[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 2819-2820]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO MR. LEROY RICHARD ARCHIBLE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 28, 2011

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, in honor of Black History Month 2011, I 
rise today to offer praise and thanks to a man I have known for more 
than forty years; a man who first learned about service during the 
Korean War as a United States Marine; and then spent the next half 
century in service to his community in the Bronx. I speak of a man of 
action as well as conscience, but most of all, a trusted friend, Mr. 
Leroy Richard Archible.
  Mr. Archible, better known as ``Arch,'' was born in Memphis, 
Tennessee in July 1931. He attended high school in Louisville, 
Kentucky, before enlisting in the United States Marines. Arch served in 
the Marines for 10 years, from 1950-1960; and in Korea from 1951-1953. 
A decorated soldier, Arch was awarded the Korean Service Medal with 4 
Bronze Stars, the National Defense Service Medal, a Korean President 
Unit Citation, a United Nations Service Medal, and a Good Conduct Medal 
with 2 Bronze Stars.
  After his discharge, Arch migrated to the Bronx, New York. His 
community involvement began as a Youth Employment Counselor and Sports 
Director at the Morrisania Youth and Community Services Center. He 
joined Community Board 3 and was appointed 1st Vice Chairperson, in 
addition to Chairperson of the Parks & Recreation and Historical 
Research Committees. Arch has worked for the Mayor's Office Of Veterans 
Affairs under the Honorable Abe Beame; and served on the Institutional 
Review Board of Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center. Most recently, Arch was 
appointed by the Governor of New York to serve on the statewide 
Veterans Affairs Commission.
  In addition, for the better part of three decades, Arch has acted as 
a local historian of African American history in the Bronx. He has 
traveled across the borough archiving stories and historical documents 
which help to illustrate the African American experience in the Bronx, 
beginning from the early 20th century. This preservation work has 
always been carried out at Arch's own expense, to insure this important 
legacy is not lost.

[[Page 2820]]

  It is Arch's work with the community of veterans, however, for which 
he is most well known. Three years ago, Arch helped to lead an effort 
to have the remains of a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient from 
the Bronx given proper burial at Arlington National Cemetery. Cornelius 
H. Charlton was posthumously awarded our nation's highest military 
honor for bravery during the Korean War He was killed in 1951 but his 
body was not laid to rest at Arlington. In November 2008, Arch, along 
with members of Sgt. Charlton's family and several veterans from the 
Bronx VA, oversaw the reinterring of Sgt. Charlton's body into 
Arlington National Cemetery. As a result, Arch and the dedicated group 
who championed this effort formed The Friends of Charlton Garden, a 
Bronx-based 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that advocates for 
veterans affairs. Arch serves as Co-Chair of The Friends of Charlton 
Garden, and is a member of several other veterans groups, including The 
American Legion Mitchell-Royal Post 1905, and the Bronx Chapter of the 
National Association of Black Veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, after so many years of helping others, Leroy Archible 
has earned the gratitude of more people than he could possibly know. If 
you were to ask him, however, Arch would tell you that his proudest 
moments have come as a husband to Ella, a father, and as a grandfather. 
Arch has been the heartbeat of so much good during his life; he is 
accomplished in work; respected among peers; and brave in all things. 
Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in paying tribute to Mr. 
Leroy Richard Archible.

                          ____________________