[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24120]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 24120]]

 TRIBUTE TO ROLLIN ``RUFFY'' JOHNSON ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT 
             AS A VFW ASSISTANT DEPARTMENT SERVICE OFFICER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 5, 2001

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to a 
U.S. military veteran--a special veteran, one who after completing his 
own tour of duty has spent a career providing assistance to other 
veterans. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Rollin ``Ruffy'' Johnson on the 
occasion of his retirement as a Veterans of Foreign Wars assistant 
state service officer for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
  It is conventional wisdom that no person in any organization--and 
that includes you and I, Mr. Speaker--is truly irreplaceable, but 
Michigan veterans may look long and hard before they come up with an 
individual who has worked and battled so hard for the rights for our 
former military men and women as Ruffy Johnson has. I guess that, in 
Ruffy's case, his work on behalf of veterans blends innate Yooper 
cussedness with the personal style of a person who has claimed that his 
nickname ``Ruffy'' comes from his early days of enjoying a good fight. 
If you combine those characteristics with the important task of 
fighting for veterans' benefits, you know you have a mixture that can 
make people at the Department of Veterans Affairs sit up and listen.
  After graduating in 1951 from Negaunee High School in Michigan's 
U.P., Ruffy enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving the first two years on 
the destroyer U.S.S. Beale and two more years at a base in the 
Mediterranean. His four-year hitch completed, he returned to the U.P. 
and was one of the first dozen civilians hired at K.I. Sawyer, a 
Strategic Air Command Base near Marquette, which is now closed. 
Following his Sawyer job he worked for a number of years for the U.S. 
Post office, but he took the job that really concerns us here in 1988, 
when he accepted a position with the Department of Michigan Veterans of 
Foreign Wars as an assistant state service officer in Detroit.
  At least one Detroit colleague remembers Ruffy arriving from the U.P. 
with his wife Doreen in their pickup truck, and that colleague recalls 
checking to see if there was a hunting rifle in the rear window. Doreen 
remembers there was no gun, but she believes the rack was probably 
there.
  Mr. Speaker, I said that Rolling Johnson was a fighter for veterans. 
An example of his tenacity is what occurred after Ruffy learned that 
veterans were being pressed for the co-payments of their prescription 
drugs. He inquired about the appeal process and was told by the VA the 
there was no appeal. Well, Mr. Speaker, the VA had tangled with the 
wrong guy, and through the tenacity of Ruffy Johnson a national appeal 
process was established.
  Ruffy was transferred from Detroit back to the U.P. in 1992. His 
initial veterans' service area was the eastern U.P. but by the end of 
the decade he was assisting across the Upper Peninsula. I know what's 
involved in that effort, Mr. Speaker, because I have put more than five 
hundred thousand miles in driving around my congressional district. 
Ruffy has clearly been up to the task, serving above and beyond the 
call of duty by going to every convention and every meeting that 
involved veterans. He was instrumental in creating a program to name a 
U.P. Veteran of the Year, and he has been active as a judge in those 
great VFW programs, Voice of Democracy and National Youth Essay.
  Ruffy has held numerous positions at his own local post, Negaunee's 
Post 3165, including serving as post commander in 1980-81. He is 
currently 14th District Junior Vice Commander.
  Ruffy has counseled widows of veterans on the benefits they are due, 
fought to keep veterans in nursing homes, and helped process myriad 
claims for deserving former military individuals. All his great 
attributes aside, however, Ruffy has one blind spot. Maybe it was those 
years in Detroit, but despite the advice of friends, despite the wishes 
of his own children, he remains a Detroit Lions fan in the heart of 
Green Bay Packer country. We'll forgive him this flaw.
  Mr. Speaker, on Dec. 8, Ruffy Johnson will be honored by friends, 
peers, his wife of 45 years, his career-Army son, and two of his three 
daughters who are able to make it, at a gathering in Ishpeming, 
Michigan, I ask you and my House colleagues to join me in saluting 
Rollin ``Ruffy'' Johnson, a true friend of veterans in northern 
Michigan.

                          ____________________