[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1004]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                          DEATH OF REUBEN LAW

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, my native State of Nevada has always honored 
the brave men and women who fight to defend our Nation's freedom.
  We have in Nevada a higher percentage of veterans than any other 
state except Alaska. We are fiercely proud of them, and we recognize 
that we owe them a tremendous debt.
  So today, on behalf of all Nevadans, I rise to honor the life and 
memory of Reuben Law, who died on New Year's Day in Carson City at the 
age of 106.
  He was a veteran of the First World War . . . one of 4.7 million who 
served in that conflict.
  He was the last surviving Nevada resident who served in that war . . 
. and one of fewer than 200 surviving World War I veterans in the 
Nation.
  Reuben Law grew up in Minnesota. He was working at a Ford plant in 
Minneapolis, assembling Model-T Fords, when he as a teenager enlisted 
in the Army.
  He almost died before he ever set foot in Europe. The great influenza 
epidemic of 1918 was raging, and the flu claimed the lives of more than 
60 soldiers on the transport ship that carried him to France.
  But Reuben survived, and he served as an Army sergeant in eastern 
France in 1918 and 1919, transporting supplies and wounded soldiers to 
a military hospital.
  Reuben and some of his buddies celebrated the end of the war by 
piling into a truck and riding to the nearby town of Allerey. He would 
later recall that every girl they passed gave them a kiss, because 
everyone was so elated.
  World War I was a horrible, bloody conflict. It was supposed to be 
``the war to end all wars.'' But only two decades later, the Second 
World War broke out.
  Once again, Reuben Law stepped forward. He tried to re-enlist in the 
Army, but he was in his early 40s, and officers told him he was too 
old. So he spent World War II as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard 
Auxiliary, piloting patrol boats on the Mississippi River.
  Between the wars, and after World War II, he had returned to live in 
his native Minnesota. He moved to Nevada in 1993.
  Even then, Reuben Law wasn't through living. In his mid 90s, he went 
for rides in a hot air balloon, and he drove a car until he was 101.
  Reuben Law spent most of his career working in the Minnesota parks 
department and a landscape architecture firm. In both jobs, he was able 
to spend a lot of time outdoors, which he cited as one reason for his 
longevity and good health.
  He also claimed that he had good genes--and I suppose he was right, 
since his mother and one of his aunts lived to be 109.
  Reuben was married twice . . . and he was twice a widower. He was the 
father of four children.
  In my home State, we celebrate each October 31 as Nevada Day. Last 
October, Reuben Law was a special guest in the Nevada Day parade in 
Carson City.
  Not too long ago, when he was asked about his remarkable life, Reuben 
quoted a saying from his favorite coffee cup:

       I guess I've seen it all, I've heard it all, I've done it 
     all, I just can't remember it all.

  Reuben Law couldn't remember everything he did in his long, storied 
life . . . but the people of Nevada will never forget his brave 
service.
  In remembering him, we renew our commitment to honor each one of the 
brave men and women who put our Nation's security and freedom above 
their personal interests.

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