[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              PEARL HARBOR

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it was a bright Sunday morning in the 
islands of Hawaii. America was at peace and unprepared for war. Soon 
the rising Sun was darkened by hundreds of Japanese planes as they 
strafed and bombed Pearl Harbor. The American battleships were sunk. 
Over 2,400 United States military were killed. Most of the United 
States aircraft was destroyed while still sitting on the ground. It was 
December 7, 1941.
  But in the chaos and confusion and still in his pajamas, Army Air 
Corps Second Lieutenant Philip Rasmussen and three other fighter pilots 
took off into the blazing sky. They met 11 Japanese planes head on. 
Rasmussen was flying an old outdated P-36 Hawk, and he shot down one 
Japanese plane while enemy fighters attacked him. They shot up his 
plane with over 500 bullet holes, but he was still able to continue the 
fight and eventually safely land. Rasmussen received the Silver Star 
for his defense of America that day and remained in the Air Force.
  As we contemplate on Pearl Harbor and those that were killed, we 
should remember there were a few who gallantly took to the air to fight 
those invaders. From the beaches of Hawaii to the beaches of Normandy, 
those that died and those that survived were America's Greatest 
Generation. We thank the good Lord that such Americans ever lived.
  And that is just the way it is.

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