[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3932]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE LIFE OF TOM GRIFFIN

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, next to me is a photo of Doolittle Raider 
Tom Griffin's memorial service I recently attended in Green Township, 
Ohio. Tom Griffin was an inspiration to everyone who had the honor to 
know him. I had the great pleasure to meet with and talk to Tom many 
times over the years. We shared the podium quite often at Memorial Day 
services, for example, and at veterans' events all over the community.
  Tom was a man who literally lived history. In those darkest early 
days of World War II, when Tom and 79 other Doolittle Raiders took off 
from the deck of the USS Hornet, they had no idea whether they would 
survive the day.
  The American people back then got a much-needed boost when they 
learned of the heroics that took place that day over Japan. But Tom 
cringed at the word ``hero.'' He felt that he was just doing what he'd 
been trained to do. And Tom Griffin went on to risk his life for his 
country for years following the Doolittle raid, culminating when he was 
shot down over Sicily and spent 22 months in a German POW camp.
  Tom recently said, ``What a life I've lived.'' May we all strive to 
live a fraction of the life that Tom Griffin did. May God bless Tom 
Griffin.

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