[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 24, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING AIR FORCE VETERANS BARRY AND DORIS RICE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DIANA HARSHBARGER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 24, 2023

  Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my constituents, 
U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Barry Rice from Jacksonville, 
Alabama, and U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Doris Kimery Rice, a native 
of Greeneville, Tennessee for their distinguished military and civil 
service. They both joined the Air Force at the end of the Vietnam War.
  The couple met in technical school at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, 
Colorado in 1974. After technical school, they went to their respective 
assignments of Robins Air Force Base in Georgia and Grand Forks Air 
Force Base in North Dakota. TSgt Rice served as an avionics specialist, 
repairing radio and communication equipment; while SrA Rice served as a 
supply troop where she processed materials for arrival and departure.
  They were married in November 1974 and after assistance from U.S. 
Senator John Sparkman of Alabama, they attained a joint spouse 
assignment at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. They then served 
together at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. SrA Rice 
completed her four years of enlistment and rejoined the civilian 
sector. She later pursued a vocation in elementary education when her 
children became school age. The family was assigned to Eglin AFB, in 
Fort Walton Beach, Florida where they worked and served for 14 years. 
During this timeframe, TSgt Rice pulled a remote assignment to Keflavik 
NAS, Iceland, and Saudi Arabia during the First Gulf War.
  After TSgt Rice's retirement from military service, he worked as a 
computer specialist for a publishing company in Murfreesboro, TN. 
During the Yugoslav Wars, the couple served as relief volunteers, where 
they aided refugees resettling in Nashville. TSgt Rice then decided to 
join the U.S. State Department Foreign Service. The Rice family lived 
in the Washington, D.C. area with assignments to the countries of 
Zambia, Cyprus, Israel, and Lesotho, where TSgt Rice worked for the 
diplomatic corps, while SrA Rice volunteered at soup kitchens, unwed 
mothers' houses, crisis pregnancy centers, and local missions. They are 
now retired and continue to serve others in their hometown of 
Greeneville, Tennessee. Please join me in honoring TSgt and SrA Rice 
for their long careers of service to our Nation.

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