[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 160 (Thursday, September 27, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H9098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RECOGNIZING GROVER C. FEWOX

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. Norman) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of Grover 
C. Fewox, who died September 13, 2018.
  Mr. Fewox went to war at the age of 17. He was one of 16 million 
Americans who served in World War II. His wartime service was 
concentrated in the bloody ocean battlegrounds of the Pacific aboard 
the Sperry, a submarine tender and the first United States Navy ship to 
be launched after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
  His career began on April 29, 1942, as a seaman apprentice in the 
United States Navy. He was honorably discharged on December 13, 1963, 
as a senior chief torpedoman, after 21 years of dedicated service. 
While serving in the United States Navy, Mr. Fewox was awarded the 
National Defense Service Medal and seven Good Conduct Medals.
  Like so many others answering America's anxious calls to service, he 
found the experience of war to be rites of passage to manhood. He was 
never much for war stories, but he surely enjoyed a constancy of 
fellowship with his fellow travelers in organizations such as the Fleet 
Review Association and The American Legion.
  Mr. Fewox served in the Navy for 16 years after the war ended, and 
when he retired in 1962, he moved to Charleston to work at the naval 
weapons station. He had begun a second career of public service, and he 
and his wife, Neta, would raise three daughters in Hanahan, South 
Carolina.
  Mr. Fewox and Neta committed to their marriage in the early days of 
the war. He mailed her an engagement ring from a West Coast duty 
station. As the years passed, they had a date every day. It was a 
standing happy hour, of pause for undistractible table talk over 
refreshments of drinks and some snacks. It was a discipline that 
nurtures bonds; it was the practice of that love story that grew 
stronger after 72 years.
  Upon his retirement, he received a letter of appreciation from the 
commanding officer of the naval weapons station in Charleston, South 
Carolina. Among other things, the letter said:

       Your performance as an electronic mechanic was very 
     professional, as evidenced by a Sustained Superior 
     Performance Award and cash award for the period of June 5, 
     1967, through June 5, 1968, and again May 4, 1977, through 
     May 4, 1978. In addition, you have received numerous letters 
     of appreciation for superior performance and are a member of 
     the 1,000 Hours Sick Leave Club.
       Your attention to duty, cheerful cooperation, adaptability, 
     knowledge, and general attitude toward your work within the 
     Ordnance Department have been most praiseworthy. Your 
     contributions to the team effort of ``Service to the Fleet'' 
     and the resultant high quality of accomplishments are greatly 
     appreciated. Your dedicated service reflects great credit not 
     only to yourself but to the naval weapons station as well.
       As you complete your civil service career, allow me to add 
     my personal ``Thank you and well done.'' You can reminisce 
     with pride that you have given your best to the naval weapons 
     station in Charleston. I know that your fellow workers and 
     your many friends join me in wishing you and Mrs. Fewox the 
     blessings of a long, healthy, and happy retirement.

  It was signed D.M. Agnew, Commanding Officer of the naval weapons 
station.
  There are 7,200 World War II veterans still with us in South 
Carolina. Because of Mr. Fewox and others who made up the Greatest 
Generation, America won that horrible war and then led the rebuilding 
and reknitting of the world, kindling global trade patterns and 
commercial alliances. It was a postwar world order anchored by 
America's strength and determination to nurture freedom and human 
dignity.

  Undoubtedly, America is a better place because Mr. Fewox answered the 
call.

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