[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 25999]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO JOE PAPEZ

  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute and thanks to Joe 
Papez, Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army retired. Joe is a veteran of World 
War II. In fact, he is believed to be the oldest living Purple Heart 
recipient in the United States, and he is one of the brave men who 
answered the call of their country and who helped the ``greatest 
generation'' earn that title.
  Joe was injured three times during his stint in the Army, where he 
served in both Africa and Italy, in the campaigns of 1943 and 1944. He 
earned three Purple Hearts fighting in Casablanca, on the island of 
Sicily, and in Italy. But it was his last wound by a German artillery 
shell during the fierce fighting at Anzio, Italy, that earned him a 
free ticket back home.
  The way Joe tells the story, after he was wounded in Anzio, he was 
put on a ship and sent home, but he doesn't remember the trip. He woke 
up in Virginia. After a while, he was shipped to Denver, where he 
recovered in a hospital. Then he was shipped to Oregon and finally to 
Santa Barbara.
  When he finally got back on his feet, he kept on serving his country 
by caring for German prisoners of war in Utah, where he remained until 
the war was over.
  Following the war, Joe returned to Red Lodge, MT. Disabled from his 
war wounds, he was unable to get a job. He made a drawing for a 
homestead in Powell, WY, but was told he was too sick to have it. 
However, with help from his brothers and a bank loan, he got into 
farming and ranching.
  On December 19, Joe Papez will turn 100 years old or, should I say, 
100 years young. He will turn 100 in the same town in which he has 
lived for nearly his entire life. Although he was born in Franklin, KS, 
the State of Montana is proud to claim Joe as one of our own.
  Joe's family moved to Red Lodge when he was a year old. Residents of 
Red Lodge know he is a fixture in the town's Memorial Day parade, he is 
a regular in the Fourth of July parade, and even at his age, he marches 
in these parades to remember his brothers in arms with whom he served. 
And they will always remember him. Fittingly, the Billings chapter of 
the Military Order of the Purple Heart is named for Joe Papez.
  Joe is spry and healthy and said he would serve his country again if 
he could. Joe Papez has served his country and his community, and he 
has done it very well.
  So today we give thanks to him and Dorreen, and we pray for more 
folks just like Joe.
  I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
permitted to speak as in morning business for 10 minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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