[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 158 (Tuesday, September 25, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6296-S6297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Remembering John Abrams

  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I am here today to honor the life of 
GEN John Abrams--a father, a husband, a friend, a soldier, and to so 
many, a hero. He passed away last month at the age of 71 after spending 
more than half of his life in the U.S. Army.
  Rising from the son of a general to become himself a four-star 
general, John Abrams embodied the spirit of selflessness and of 
sacrifice for which our military is known. He spent his life fighting 
to defend the freedoms that we all too often take for granted. He was 
wounded in battle, returned to duty, and then wounded again, but he 
refused to let any injury deter him. He was a soldier's soldier from 
the very start, and those who knew him were made better by being in his 
orbit.
  He served in the Armed Forces for 36 years, first enlisting in 1966 
before becoming commissioned as an officer just 1 year later. He made 
it to four stars the hard way: by starting as a private--the lowest 
rank.
  Soon after he was commissioned, he deployed to Vietnam, where he 
served two consecutive tours and volunteered for a third before being 
sent home. Then, he was off to a Korean province just north of Seoul. 
After that, he went to Germany for five tours, serving in Hungary, 
Bosnia, and Kuwait as well--all this in service to his country, all in 
an effort to add to the greater good.
  He made history, becoming just the second American ever to command 
the same unit as his father when he was promoted to lieutenant general 
and tasked with commanding the V Corps in Germany--yes, that V Corps, 
the same unit that stormed the shores near Normandy and fought at Omaha 
Beach, that liberated Paris and took on the German troops during the 
Battle of the Bulge.
  His own heroism in Vietnam did not go unnoticed. He was decorated 
with a Silver Star and a Purple Heart. But he would tell you that his 
greatest decoration was that of being a father, a husband, and a leader 
of soldiers.
  He went on to lead the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, 
overseeing the Army's training in its entirety. He continued to rise in 
the ranks alongside his own brothers, one of whom just testified in 
front of the Senate today and is set to be confirmed as the next 
commander of U.S. Forces Korea.
  Looking back, it is little wonder where General Abrams' strength of 
character came from. His father served as the Army Chief of Staff, 
commanding all forces across Vietnam from 1968 through 1972. His mother 
founded the Army's chapter of the Arlington Ladies around that same 
time, organizing volunteers to attend funerals to make sure that no 
troop was ever buried alone. He combined his father's courage with his 
mother's compassion, and in the process, he made this Nation a better, 
safer place for the rest of us--for his children and their children and 
my children.
  He couldn't have done any of this without the loving support and 
service of his family, his wife Cecelia and his two daughters. As the 
quintessential

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military family, they served alongside of him. To each of them, I 
express my gratitude and that of this grateful Nation.
  My thoughts are with all of General Abrams' loved ones today, along 
with my deep gratitude. Thank you for sharing your father, your 
husband, your brother with the rest of this country that he served so 
valiantly for so long. God bless him and his legacy. God bless the 
troops he cared so deeply about and led so ably. God bless the United 
States of America.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.