[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 109 (Friday, June 28, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H4428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CELEBRATING CULLEN EDDIE CHALKER'S 100TH BIRTHDAY

  (Mr. RUTHERFORD asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RUTHERFORD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Mr. Cullen 
Eddie Chalker of Jacksonville, Florida, on the occasion of his 100th 
birthday and to congratulate him for his many years of dedicated 
service in the United States Navy and on the Jacksonville Fire 
Department.
  Mr. Chalker was born on July 10, 1924, in Fernandina Beach, Florida. 
At 17 years old, he enlisted in the United States Navy just months 
before the attack on Pearl Harbor. After 4 years of service to our 
country, he was discharged on April 6, 1946, as a seaman first class, 
aviation mechanics mate, U.S. Navy Reserve.
  Shortly after completing his military service, Mr. Chalker joined the 
Jacksonville Fire Department as an entry-level fire private, eventually 
rising through the ranks to the position of district fire chief.
  Not long after joining the Jacksonville Fire Department, he met the 
love of his life, Illa ``Dubie'' Mae. The two were married in April 
1949, and by 1952, they had saved up enough money to buy a home on 
Fourth Avenue North in Jacksonville Beach, a home that Mr. Chalker 
still lives in 72 years later. Sadly, after 64 years of marriage, Mrs. 
Chalker passed away in 2013.
  I congratulate him on his milestone 100 years.

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