[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING WANDA RAE POWELL OF DANVERS, ILLINOIS RECIPIENT OF THE 
                        CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DARIN LaHOOD

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 14, 2016

  Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to honor Wanda Rae 
Powell, a cadet volunteer in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II, 
for receiving the Congressional Gold Medal.
  Wanda Rae Powell was raised in Towanda, Illinois and had a love for 
aviation for as long as she can remember. As a child, Wanda's heroes 
included Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. Upon moving to Bell, 
California in 1944, Wanda served as a volunteer cadet in the Civil Air 
Patrol while still attending high school. As a cadet, she studied 
silhouettes of military airplanes and learned to salute, march, and 
drill. In the summer of 1945, Wanda served in a factory overseeing the 
manufacture of military life jackets.
  After graduating from high school, Wanda returned to Illinois and 
attended Illinois State University, known as Illinois State Normal 
University at the time, where she studied Home Economics. Because of a 
teaching shortage in 1949, Wanda earned an emergency teaching degree 
and taught in Central Illinois before returning to finish her degree at 
Illinois State. After receiving her degree in 1955, Wanda continued to 
serve the Central Illinois community by teaching at Danvers High 
School. Additionally, she served our community as a Brokaw Hospital 
volunteer, a Brownie Girl Scout leader, and in the Parent Teachers 
Association.
  I am honored, today, to recognize Wanda for receiving the 
Congressional Gold Medal. Since the age of seventeen, she has shown 
what it means to be a true American, serving her country in the Armed 
Forces, as an educator, and community volunteer. On behalf of the 18th 
District, I would like to thank her for her service, and wish her my 
sincerest congratulations on this much deserved award.

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