[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 19, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                        HONORING LAVERNE PARRISH

  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, today I would like to honor the life and 
service of a distinguished Montanan and one of Montana's five World War 
II Medal of Honor recipients: Technician Fourth Grade Laverne Parrish.
  Laverne and his family moved to the Mission Valley of Montana in 
1934, and he graduated from Ronan High School in 1937. Never one to shy 
away from service or sacrifice, Laverne joined the Washington Army 
National Guard in the March of 1941, just months before the attack on 
Pearl Harbor. He served as a medical aidman in Company C of the 161st 
Infantry Regiment where he achieved the rank of technician fourth 
grade, the noncommissioned officer equivalent of sergeant.
  In August of 1942, his Army National Guard unit was activated and 
deployed to Hawaii for training. Soon after, his unit was mobilized and 
deployed to the Pacific Theater with the 25th Infantry Division. Known 
as ``Tropic Lightning'' for specializing in jungle warfare, his 
division saw combat in five different military campaigns, moving from 
Guadalcanal, to the Northern Solomon Islands, and eventually joining 
General MacArthur's campaign to recapture the Philippines.
  In January of 1945, his division landed on the island of Luzon in the 
Philippines. During heavy fighting in Binalonan, Laverne risked his 
life rushing onto the battlefield to bring in his wounded brother in 
arms to safety. While treating casualties, he noticed two wounded 
soldiers from his company still in the field. Without hesitation, he 
crawled back onto the battlefield amidst intense enemy fire to 
successfully rescue both men.
  Six days later, under withering enemy fire, Laverne's unit was 
ordered to withdraw to the cover of a ditch. Seeing two wounded 
soldiers unable to move, Laverne quickly left his position and pulled 
them to safety. In that same field, he also delivered aid to 12 
casualties, crossing and recrossing an open area raked by enemy fire in 
the process and finally bringing an additional three men who were 
critically wounded back to the unit.
  Shortly after treating nearly all 37 of the casualties suffered by 
his company, Laverne was mortally wounded by mortar fire and died on 
the battlefield, just 6 months before the war ended. He was 26 years 
old, and his body was returned to Montana, where he was laid to eternal 
rest at the Mountain View Cemetery in Ronan. While Laverne passed, the 
story of the heroic ``Montana Medic'' quickly spread through the 25th 
Infantry Division as they bravely carried on facing more continuous 
combat than any other Infantry Division in the 6th Army.
  Laverne pitted heroism and bravery against great odds, saving the 
lives of many of his fellow soldiers at the cost of his own. In honor 
of his incredible bravery and sacrifice, Laverne was awarded the Medal 
of Honor by President Harry S. Truman, our Nation's highest military 
awarded to the men and women in uniform who have gone above and beyond 
protecting our freedoms. He was one of just six medical corpsman to 
receive this honor in World War II, and the six were credited with 
saving the lives of more than 150 military personnel.
  In the fall of 1948, the town of Ronan came together to honor Laverne 
by naming the athletic field the Sergeant Laverne Parrish Memorial 
Field. Naming this field in Laverne's honor was a small token of our 
appreciation for his heroic service and sacrifice, but it ensured he 
will be remembered generation after generation in Ronan--and all across 
the Treasure State.
  Seventy-five years later, Laverne's memory lives on in each of us--in 
the freedoms of our children, our children's children, and right here 
with us on this football field.
  On behalf of myself and a grateful nation, I commend Mr. Laverne 
Parrish and extend our deepest appreciation to him. He is a true 
patriot who made Montana proud, and we will never forget him.
  Today and every day, let us remember that we are standing here today, 
in a free country, because of Laverne, the sacrifices he made, and the 
sacrifices of our military men and women have made every generation 
since.

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