[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11652-11653]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO JOSEPH HENRY WASHINGTON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MELVIN L. WATT

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 16, 2006

  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as Chair of the Congressional 
Black Caucus, to pay tribute to a fallen American hero. Joseph Henry 
Washington passed away on June 13, 2006. He was not well known beyond 
his Charleston, South Carolina community, but he represents so many 
unsung African American heroes who courageously defended America in the 
armed forces at a time when this country was denying their civil 
rights.
  Joe Washington was a survivor of Pearl Harbor. His life was an 
ordinary one, but on December 7, 1941, it became extraordinary.
  Mr. Washington was the youngest son of Isaac and Elvira Delura 
McCants Washington. After his father's death, his mother struggled to 
raise her two young boys by ``taking in washing'' for wealthy 
Charleston residents. Despite the hardships, no one wanted young Joe to 
leave home and join the Navy. Yet he was determined to see the world, 
and his mother gave permission for her son to fulfill his dream.
  Navy recruiting officers welcomed young Joe. However, he quickly 
learned that the only place for men of color was as a Mess Attendant 
for Naval officers. Still he boarded a train for Raleigh, North 
Carolina and took the oath to dutifully serve his country. On August 9, 
1937, Joe Washington reported for Basic Training in Norfolk, Virginia. 
In just three short months, he was prepared for his first assignment in 
the Ward Room on the USS Arizona. His initial duties included seeing to 
the needs of the ship's officers, including LCDR Commander Samuel G. 
Fuqua, a man Mr. Washington would later credit with saving many lives 
at Pearl Harbor.
  While serving on the USS Arizona, he attended the Cook and Stewards 
School, which was the only upwardly mobile field open to African 
Americans in the Navy. After completing the course, Mr. Washington was 
assigned to Steward's Duty and helped plan the meals.
  His time on the USS Arizona passed uneventfully until the ``day that 
will live in infamy.'' While on duty in the Ward Room, Joe Washington 
heard a big explosion and then alarms sounded. His first thought was 
this was a drill, but when bullets began hitting the decks he knew this 
was the real thing.
  Mr. Washington later recalled that a Japanese plane dropped a bomb 
right down the

[[Page 11653]]

smoke stack directly into the ammunition room resulting in a terrific 
explosion. He joined his fellow sailors in securing the ship by closing 
portholes in their section to keep out the water and bullets. Then he 
tried to return to his quarters and found the hatches closed and locked 
by those who had gone before. He made his way to the deck and found 
most of the crew there dead or badly burned. He went to work helping 
those he could. A lifeboat came to rescue some of the men. Mr. 
Washington escaped by wading to shore. He came through the bombing 
without a scratch, and was one of only two surviving African Americans 
on the ill-fated Arizona.
  Joe Washington spent two days at a hanger at Hickam Air Field in 
Washington. Yet because of his dedication to the Navy and his need to 
distract himself from the tragedy at Pearl Harbor, Mr. Washington 
volunteered to go back to work on the USS Oklahoma and the USS 
California.
  In November 1946, Mr. Washington was admirably discharged from Navy. 
Some twelve years later, he returned to Hawaii to appear with then-
retired Rear Admiral Fuqua on the popular television show ``This Is 
Your Life.'' During that visit, he returned to the site of the 
Arizona's remains and said a silent prayer. In a 1985 interview he 
recalled, ``I couldn't help thinking that I hope they didn't die in 
vain.''
  Joseph Washington spent the rest of his professional career as a 
government employee at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. He returned 
home to Charleston in the 1970s after retirement and became an active 
and faithful member of Morris Brown AME Church. He never spoke of the 
events of December 7, 1941 unless he was asked, yet when he did, he 
would always exclaim, ``It was a miracle that I came through the 
bombing. I was one of the lucky ones.''
  Joe Washington died last Tuesday at the age of 87, and will be buried 
in Charleston on Saturday. Mr. Washington never married. He leaves to 
mourn his passing a sister-in-law, and five beloved nieces including 
Emily E. Clyburn, the wife of our colleague Jim Clyburn.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me and members of 
the Congressional Black Caucus in remembering Joseph Henry Washington 
by saying that we are the lucky ones. We enjoy many freedoms today 
because men like him were willing to fight for their country even when 
they didn't enjoy the full benefit of what it meant to be an American. 
Because of Joe Washington and so many other unsung heroes, today our 
country is truly the home of the brave and the land of the free.

                          ____________________