[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 122 (Monday, July 17, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E684-E685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING FRANK WHITE

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. ABIGAIL DAVIS SPANBERGER

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 17, 2023

  Ms. SPANBERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Mr. Frank Manuel 
White, a poet and veteran from Stafford, Virginia.
  Frank wrote his first poem at the young age of 12. His love for 
writing poetry carried over into adulthood and was woven into his life 
and military career. Frank served in the U.S. Air Force for a total of 
26 years, from 1957 to 1983. He served as an officer for 10 of those 
years. During and after his time in the military, Frank penned poems 
during his free time, often on weekends and evenings. These poems give 
us a glimpse into his life, his thoughts, and his surroundings.
  Frank's poems were published in 2022 in a book titled ``Frank's 
Homespun Poems from the Heart: A Country Boy's Poetry.'' Some of the 
poems included are poems he penned for his now wife, Dorothy, along 
with her responses to him. The poems exchanged between Dorothy and 
Frank are a reminder of their long-distance courtship--the poems were 
sent while Frank was stationed at Ft. Eustis, Virginia and MacDill Air 
Force Base in Tampa, Florida and Dorothy lived in North Carolina. These 
lovely poems served as their main way of correspondence and are lasting 
evidence of their love and commitment to one another.
  In June of 2019, Frank composed a work titled ``TEXAS JUNETEENTH EPIC 
POEM.'' This poem tells the story of how Juneteenth came to be, and it 
details history that we must not forget.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Mr. Frank 
Manuel White for his service to our country and for his contributions 
to keeping the history of our nation alive through his poetry.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish to include in the Record Mr. White's poem, so 
future generations of Americans can access his poetry for years to 
come.

                       Texas Juneteenth Epic Poem

     Mr. Thomas Jefferson wrote in Seventeen Seventy-six
     Words which have survived for ages, addressing a problem to 
           fix.
     ``All men are created equal'' were his words to the British 
           Crown,
     ``But the way you are treating us, has caused us to do more 
           than frown.''

     So the colonies fought a war, which General Washington led,
     Everyone knows the end results, colonies won, British fled.
     But then Thomas Jefferson's words were cast aside put on a 
           shelf.
     They only applied to those men, who looked like Jefferson 
           himself.

     So Slavery kept on keeping on, in this land called the USA,
     The issue had to be resolved, another time, another day.
     Then in eighteen sixty one, Abe Lincoln was the president,
     War broke out between North and South, now guess what that 
           was all about?

     An issue of human control, had once more risen to the top,
     ABE Lincoln told his staff and aides, ``This war and slavery 
           got to stop.''

[[Page E685]]

     ABE wrote a famous document, willing to set many slaves free,
     The first day of the first month of the year, Eighteen Sixty-
           three.

     Emancipation Proclamation, was the name of that document,
     But some folks did not get the word, until long after it was 
           sent.
     Like all those folks in Southern States, hoping one day to be 
           free,
     Many did not get their freedom, until the surrender of Lee.

     Members of the 25th Army Corps, on May 25, 1865,
     Boarded Steam Ships at City Point, VA for a long boat ride.
     They were headed to that Lone Star State, carrying news for a 
           minority Race,
     The war was over, slaves were free, still they were 
           encouraged to remain in place.

     June 19th, Eighteen Sixty-five, via General Order Number 
           Three,
     Slaves in Galveston got the word, the war over they were 
           free.
     Those enslaved remembered that day, they celebrated far and 
           wide,
     And Juneteenth is what they called it, celebrating that day 
           with pride.
     ----Frank M. White

                          ____________________