[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4192]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAMES OSCAR CLEMONS

  (Mr. WOMACK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. WOMACK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer early birthday 
greetings to one of America's Greatest Generation. James O. Clemons 
turns 90 next week, and it's important for him to know how grateful we 
are for his service to country.
  Inducted into the Army in 1943, Mr. Clemons found himself in the Army 
Air Corps as a flight engineer, mechanic, and gunner. Based in Italy 
during World War II, Tech Sergeant Clemons and his unit, the 827th Bomb 
Squadron, 484th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force, flew missions in Italy, the 
Balkans, Austria, Germany, and southern France. A recipient of the 
Distinguished Flying Cross and of a number of other decorations, Tech 
Sergeant Clemons, like millions of other great Americans, answered his 
Nation's call, and as Tom Brokaw wrote in his famous book: ``They won 
the war. They saved the world.''
  Mr. Speaker, we're losing this generation of patriots. In fact, Tech 
Sergeant Clemons and Tail Gunner Joseph Wythe are the last living 
crewmembers of his unit. So it is with a great source of honor that, in 
advance of his special day next week, March 27, and on behalf of the 
people's House, I say, Happy 90th birthday to James O. Clemons of 
Catoosa, Oklahoma.

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