[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17597]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING WORLD WAR II VETERAN ALBERT BROWN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JERRY F. COSTELLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 15, 2010

  Mr. COSTELLO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to 
join me in honoring Mr. Albert Brown, a World War II veteran and Bataan 
Death March survivor who, after celebrating his 105th birthday on 
October 26, is reported to be the oldest living veteran of World War 
II.
  Albert Brown was born in North Platte, Nebraska, in 1905. After his 
father was killed in a railroad explosion, Albert's family moved to 
Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he was a four-letter athlete in high school 
as well as a member of the ROTC. Albert went to Creighton University 
where he again excelled in athletics, continued his ROTC training and 
received a degree in dentistry.
  In the late 1930's, as the world was preparing for war and Albert 
Brown was raising his family and building his dental practice, he 
received the call to report for active military duty. After training 
recruits at different army bases in the U.S., Albert shipped off to the 
Philippines in 1941, just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was 
with the force of nearly 70,000 Allied troops that surrendered to the 
Japanese in Bataan and he became part of the infamous Bataan Death 
March.
  One of Albert's personal recollections of the Death March was when he 
faltered and wound up at the back of the line of prisoners. A Japanese 
soldier bayoneted him in the buttocks and ordered him to speed up. 
After this, and witnessing what happened to others who could not keep 
the pace, Albert said he never got near the end of the line again.
  After surviving the Death March, Albert was put on one of the ships 
bound for POW internment on mainland Japan. While in transport, the 
prisoners were again deprived of nutrition, water and medical 
treatment. Albert survived the transport and would spend the remainder 
of the war as a prisoner of war. During this time, in addition to 
withstanding bitter cold and lack of nutrition, Albert described 
routine beatings at the hands of his captors. Albert was once struck 
with the butt of a rifle, causing fractures in his neck and back. 
Medical treatment was not an option, so Albert was forced to heal on 
his own until he was physically able to resume labor.
  After the Japanese surrender, Albert came home to the U.S. and spent 
two years in a hospital where doctors treated an assortment of medical 
ailments resulting from his years in captivity. On discharge, one of 
the doctors told him to go home and enjoy himself because he would 
surely never see 50. At 105, Albert Brown, who now makes his home in 
Pinckneyville, Illinois, not only proved that doctor wrong but stands 
as a remarkable example of indomitable human spirit and survival under 
the most dire of circumstances.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in an expression of 
appreciation to Mr. Albert Brown for his dedication and tremendous 
sacrifice in service to his country and to wish him the very best in 
the future.

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