[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 153 (Thursday, September 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H8248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SERGEANT DONALD BURGETT POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. RUSSELL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on Oversight and Government Reform be discharged from further 
consideration of the bill (H.R. 6020) to designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 325 South Michigan Avenue in 
Howell, Michigan, as the ``Sergeant Donald Burgett Post Office 
Building'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oklahoma?
  There was no objection.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6020

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SERGEANT DONALD BURGETT POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 325 South Michigan Avenue in Howell, 
     Michigan, shall be known and designated as the ``Sergeant 
     Donald Burgett Post Office Building''.
       (b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
     document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
     facility referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be 
     a reference to the ``Sergeant Donald Burgett Post Office 
     Building''.
  Mr. BISHOP of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of my 
legislation, H R. 6020, a bill to rename the Howell Post Office after a 
local, and really a national, hero: Sergeant Donald Burgett.
  Mr. Donald Burgett was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 25, 1925. 
On his 18th birthday he followed in his brother's footsteps and joined 
the Army. He joined the newly formed paratroop company and became a 
member of the famous 101st Airborne. Assigned to A Company, he fought 
in battles throughout the European Theatre.
  His story is quite simply amazing. He dropped over 12 miles away from 
his drop zone at just after one in the morning. He fought in the battle 
at Ravenoville in a little village along the coast of Normandy, where 
he was among the group of Americans that liberated the first village in 
Europe--and this was all before sunrise that day. From there, he fought 
in battles all down the coastline, being attacked by the Germans at 
every turn and even being attacked by Russian cavalry at one point on 
his way to Carentan where he was wounded twice in action.
  After surviving Normandy, Mr. Burgett went on to fight in Operation 
Market-Graden in Holland and survive the bitterly cold siege of 
Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Sergeant Burgett returned to 
the States on January 1, 1946--at the age of just 20 years old. After 
the war, Sergeant Burgett picked up flying, became a pilot and visited 
all the states in his own plane. He married his wife in 1953, and they 
had 5 children which they raised in Howell, MI.
  He was a very active member of his community, including extensive 
service with the VFW, American Legion, and Disabled American Veterans. 
He authored four books which gave firsthand accounts of the 
paratroopers' experience in WWII. The first of that series was 
``Currahee!: A Screaming Eagle at Normandy'', which was endorsed by 
President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He also wrote ``The Road to Arnhem: A 
Screaming Eagle in Holland'', ``Seven Roads to Hell: A Screaming Eagle 
at Bastogne'', and ``Beyond the Rhine: A Screaming Eagle in Germany''.
  Mr. Burgett passed away on March 23, 2017, at the age of 91. As a 
lifelong Michigander, Mr. Burgett was truly a member of the ``Greatest 
Generation'' and he spent a great deal of time making sure the efforts 
of his comrades would be known and remembered. I ask all my colleagues 
to join me in honoring his life and his service to the country by 
making sure his name and legacy lives on in his community.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read 
the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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