[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 187 (Thursday, November 21, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING LIEUTENANT THOMAS EVERT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SAM GRAVES

                              of MISSOURI

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 21, 2019

  Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I want to recognize today that 
former Congressman Petri's father, LT Thomas Evert, the pilot, and the 
crew of U.S. Navy Plane No. 63917 will be posthumously awarded medals 
for their heroic actions in the sinking of a German U-boat off the 
coast of the Bahamas in World War II. On August 7, 1943, U.S. Navy 
plane No. 63917, a U.S. Navy PB4Y Liberator Bomber of Bombing Squadron 
105 (VB-105) piloted by Lt. Thomas Evert, USNR, successfully located 
German U-boat 84 and, after a four-and-a-half-hour engagement at close 
quarters in the face of hostile enemy fire, sank the submarine.
  Prior to this action, German U-boat 84, a type VIIB Boat, was 
deployed off the coast of the Bahamas and the east coast of Florida. 
Hundreds of Allied naval vessels as well as, over 3,000 Allied merchant 
vessels were destroyed resulting in the deaths of over 70,000 aviators 
and seamen during the Battle of the Atlantic. As with all U-boats, the 
presence of U-boat 84 posed a serious threat to Allied war efforts in 
the western hemisphere.
  Following their heroic efforts, Lt. Evert and his crew, as well as 
plane No. 63917 were reassigned to the United Kingdom. On October 22, 
1943, Lt. Evert and his crew, along with the Bomber, went down after an 
aerial engagement with a German Blohm & Voss BV 222 Viking off the 
Atlantic coast of Europe.
  Though long-delayed, the pilot and crew of U.S. Navy plane No. 63917 
will receive the following posthumous awards:
  LT Thomas Rudolph Evert, pilot: The Distinguished Flying Cross
  LT David William Emmet, co-pilot: The Air Medal
  ENS James O'Hara, second pilot: The Air Medal
  ENS Edward J. Ellis, navigator, bombardier: The Air Medal
  AMM1 Kendall L. Dungey, crown turret gunner: The Air Medal
  AMM2 Karl J. Bertram, port waist gunner: The Air Medal
  ARM2 John F. Wagner, radio operator: The Air Medal
  ARM3 James T. Goble, radio operator: The Air Medal
  AOM3 Raymond 0. Haines, bow lookout, bow gunner: The Air Medal
  AMMC3 Edwin Emery Winship, tail turret gunner: The Air Medal
  In April 2018, I joined former Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastrncture Chairman Shuster, current Chairman Defazio, Congressman 
Duncan Hunter, Congressman John Garamendi, and former Congressman Frank 
LoBiondo in urging the Navy to approve these awards. These awards are 
well deserved, and I am pleased to congratulate former Congressman 
Petri and the families of all the crew members of the PB4Y Liberator 
Bomber on receiving them.

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