[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2782]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  A TRIBUTE TO CORPORAL ALBERT BITTON

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 27, 2008

   Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to CPL Albert 
Bitton, who was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Iraq on 
February 20, 2008. Corporal Bitton joined the Army in December 2005 and 
bravely served as a medic in Iraq, where he had been stationed since 
October.
   Corporal Bitton, who grew up in West Rogers Park, was part of the 
1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st 
Airborne Division. He joined the Army to serve his country and to 
prepare himself to become a surgeon. Corporal Bitton was justifiably 
proud of his Army service. His friends report that he wore his uniform 
everywhere when he returned to Chicago on leave--even to the bowling 
alley and park.
   Corporal Bitton graduated in 2005 from Ida Crown Jewish Academy, 
where he was on the school wrestling team and enjoyed painting, 
drawing, and video games. His friends remember him as a scrawny tough 
kid with artistic talent. His classmates recall his sweet nature and 
how genuinely nice he was to everyone.
   Friends from as far away as Israel and Alaska have sent condolences 
to Bitton's wife, Melissa Handelman, his parents, Elie and Silvia, and 
his sisters, Jackie and Elizabeth. Last Wednesday night in New York, 
about 40 people who knew Bitton gathered at Yeshiva University for an 
impromptu memorial. The outpouring of emotion from those touched by 
Corporal Bitton's death is a testament to the lasting impression this 
exceptional young man left on those he met throughout his life.
   I offer my deepest sympathies to Melissa Handelman, Corporal 
Bitton's wife; his parents, Elie and Sylvia; and his sisters, Elizabeth 
and Jackie.

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