[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 29736-29737]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       JERRY DAVIS, JR., TRIBUTE

 Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I come before my colleagues today 
to pay tribute to a dear friend, Jerry Davis, Jr. Jerry and I first met 
in the Army when we were stationed in New Jersey together before we 
headed to Vietnam. Jerry is a man with an extraordinary story and I am 
proud to be among his circle of friends.
  Jerry was born on January 2, 1925 in Terry, Louisiana--a humble 
beginning for a sharecropper's son destined for the cover of FORTUNE 
Magazine (October, 1975). Jerry was a man committed to a life of 
service and his family, his church, his community and his country. A 
generous, loving and forgiving spirit, a respect for order and 
tradition and a legendary helping hand were the hallmarks of his life.
  After graduating first in his class from the Magnolia Training 
School, he cut his formal education short , despite receiving a 
scholarship from Southern

[[Page 29737]]

University, by enlisting in the U.S. Army. Joining the all African-
American 94th Engineer Construction Battalion at the end of World War 
II, he began his military career as an enlisted man in Paris. Seven 
years later he completed Officer Training School in Fort Benning, 
Georgia and as a new 2nd Lieutenant was company commander in the Korean 
War. In 1967, he returned to combat as one of two African-American 
battalion commanders in Vietnam. After 26 years of distinguished 
service, Lieutenant Colonel Davis retired.
  From there, Jerry went on to accomplish many great things. Among them 
were, being Chairman of the Board of M.U.S.C.L.E.--a non-profit 
organization providing low income housing in Southwest Washington--and 
serving as a trustee for the retirement fund of the Washington Suburban 
Sanitation Commission. In the early 1970's, Jerry founded Unified 
Services Inc., a successful building service management company and was 
Chairman of the Board and CEO of Unibar Maintenance in Ann Arbor, 
Michigan. Jerry was also a delegate to the 1980 White House Conference 
on Small Business.
  While on a business trip to Portland, Oregon with a friend, he met 
Jean Cotton Simmons and swept her off her feet. They married and 
shortly after created a family whose dimensions extend miles beyond 
their shared hearth with a tradition of hospitality, humor and huge 
holiday celebrations.
  Jerry fills his free time with the sounds of Duke Ellington, Frank 
Sinatra and Miles Davis, and when his wife isn't looking, it's long 
cigars and the Redskins. And I can't forget our shared love of 
Westerns, especially ``Gunfight at the OK Corral.'' Countless people 
have had life defining moments with this ordinary man who produced 
extraordinary results, leaving behind an enduring legacy of living life 
to its unreasonable fullest. As Jerry and his family battle against his 
cancer, I applaud the courage and determination he has shown throughout 
his life.
  As George Bernard Shaw once said, ``The reasonable man adapts himself 
to the conditions that surround him. The unreasonable man adapts 
surrounding conditions to himself. Our progress depends on the 
unreasonable man.''

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