[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 67 (Monday, April 19, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF WALTER GANN

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                            HON. TRENT KELLY

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 19, 2021

  Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate 
the life and service of Corporal Walter Gann, an American hero and an 
outstanding representation of the state of Mississippi.
  Walter Gann was born on January 31, 1922 to John and Mary Rogers 
Gann. He spent the first eighteen years of his life in Calhoun City, 
Mississippi. Only July 3, 1941 he joined the United States Army Air 
Forces in Jackson, Mississippi and was soon deployed to the 
Philippines. At eighteen years old Walter faced attack by the Japanese 
Imperial Army. After several months of battle with minimal food, 
supplies, and medical care, the American soldiers were forced to 
surrender; the Bataan Death March began on April 9, 1942. Corporal 
Gann, enduring shrapnel wounds and malnutrition, marched 65 miles in 
the blistering heat.
  It is believed Corporal Gann arrived at Fukuoka POW Camp No. 1 on 
Kyushu Island where he faced barbaric treatment from Japanese guards. 
He was eventually transported to Japan; Gann and his fellow soldiers 
stood shoulder to shoulder on the Japanese hell ship. Men died by the 
dozens of suffocation, starvation, and dysentery. In Japan, Corporal 
Gann was a POW for three and a half years.
  Corporal Gann was released upon American Victory and was immediately 
treated in a Washington hospital before returning home. His family 
rejoiced to see him alive and safe. He was called to testify in the war 
crime trials following WWII but could not attend because he was 
hospitalized. For the remainder of his life Corporal Gann bore the 
weight of all he had witnessed.
  In 1949 Walter moved to Booneville, Mississippi and married Juanita 
Goddard. Together they raised four children. In August of 1963 his wife 
passed, and in November of that year his son was killed in a motorcycle 
accident. In 1970 he moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee until his death on 
October 14, 1980. He was laid to rest at Crossroads cemetery in 
Jumpertown, Mississippi with his wife and son.
  In the course of his life Corporal Gann was awarded the Good Conduct 
Medal, a Purple Heart, the WWII Victory Medal, an A.P. Theater Medal 
with 1 Bronze Star, the American Defense Medal with 1 Bronze Star, and 
the Philippine Liberation Medal with 1 Bronze Star. He also received a 
letter from President Harry S. Truman thanking him for his service to 
the United States.
  I am grateful for the service of Corporal Walter Gann and admire his 
commitment to faith, family, and country.

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