[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 166 (Wednesday, October 8, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S7040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MARY HAJEK NUGENT

  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I am about to list several things which 
are all kind of unique. A 102-year-old woman--kind of unique--who is a 
naval veteran, a female naval veteran, who is now 102 and she is a 
Louisianan and she exemplifies the best of our State: hard work, 
service, and faith.
  She turned--Mary Hajek Nugent--turned 102 years young this month. 
Born on a farm near Libuse, LA, Mary has always been a hard worker. She 
grew up tending vegetable gardens, a fruit orchard, and farm animals 
before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, building planes at a bomber plant, 
and serving as a parachute rigger.
  For some reason, if I were a guy using a parachute, I would rather 
have a woman rigging it for me rather than some guy. I don't know why. 
But I think she would have been more attuned to the detail of making 
sure that when that ripcord was pulled, the guy using it landed slowly 
and softly and not (motioning).
  After World War II, she returned to central Louisiana and devoted her 
time and talents to the tuberculosis unit at Pineville Veterans 
Hospital. She later worked at the downtown Alexandria Veterans Affairs 
office, where she met her husband Robert Nugent.
  I am told Mrs. Nugent still greets people with a warm smile and has a 
deep appreciation for nature. Perhaps her habit of looking for the good 
in everything and in everyone is the secret to a long life, something 
we in Washington should adopt.
  As a longtime member of Calvary Baptist Church, Mary's faith is 
strong, and she still wakes up every day with a smile and words of 
thanksgiving.
  Mary, thank you for your service to our country and State. You have 
made Louisiana and our country a better place for 102 years. You 
inspire; you bless; you make Louisiana proud. Happy birthday.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.

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