[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2504]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO LYMAN HUBBARD, SR.

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last year, we lost a great American from 
my hometown of Springfield, IL, and I rise today to pay tribute to him 
and his legacy.
  Lyman Hubbard, Sr., grew up on a small farm near Springfield that had 
been in his family for 165 years--long enough that at one point the 
family's lawyer for the land was a local attorney named Abraham 
Lincoln.
  In high school, Mr. Hubbard was a member of the National Honor 
Society, ran track, and played basketball and football. I have heard 
someone who knew him at the time say that he was ``the best athlete in 
Springfield.'' And he was an Eagle Scout.
  During World War II, before he had even graduated from high school, 
he signed up to serve his country in the Air Force.
  When he graduated from pilot training, he became the only person from 
Springfield to join the Tuskegee Airmen the first African-American 
military aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces. From there, he fought for 
both our Nation and for racial equality. He logged more than 7,000 
hours of flight time in the course of his multitour career, flying 
planes from the B-25 bomber to the EC-121 Super Constellation. He flew 
them well and became a leader among his peers, ultimately earning a 
Bronze Star, an Air Medal with oak leaf clusters, the Air Force 
Commendation Medal, and a Vietnamese Honor Medal. Lyman Hubbard 
accomplished all of this despite the well-documented discrimination 
that the Tuskegee Airmen faced.
  The people of Springfield, and all of us, owe a great deal to Lyman 
Hubbard, Sr., not just for his exceptional valor in combat but also for 
his devotion to preserving the history of the city of Springfield.
  When the Lincoln Colored Home, one of the first African-American 
orphanages in the United States and a historic property, was at risk of 
being destroyed, Mr. Hubbard purchased the home outright to save it and 
planned to turn it into a community center.
  While we may have lost Lyman Hubbard, Sr., his legacy lives on.
  Just last week, it was announced that his sons will donate a 
collection of their father's medals, badges, and photographs so that we 
can all have a chance to see them.
  They will be displayed at the Abraham Lincoln Capitol Airport in 
Springfield, and I hope that those of us who can will take the time to 
see them and reflect on the life and heroism of Lyman Hubbard, Sr.
  I know I will.

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