[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8489]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING ELMA F. BRITTINGHAM

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, it is with utmost respect and 
admiration that I rise today to acknowledge the contributions of a 
woman who, at the age of 99, has never tired of giving her all to her 
country and to the men and women of the Mill Creek Fire Company--Elma 
F. Brittingham of Marshallton, Delaware, affectionately known to 
everyone as ``Mom.'' On May 8, 1999, Mill Creek will honor her at its 
72nd Annual Dinner for 72 years of unmatched volunteer service to the 
Mill Creek Fire Company. Yes, Elma is a charter member of the Mill 
Creek Fire Company and she remains an institution in the Fire Hall.
  This well-deserved recognition is much less than I or anyone in 
Delaware could ever do to capture just how significant Elma's life has 
been to everyone with whom she has come in contact. Her legacy is 
etched in the memory of every fire service professional and volunteer 
in our State and her life continues to be an inspiration to all of us.
  While many remember Elma for her 50 years of preparing turkey dinners 
for the Annual Volunteer Fire Conference, or her playing Yen Man in the 
company minstrel show, she is most remembered for her work on the 
front-line, fighting fires under the most dangerous circumstances. The 
one she most vividly remembers was during World War II when she helped 
put out a fire at an old prison farm on Duncan Road in Wilmington 
during a thunder and lightning storm. With this same energy and vigor, 
Elma is as spirited today, five decades later, as she was more than a 
half-century ago.
  I know that there may be someone like Elma Brittingham in other 
States, but none can be more important to a community than this totally 
committed, selfless woman that I honor today. She is what we, as 
Americans, should aspire to be--a loyal public servant, an example of 
excellence and achievement in everything she has committed to 
accomplishing, and a credit to her community and to her country. I am 
deeply privileged to know this woman and proud to call her a heroic 
Delawarean and an outstanding American.

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