[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 177 (Wednesday, November 16, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RECOGNIZING OF THE 98TH BIRTHDAY OF THOMAS CLEVELAND

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                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 16, 2022

  Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
98th birthday of Thomas Cleveland.
  Thomas was born on October 6, 1923. He spent most of his life in 
Coosa County, Alabama, but was drafted in April of 1943 at the age of 
18. He went to basic training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. While there 
he was trained in demolition and experienced his first injury. The 
soldiers were training with TNT and a detonation cap exploded in his 
hand.
  After Camp Shelby, he was off to Camp Kilby, New Jersey, where he 
boarded a troop ship and headed to Birmingham, England. The trip across 
the ocean was 14 days and he was seasick for seven of those days 
recalling the ship rocking back and forth sending him to the deck to 
hang his head.
  Once across the English Channel, he landed on the beaches in 
Normandy, France, during the second wave of the invasion. It was there 
he was shot in the shoulder resulting in his first Purple Heart. When 
he went into the U.S. Army, his mother had given him a small Bible with 
a metal cover to carry with him. Even today, the Bible has blood stains 
from the shoulder wound. The bullet is still in his shoulder.
  During the Battle of the Bulge, he received another injury and the 
second Purple Heart.
  When asked what he remembers most about War World II, he tells of 
constantly advancing on the enemy and being separated from his unit 
when they encountered Germans. Once reunited with his unit, only four 
soldiers were left in his squad. This is when he received a battle-
field promotion from the rank of private first class to sergeant.
  Three years after being drafted, the war was over for Thomas and he 
went back to the United States at Fort Lewis, Washington, to be 
discharged. After a train ride from Washington to Birmingham, Alabama, 
he took a taxi back to Hanover, Alabama, where he continues to live 
today.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in recognizing Thomas and wishing him a 
very happy 98th birthday. I thank him for his service to our country.

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