[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 82 (Tuesday, May 16, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING CAPT. KATHRYN BONNER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DIANA HARSHBARGER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 16, 2023

  Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my constituent 
Captain Kathryn Esther Bonner of Sevierville, Tennessee for her heroic 
service. Last year, I came to know Captain Bonner when I had the 
pleasure of honoring her personally at our First Congressional 
District's Veteran Pin Ceremony of Honor in Sevier County.
  In 1967, Captain Bonner reported to Officer Training in Newport, 
Rhode Island as an Ensign Nurse Corps officer for the United States 
Navy. Upon completion of her training, she reported to Camp LeJeune 
Marine Corps base in North Carolina. There, she first cared for the 
many wounded Marines returning from the Vietnam War and began her 
lifelong love and respect for the Marine Corps.
  In November 1969, Captain Bonner was assigned to her next duty 
station, aboard the USS Sanctuary AH-17, a vessel responsible for 
patrolling the waters off the coast of Hue, Vietnam. While aboard, she 
administered round-the-clock care to badly wounded service personnel, 
many arriving straight from the battlefield and rice paddies, as well 
civilian Vietnamese patients. Every day, she lived and worked in 
constant vigilance as she was always within feet of the wards where the 
wounded lay. A welcome break in the testing routine, she recollects 
fondly the visit from Bob Hope, Connie Stevens, and Neil Armstrong, who 
just a few months earlier had walked on the moon, on Christmas Eve 
1969.
  Captain Bonner served at many stations of duty over her extensive 
military career to include the Fleet Naval Hospital Comm Z14 
Jacksonville and the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in 
Washington, D.C., among others. Her retirement from active-duty service 
in 1971 did not end her call to service as she continued her career as 
a Nurse in the United States Air Force Reserves. In that role, she 
completed flight nurse training and helped bring wounded Marines back 
home from the 1983 Beirut Barracks Bombing. In 1988, she returned to 
the Navy as a Reservist and served with distinction until her formal 
retirement in June of 2003, after 26 years of military service. Captain 
Bonner received several awards and commendations during her career, 
including the Meritorious Service Medal, 3 Navy Commendation Medals, 2 
Air Force Commendation Medals, and the Navy and Marine Corps 
Achievement Medal. She was also selected as the Outstanding Nurse of 
the Year 3 times in her Air Force Reserve units time of service and 
once as her numbered Air Force Nurse of the year. Please join me to 
recognize American hero, Captain Bonner and thank her for her selfless, 
courageous military service to our Nation.

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