[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 22, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H2938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RECOGNIZING OZZIE FLETCHER

  (Ms. MALLIOTAKIS asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. MALLIOTAKIS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to tell the story of Ozzie 
Fletcher.
  Seventy-seven years ago, on D-day, June 6, 1944, 22-year-old Osceola 
``Ozzie'' Fletcher was working as an Army crane operator on Omaha Beach 
when he was hit by a German missile, leaving him with serious wounds on 
his leg and head.
  Despite the injuries he sustained that day, Ozzie was overlooked, in 
fact, denied a Purple Heart simply because of the color of his skin. At 
the time, our forces were segregated, where Black soldiers could not 
serve alongside White soldiers.
  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff learned of Ozzie's story, 
sending the Army on a 2-month-long fact-finding mission.
  This weekend I was honored to attend the ceremony at Fort Hamilton 
Army Base in my district in Brooklyn, New York, when an historic wrong 
was corrected and Ozzie was finally awarded the Purple Heart he earned 
more than seven decades ago, as the Nation observed Juneteenth. This 
recognition of Ozzie's service was long overdue.
  I have great and profound appreciation for his service during World 
War II and his acts of bravery on that fateful day that changed the 
course of our world's history.
  After the war, Ozzie served as a sergeant with the NYPD, a community 
relations officer in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, and later 
retired to become a social studies teacher in New York City public 
schools.
  Ozzie has spent his entire life giving back to our country and the 
residents of New York City, and I am happy to see him finally get the 
recognition he deserves.

                          ____________________