[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12547]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       HONORING WILLIAM H. WALKER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN SHIMKUS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 10, 1999

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to honor an 
individual who served our great Nation in war time, and served our 
children in peace. William H. Walker not only served our Nation as one 
of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, but also served as an educator at Lincoln 
Elementary School in Centralia, Illinois.
  The Illinois native from Carbondale passed away at age 83. During his 
life, he was a patriot and an inspiration to the civil rights movement, 
City of Centralia, and children of Lincoln Elementary School. Mr. 
Walker is also an inductee in the Centralia Historical Hall of Fame.
  Dan Griffin, Superintendent of the Centralia City School District in 
which William Walker served said of Mr. Walker, ``He was well-respected 
by the black community and white community alike, and by all educators. 
. . . The best way I can sum up Bill Walker is that he was a 
gentleman's gentleman.''
  I commend him on his life-time service to the Nation. His life should 
be a reminder to us all about what service to the Nation means.

                          ____________________