[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11477]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO EDWARD EARL GIDCUMB

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I rise to pay tribute to a 
distinguished Kentuckian who is looked up to and admired by many in the 
Commonwealth for his character and his service to our country: Mr. 
Edward Earl Gidcumb. Mr. Gidcumb, or ``Earl'' to his friends, 
celebrates his 88th birthday this July 31. He served America during 
World War II as a storekeeper, second class, in the U.S. Navy, and 
survived some harrowing experiences.
  Earl's story is commemorated in a book titled ``WWII DC: The Long 
Overdue Journey,'' which details the experiences of World War II 
veterans from Kentucky and describes a trip made by these Kentucky 
veterans to the Nation's capital in 2004 to visit the National World 
War II Memorial. Earl still is an active participant in the Kentucky 
veterans community as one of the few buglers left in western Kentucky; 
he plays taps at military funerals and civic events. Earl also 
contributed to the establishment of the Kentucky Veterans and Patriots 
Museum in Wickliffe, Kentucky.
  Earl was a high-school student when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor 
on December 7, 1941. He graduated from high school on May 23 of 1943; 
on May 25, he was sworn into Naval service in Marion, IL.
  Earl underwent training in Chicago and then served aboard several 
vessels, the first of which, the U.S. Navy ship LST 218, was bound for 
Pearl Harbor. Earl recalls, ``water supply was very short and we took 
salt-water baths using a special soap for bathing in salt water. We 
slept in bunks stacked six high and down below the main deck . . . I 
started out in the Atlantic Ocean and ended up on the Pacific Ocean.''
  Earl spent time in Pearl Harbor before being posted to the USS 
Indianapolis CA 35, a heavy cruiser. He received five battle stars 
while serving on the Indianapolis for 10 months. A few months after 
being transferred off that ship, the Indianapolis was sunk by a 
Japanese submarine.
  ``I would not be here today if I had remained aboard the Indy,'' Earl 
says. ``The second torpedo of the two that sunk it hit the part of the 
ship where I slept each night. There [were] 1,196 aboard, 800 went down 
with the ship, [and] 317 survived after several days in the water. Some 
died from their wounds, some were eaten by sharks, and the balance 
drowned. It was the Navy's worst naval disaster.''
  Earl was transferred to Oregon, where he was joined by his wife, Jean 
Moore. Earl and Jean were high-school sweethearts and got married when 
Earl went home on 30 days' leave. After 45 years of marriage, sadly, 
Jean passed away in 1989.
  Earl was reassigned again, this time to the USS Bottineau APA 235, a 
troop carrier. The ship went to Japan not long after the dropping of 
atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They received occupation troops 
from Honshu, Japan. Earl earned another battle star for an encounter 
with a Japanese suicide plane in Okinawa Bay. After 2 years, 8 months, 
and 9 days of faithful service, Earl was discharged in 1946.
  Looking back nearly 70 years later, Earl recalls the lessons he's 
learned. ``I was only 17 when I entered service,'' he says. ``I had no 
idea what I was facing . . . I had no reason to be scared.''
  ``I saw men put in LCVP vessels and sent to do battle on the beach to 
take the island back from the Japanese. I saw some of the same men 
brought back in body bags. I saw 450 Japanese planes shot down in the 
Battle of the Philippine Sea, all in one day. I saw a Japanese Zero so 
close I could see the orange Japanese flag on the side of the plane. I 
saw body parts of Japanese soldiers scattered everywhere when I went 
over the Island of Tarawa. We lost 8,000 Marines of our own. This was 
my first battle.''
  Madam President, I am grateful heroes like Mr. Edward Earl Gidcumb 
are still able to transmit their wisdom and share their stories with 
the rest of us. The life story of Mr. Gidcumb is certainly inspiring. I 
know my colleagues in the U.S. Senate join me in thanking him for his 
valiant service to our country. It is thanks to him and his fellow 
soldiers that America was able to triumph in World War II and advance 
freedom and democracy.

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