[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 7, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E156-E157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         TRIBUTE TO DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL RICHARD ``KIRK'' BOWDEN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 7, 2018

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the late 
Memphis native Richard K. ``Kirk'' Bowden, a deputy U.S. marshal who 
protected some of the most important Civil Rights pioneers of the 
1960s. Mr. Bowden was one of a small group who protected James Meredith 
when he travelled off campus after integrating the University of 
Mississippi in 1962. Bowden later guarded Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
during the 1963 March on Washington at which he delivered his ``I Have 
A Dream'' speech.
  Mr. Bowden died January 20 at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He 
was 82.
  Mr. Bowden was a graduate of Douglass High School in Memphis and 
attended what is now LeMoyne-Owen College before joining the U.S. Air 
Force criminal investigations division from 1954 to 1958. He served as 
an officer with the Washington, D.C., Police Department before joining 
the Marshals Service, from which he retired in 1987. He later returned 
on contract until 2017.
  I met Mr. Bowden several times through the years at Douglass alumni 
events and appreciated his professionalism and commitment to the 
Douglass Red Devils.
  I wish to pay my respects to Mr. Bowden and thank his family for his 
long and dedicated service to his community, his country and Douglass 
High.

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