[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 198 (Monday, November 15, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF PARACHUTE RIGGER PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS REBA 
                            ALEXANDER MONCUS

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 15, 2021

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor an 
extraordinary trailblazer, sailor, World War II veteran, and dedicated 
civil servant, Parachute Rigger Petty Officer 2nd Class (P/R 2) Reba 
Alexander Moncus, who was honored at Veterans Day Program for the 
American Legion Post 30 on November 11, 2021, at 8 a.m.
  Reba Alexander Moncus was born November 30, 1921, in Berrien County, 
Georgia, to the union of the late Mr. J.H. and Mrs. Lodia Alexander. As 
a family of sharecroppers during the Great Depression, the Alexanders 
often moved around, and with money being scarce, the only food they 
purchased was the food they could not grow on their own. Because her 
family could not afford to buy schoolbooks for her studies, Reba had to 
drop out of school in the third grade. It was not until Ed Rivers 
became Governor of Georgia, that the state began furnishing free 
schoolbooks, and Reba was able to return to her studies. She attended 
six different schools in a three-county area, before graduating from 
high school at the age of 21. After high school, she went to Thomaston, 
Georgia where she worked for Thomaston Mills, and after some time 
there, she realized that a life of drudgery working in a cotton mill 
was not the life she wanted to live.
  On March 10, 1943, Reba answered the call to serve her nation and 
enlisted in the newly formed U.S. NAVY WAVES (Women Appointed for 
Volunteer Emergency Services), the women's branch of the U.S. Navy, and 
was the first woman to be recruited from the Albany, Georgia area. Upon 
enlisting, she started basic training at Hunter College in New York 
along with 10,000 other women on July 15, 1943. After Basic she was 
assigned to the Recreation Department onboard Naval Air Station 
Anacostia, in Washington, D.C. Reba was adamant about wanting to serve 
her country in every capacity and wanting to contribute to the World 
War II efforts, and after battling with the Navy Bureau of Personnel 
for four months, she finally convinced them that she was capable of 
serving on the front lines. On January 1, 1944, Reba was assigned to 
Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey for training as a parachute 
rigger. On April l, 1944, upon completion of her training, she was sent 
to Naval Air Station (NAS) Melbourne, Florida, where new Naval Aviators 
were taught tactics, gunnery, and general flight prior to shipment 
overseas. During her tenure at NAS Melbourne, she was also able to 
participate in the drop test flights but, as one of two female riggers, 
she was not allowed to test jump chutes, as they were reserved only for 
the male riggers. Reba spent the most fulfilling days of her life, 
interrupted by moments of pure horror at Melbourne, as her duties 
included inspecting and repacking unused military parachutes and 
salvaging the hardware from burned parachutes, which included smelling 
the horrible stench of human flesh mixed with burnt aviation gas, oil, 
and everything involved with an airplane crash. She was later 
reassigned to NAS Opa Locka in November of 1944 and was released from 
active duty on November 24, 1945.
  Following her military service, she continued to serve her community 
and make an impact in the lives of others. Her contributions include 
serving her fellow Veterans as a member of the American Legion Post 30 
in Albany, Georgia and serving on the Honor Guard Burial Detail for 
more than two decades. Moreover, she urged her fellow vets and first 
responders suffering from the effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 
to seek help.
  Douglas Adams once said that ``To give real service you must add 
something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is 
sincerity and integrity.'' P/R 2 Reba Alexander Moncus has demonstrated 
through her career and life, outstanding achievement, service, and 
public distinction. Our community, our state, and our nation are better 
because of her.
  Reba accomplished much in her life, but none of it would have been 
possible without the Grace of God and the love and support of her 
family including her late husband, Albert Holton Harrell; and her 
children, and her grandchildren.
  Therefore, Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join my wife, 
Vivian, and me, along with the more than 730,000 residents of the 
Second Congressional District in honoring and commending Parachute 
Rigger Petty Officer 2nd Class (P/R 2) Reba Alexander Moncus for her 
outstanding service to her nation, community, and humankind.

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