement from the military, General Galvin 
transitioned to academia, serving as the sixth dean of the Fletcher 
School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University from 1995 to 2000.
   He was considered a mentor to many of our country's leading national 
security and military experts, including a personal mentor of mine, 
General David Petraeus. General Galvin liked to say the word 
``impossible'' does not exist and often advised, ``it doesn't do any 
good to study all the books on leadership if you haven't studied 
yourself and know who you are.''
   I join the Wakefield community in recognizing General Galvin's 
achievements that will continue to inspire the next generation of 
leaders. His legacy lives on through his wife Virginia, his four 
daughters, and five grandchildren.

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