[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 113 (Wednesday, July 13, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5077-S5078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO GARY BOOTH

 Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, today, I wish to honor Gary Booth, 
a lifelong resident of Billings, Montana, and a decorated Vietnam 
veteran.
  I ask that the remarks that I made in Montana at a ceremony honoring 
Gary Booth be printed in the Record.
  The material follows:

       Gary, on behalf of myself, my fellow Montanans, and my 
     fellow Americans, I would like to extend our deepest 
     gratitude for your service to this nation.
       Gary was born on July 25, 1944, in St. Anthony, Idaho, to 
     Francis and Fern Booth. He was welcomed by his older brother 
     Edwin, and joined by his younger brother William shortly 
     thereafter. His father Francis bought, sold, and transported 
     produce all across the west--an occupation that brought the 
     family to Billings in 1948.
       So Billings became the town that Gary grew up in, attending 
     the Lockwood School from grades 1-9, before graduating from 
     Billings Senior High in 1962.
       After high school, he tried his hand at fanning and auto 
     repair, before going back into the family trucking 
     businesses. But he wasn't settled long before he got the 
     call; it was September 30th of 1965 and he was being called 
     for duty.
       Gary answered the call, but stuck to his principles, 
     enlisting as a conscientious objector. This meant he would 
     protect and serve, while forgoing the aid of a firearm. So he 
     was shipped off to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, 
     where he went through basic training, as well as an 
     additional 10 weeks of advance medic training. After that, he 
     joined the Fourth Infantry Division at Fort Louis, in Tacoma, 
     Washington, where he continued to train until his comrades 
     shipped out from Seattle in June of 1966.
       He and the rest of the Fourth Infantry Division reached the 
     eastern coast of Vietnam about a month later, in late July, 
     arriving at the Port of Qui Nhon (QUINN-YAWN). From there 
     they trekked more than a hundred miles to the west-coast city 
     of Pleiku (PLAY-COO), which would serve as their base of 
     operations as they patrolled the dense jungle spanning the 
     border between Cambodia and Vietnam.
       This was in November, and for the next few months Gary and 
     his fellow soldiers cycled through weeks of search and 
     destroy missions in the jungles of Pleiku, punctuated by 
     brief stints back at the larger artillery base, where they 
     kept watch and took whatever opportunity they could to 
     ``rest.''
       It was towards the end of the day, during one of these 
     search and destroy missions, when the sun was about to set, 
     that Gary and his comrades came across an open clearing in 
     the jungle where they decided to set up camp for the night.
       It was now February, months had passed since their arrival, 
     and they had fallen into a routine. Part of the company would 
     stay back and set up camp for the night, while a few 
     soldiers--known as ``OP's''--took up observation posts, and 
     two patrol squads headed out to secure a 100-yard perimeter 
     around the clearance.
       Before the soldiers disbursed, Gary gave everyone a 
     prodigious reminder. ``If anyone needs me,'' he yelled, 
     ``holler `Doc,' instead of `Medic.'' This was because the 
     North Vietnamese had figured out what ``medic'' meant, making 
     the soldier who responded to that call instant high-value 
     targets.
       With that, the soldiers set off. But just minutes later, a 
     familiar sound rang out. It was the click of a gun being 
     chambered, the only warning the patrol squad received before 
     being ambushed by a battalion four times their size.
       The basecamp was soon under fire and as the machine gunners 
     took up arms, the others soldiers sought cover behind a 
     sparse line of trees. About 10 minutes into the firefight one 
     of the machine gunners called for help; his weapon had been 
     hit by enemy fire, dislocating the barrel of his gun and 
     propelling shrapnel into his right shoulder.
       Under heavy fire, Gary ran to the his fellow soldier's aid, 
     bandaging his wounds as the gunner used his bare hand to hold 
     the barrel of his broken gun in place and return enemy fire. 
     After Gary had finished bandaging the gunner's shoulder, he 
     tied another bandage around the gun to help steady the barrel 
     and protect the gunner's hand from the intense heat.
       Once Gary made his way back to the trees, another soldier 
     began calling for help. This time it was an OP who had been 
     shot in the lower back as he was returning from his 
     observation post. Gary yelled at the man--who had stopped 
     about 50 yards away from him--to take cover behind his tree, 
     but the soldier was too injured to move.
       So with bullets raining down and mortar bombs going off 
     around him, Gary directed the nearest machine gunners to give 
     him cover as he ran head first into the line of fire to 
     retrieve his fallen comrade. Gary slung the injured man over 
     his back and ran for cover. Once the pair was back behind the 
     trees, Gary went to work bandaging the man's wounds and, once 
     he got the bleeding to stop, called for help to get the man 
     back to basecamp.
       About 10 minutes later, Gary was called upon again. The 
     machine gunner with the broken barrel had now taken a bullet 
     to the foot. So Gary ran over and was tending to the wound 
     when, all of a sudden, he felt a sharp pain pierce his left 
     leg. He had taken a bullet directly to the femur. His leg was 
     broken so, finding himself immobilized, Gary called for his 
     fellow soldiers to get help.
       There were a total of five medics dispersed among the 
     platoon, so his comrades pulled him off to the perimeter of 
     the basecamp while he waited for a fellow medic to arrive. 
     The canopy was so dense that air support couldn't reach the 
     camp by helicopter, so the medic put a splint around Gary's 
     leg and covered him with a poncho. All he could do now was 
     wait out the fight. When the fighting finally subsided the 
     next morning, Gary's poncho was covered in shrapnel and 
     debris, but he was still alive.
       The U.S. had prevailed, but only after eight soldiers had 
     died and 39 more were wounded. Even more would die if the 
     wounded weren't evacuated quickly, so the soldiers went to 
     work clearing space for air support to land. Every soldier 
     carried with him a small amount of C-4, usually in the band 
     of their sock. Each individual's piece was then collected and 
     combined to make an explosive large enough to blow a hole 
     through the jungle's thick canopy.
       Finally, after surviving hours under siege--without ever 
     setting hands on a firearm--Gary was air lifted out of the 
     battle

[[Page S5078]]

     zone to the nearest base. From there he was shipped off to 
     the Philippines, where he was confined to a body cast for 
     about a week before being transferred to an army hospital in 
     Japan. Gary spent the next three months recovering in Japan, 
     with the help of his younger brother who, in a twist of fate, 
     had been stationed as a medic at the very same place.
       Eventually, Gary returned to Fort Louis in Tacoma, 
     Washington, where he spent almost a year learning how to walk 
     again. Once he recovered, Gary was medically discharged from 
     the army with 60% disability. He returned to Billings, went 
     into business with his father, and spent the next 43 years in 
     the trucking industry.
       Gary has been married to his wife Ellen, a fellow Billings 
     native, for 42 years and together they raised their son 
     Christopher, who Gary adopted when he was just three years 
     old. Christopher and his wife Gale now have two sons of their 
     own, making Gary a proud grandfather to Christopher 
     Murphree--who served in Afghanistan as a member of the 
     National Guard--and Donovan Arnold, a boy scout whose troop 
     conducted a beautiful flag ceremony here today.
       The family all still lives in Billings, where Gary 
     volunteers at his local VFW post--Mark Curtis #6774. He and a 
     group of fellow veterans perform flag ceremonies and 21 Gun 
     Salutes at military funerals throughout the county. Gary has 
     performed at nearly two dozen military funerals since joining 
     the group in January.
       I now have the profound honor of presenting Gary with his 
     own set of military honors. For his courage and valor in 
     battle, Gary Booth received the:
     Purple Heart
     Bronze Star Medal
     Good Conduct Medal
     Combat Medic Badge 1st award
     Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon w/Device
     Vietnamese Service Medal with 1 bronze service star
     National Defense Service Medal
       Gary, these medals serve as a small token of our country's 
     appreciation for your incredible service and profound 
     sacrifice.
       You are a true American hero. Thank you so much for your 
     service.

                          ____________________