[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 188 (Tuesday, October 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                     TRIBUTE TO DR. KRISTAPS KEGGI

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I rise today to honor Dr. Kristaps 
Keggi. Dr. Keggi is the epitome of the American dream. He was born in 
Riga, Latvia, and survived World War II as a child. He escaped 
communism on a refugee ship to immigrate to the United States. When he 
landed on the docks of Manhattan, he would go on to finish high school 
and attend college and medical school. He graduated from Yale 
University in 1955 and from Yale University School of Medicine in 1959.
  Eight years after he arrived in the U.S., he raised his right hand 
and volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army. He joined the U.S. Army 
Medical Service and Medical Corps. Dr. Keggi served as the orthopedic 
surgery chief in the Third Mobile Army Surgical Hospital--MASH--in 
Vietnam from September 1965 to June 1966. This was the first MASH unit 
stood up and the first to deploy to Vietnam. The 3rd MASH supported the 
173rd Airborne Brigade, the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions, and 
countless other units. He left the Army with the rank of captain. He is 
a life member of the Veterans of Foreign of Wars.
  Dr. Keggi's service did not stop after Vietnam. His battlefield 
experience sharpened his skills. He would go on to train generations of 
orthopedic surgeons and win worldwide acclaim for orthopedic education 
and innovation. I credit much of my success as an orthopedic surgeon 
and in life to training under Dr. Keggi.
  Dr. Keggi is the founder and the president of the Keggi Orthopedic 
Foundation and Orthopedic Exchange Program between the United States 
and the former Soviet Republics. This program has fostered hundreds of 
fellows in exchanges in Latvia and Russia. He even mentored the former 
President of Latvia who was a fellow orthopedic surgeon.
  He holds memberships in many scholarly societies such as American 
Orthopedic Association, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 
American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, Society for Arthritic 
Joint Surgery, and Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, just to 
highlight a few.
  He has published over 135 scholarly articles on orthopedic medical 
treatments. He was the senior author of the seminal American Academy of 
Orthopedic Surgeons Instructional Course on ``Early Care of Severe War 
Wounds'' on how battlefield wounds should be treated. He pioneered and 
popularized the less invasive anterior surgical approach used for total 
hip replacement. Dr. Keggi has been recognized by Best Doctors in 
America starting in 1996. He was named in America's Top Surgeons in 
2009 through 2017.
  Dr. Keggi has volunteered for many charitable endeavors and has been 
recognized globally for his contributions to medical science and 
humanity. He was honored by his hometown of Waterbury, CT, and the 
Waterbury Veterans Memorial Committee for his lifetime of service 
working with and treating patients with the wounds of war. In 2020, Dr. 
Keggi was inducted into the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame.
  Dr. Keggi's service embodies everything our country stands for. Every 
opportunity he has been given in the U.S., he has given back in full. 
My wife Bobbi and I thank him today for his life of service to our 
military, our veterans, and our Nation.

                          ____________________