[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 24, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7254-H7255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING WAR HERO TOM ``PINKY'' FUNDERBURK

  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 a man who is part 
of the Greatest Generation, Tom ``Pinky'' Funderburk of Rock Hill, 
South Carolina.
  Mr. Funderburk has been awarded the French Legion of Honor. Pinky 
flew B-17 bombers, known as the Flying Fortress, with the Mighty 8th 
United States Air Force during World War II.
  The Legion of Honor was established by Napoleon in 1802 as the 
highest French order of merit for military and civil merits.
  The first dangerous missions for which Pinky was awarded the Legion 
of Honor took place on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of April 1945 over 
Royan, France. His crew's mission was to bomb the 30,000 encamped 
German troops concentrated around Royan on the coast of France.

[[Page H7255]]

  One day, they approached their target from an altitude of 25,000 feet 
and noticed an absence of antiaircraft activity in the skies, so they 
dropped down to 17,000 feet. The formation circled three times to drop 
their bombs more accurately when a small flare used to follow bombs to 
their targets ignited in their bomb bay, filling the aircraft with 
thick, sooty smoke that covered all the windows.
  Fearing they were hit by ground fire, the crew grabbed their 
parachutes and prepared to abandon their plane over enemy territory. 
Before jumping out, the crew made one last check to see if the pilots 
were able to make it out safely. They yelled through the intercom to 
see if they were coming but received no reply. Just as they were ready 
to bail out, copilot Funderburk yelled out, ``Wait.''
  The smoke was so thick that the pilots were worried about crashing 
into the other planes in the formation and were too busy flying the 
plane and clearing the smoke to worry about bailing out. The pilots 
were able to clear the smoke and fly the airplane and crew safely back 
to their home base.
  The final mission took Pinky deep into enemy territory into 
Horsching, Austria, where French prisoners of war had recently been 
liberated from a POW camp. Pinky's crew reconfigured their B-17 bomber 
to carry 31 prisoners of war back to Paris and their homeland.
  Mr. Speaker, for these heroic duties and his selfless service, Pinky 
Funderburk honors all South Carolinians, and I am proud to recognize 
him today for receiving the prestigious French Legion of Honor.

                          ____________________