[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24159]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM E. POTTS FOR FAITHFUL SERVICE TO STATE 
                               AND NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LINCOLN DAVIS

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 27, 2005

  Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, during a ceremony on November 
11, 2005 in Columbia, Tennessee, the late Major General William E. 
Potts will be recognized for his service to his state and nation. The 
Veteran's Plaza on the grounds of the Maury County Courthouse will be 
named the Major General William E. Potts Veterans Memorial Plaza, with 
a plaque placed as a permanent memorial to his memory.-
  General Potts was born December 9, 1935 in Nashville. He later moved 
to Columbia with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Madden Potts. General 
Potts graduated from Columbia Central High School and Vanderbilt 
University. Having played football in high school and college he helped 
his Commodores defeat Auburn in the 1955 Gator Bowl.
  Upon graduation from Vanderbilt in 1958, General Potts was 
commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He studied Turkish 
at the Army's language school and graduated from both the Command and 
General Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. 
He also earned a master's degree in public administration from Middle 
Tennessee State University.
  General Potts was company commander of the 801st Maintenance 
Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, served as an adviser in Vietnam and 
Army Attache in Ankara, Turkey, and battalion commander of the 702nd 
Maintenance Battalion, Second Infantry Division in Korea. After being 
assigned to the Pentagon he was made Deputy Commanding General for 
research and development, Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal in 
Huntsville before assuming command of the Army's Ordnance Center and 
School at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
  General Potts passed away February 29, 2004 at Walter Reed Army 
Hospital, and was buried with full military honors in Arlington 
National Cemetery.
  In attendance for the November 11th ceremony will be General Potts's 
wife, Peggy; his sons, Colonel Gary Potts, who is currently serving in 
Afghanistan, Neil Potts, a former Army Captain, Airborne Ranger, 
Special Forces, now a restaurateur in Dallas, and their respective 
families. The General's only surviving sibling, Irene Morris of 
Columbia, will also be in attendance.
  The ceremony will include color guards from the Vanderbilt University 
Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, the Tennessee State Guard, Spring 
Hill Junior Army ROTC and the Columbia Central Junior Navy ROTC.

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