[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 83 (Wednesday, May 25, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H3101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
  TSGT VIRGIL POE, UNITED STATES ARMY: CHARTER MEMBER OF THE GREATEST 
                               GENERATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, born in the 1920s, he grew up in the 
Depression of the 1930s, poor, like more most rural American children. 
Fresh vegetables were grown in the family garden behind the small frame 
house. His mother made sandwiches for school out of homemade bread. 
Store-bought bread was for the rich.
  He grew up belonging to the Boy Scouts, playing the trumpet in the 
high school band, and he went to church on almost all Sundays. In 1944, 
this 18-year-old country boy, who had never been more than 50 miles 
from home, quickly found himself going through basic training at the 
United States Army at Camp Wolters in Camp Wolters, Texas.
  After that, he rode a train with hundreds of other young teenagers--
American males--to New York City for the ocean trip on a cramped 
Liberty ship to fight in the great World War II. While crossing the 
Atlantic, he witnessed another Liberty ship next to his that was sunk 
by a German U-boat.
  As a soldier in the Seventh Army, he went from France to survive the 
Battle of the Bulge and through the cities of Aachen, Stuttgart, 
Cologne, and Bonn. As a teenager, he saw the brutal concentration camps 
of the Nazis and saw the victims. He saw incredible numbers of other 
teenage Americans buried in graves throughout Europe. A solemn monument 
to those soldiers is at Normandy.
  After Germany surrendered, he was ordered back to Fort Hood, Texas. 
He was being reequipped for the invasion of Japan. Then Japan 
surrendered. It was there he met Mom at a Wednesday night prayer 
meeting service. My mom was a Red Cross volunteer in WWII.
  Until a few years ago, this GI--my dad--would never talk about World 
War II. He still won't say much, but he does say frequently that the 
heroes are the ones who are buried today in Europe.
  After the war was over, he opened a DX service station, where he 
pumped gas, sold tires, fixed cars, and began a family. Deciding he 
wanted to go to college, he moved to west Texas and enrolled in a small 
Christian college named Abilene Christian College.
  He and his wife and two small children lived in an old, converted 
Army barracks with other such families. He supported us by working 
nights at the KRBC radio station and by climbing telephone poles for Ma 
Bell, which was later called Southwestern Bell.
  He finished college, became an engineer, and worked 40-plus years for 
Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in Houston, Texas. He turned down a 
promotion and a transfer to New York City because it was not Texas and 
he didn't want to raise his family in New York.
  Dad instilled in my sister and me the values of being a neighbor to 
everybody, of loving the USA, of loving our heritage, and of always 
doing the right thing to all people.
  He still gets mad at the media. He flies Old Glory on holidays. He 
goes to church on Sunday, and he takes Mom out to eat on Friday nights. 
He stands in the front yard and talks to his neighbors, and he can 
still fix anything.
  He can still mow his own grass even though he is 90 years of age. He 
has a strong opinion on politics and world events. He gives plenty of 
advice to everybody, including a lot of advice to me. He has two 
computers in his home office. He sends emails to hundreds of his 
buddies all over the world.
  Dad and Mom still live in Houston, Texas, where I grew up.
  So today, Mr. Speaker, as we approach Memorial Day and honor the 
fallen warriors of all wars, we also honor all who fought in the great 
World War II and who got to come home. We honor my dad, but also other 
American warriors.
  My dad was one of those individuals of the Greatest Generation. He is 
the best man I ever met, and he certainly is a charter member of the 
Greatest Generation. So I hope I turn out like him, Tech Sergeant 
Virgil Poe, United States Army, good man, good father. That is enough 
for one life.
  And that is just the way it is.

                          ____________________