[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 10449-10450]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE MEMORY OF FALLEN HEROES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 13, 2002

  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, on Dec. 16, 1944, on a snowy battlefield known 
as ``Hill 88'' near the Belgian border with Germany, the Battle of the 
Bulge began. As the German army advanced, heavy casualties were 
sustained by the U.S. Army's 99th Division, Company C, forcing 
surviving G.l.'s to leave fallen comrades behind in shallow graves with 
only dog tags, sticks, and weapons to mark them. These soldiers were 
lost, but not forgotten, and after 57 years, six of the more than 
thirty soldiers designated as Missing in Action after the battle will 
be given the honor they deserve after sacrificing their lives for their 
country.
  I want to recognize the extraordinary effort by veterans from the 
battle and a group of Belgian nationals, who worked together to find 
the remains of six MIA's. This search has spanned across several 
generations. In September of 1988, two young Belgians, Jean-Louis Seel 
and Philippe Speder, were digging in the Ardennes Forest when they 
discovered the remains of Private First Class Alphonse Sito of 
Baltimore, Maryland. This prompted William Warnock to compile a list of 
the 33 missing soldiers, which was published in the 99th Division 
Association news letter by Dick Byers, a seminal member of the 99th 
Division. Based on mail and data they received, Byers and Warnock 
prepared a map pinpointing the location where they believed the remains 
of Second Lieutenant L.O. Holloway could be found. After a two-day 
search in November 1990, Seel and Speder were successful in recovering 
Holloway's remains. His remains were returned to Texas at the Fort Sam 
Houston National Cemetery in September 1991.
  The Holloway case convinced Vernon Swanson of Deerfield, Illinois, 
that the remains of his ``foxhole buddy,'' Jack Beckwith, could be 
found. Swanson enlisted the cooperation of a wartime cohort, Byron 
Witmarsh, and set about the task of recovering the remains of their 
fallen comrades. Hoping to find Beckwith's remains, Swanson and 
Witmarsh joined forces with Byers, Seel, Speder, and Warnock in 1991. 
The group pored over records in the National Archives, the National 
Personnel Records Center, and the U.S. Army History Institute. An old 
map of the grave sites was found in Beckwith's Army file, however, an 
aerial photograph discovered in the National Archives proved to be the 
critical piece of information. It showed ``88 Hill'' in December 1944, 
from which Bill Warnock identified a grouping of trees where the grave 
sites were. Warnock then transferred the locations of the graves to 
modern topographic maps and the Belgians were on the hunt again for the 
remains. In April 2001, Seel decided to search an area that, to his 
amazement, turned up a dog tag which marked the grave site of Private 
David A. Read. Seel returned with Speder and two other members of the 
Belgian search team, Marc Marique and Luc Menestrey. On April 17, the 
remains of Jack Beckwith, Saul Kokotovich, and David Read were found. 
Over the next two days the Belgian search team labored to exhume the 
remains. Each of the dead was found with a single dog tag around his 
neck, rotted clothing, and boots. David Roth of the U.S. Army Mortuary 
Affairs activity was contacted and took possession of the remains to 
complete the official identification process.
  Vernon Swanson vowed to someday return to recover the remains of his 
friend, Private

[[Page 10450]]

Jack Beckwith. Over the years he made many inquiries to fellow veterans 
of the battle, organized an international search team, and succeeded in 
finding lost soldiers in a forgotten corner of a vast woodland in 
Belgium. During the months of June and July the remains of all six 
comrades will find their final resting place in a cemetery of their 
families' choice. On June 8, 2002, burial ceremonies were held in Ada, 
Oklahoma for Private First Class Ewing Fidler. On Saturday, June 22, 
2002 the remains of Private First Class Jack Beckwith, Private First 
Class Saul Kokotovich, and Sergeant Frederick Zimmerman will be laid to 
rest in the American Military Cemetery in Henri Chapelle, Belgium. 
Private First Class David Read will be buried in Arlington National 
Cemetery on July 18. Private First Class Stanley Larson will be 
returned to Rochelle, Illinois on July 22. I want to offer my thanks to 
the Department of Casualty and Mortuary Affairs and the American Battle 
Monuments Commission for their efforts, without which none of this 
would have been possible. I also want to honor the search team of the 
U.S. Army's 99th Infantry Division and the Belgian ``Diggers'' for 
their dedication and hard work in honoring the memory of these brave 
soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of the freedoms 
we enjoy. Above all, I want to thank Vernon Swanson for his 
determination not to leave his brothers-in-arms behind on the 
battlefield. His service and that of his comrades are the reason why we 
live in a free society today.

                          ____________________