[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5163]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO MYLES ECKERT

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I wish today to honor Myles Eckert, an 8-
year-old boy from Waterville, OH, whose simple act of generosity has 
led to national attention. Myles found a $20 bill in a restaurant 
parking lot and, rather than save it for himself, gave it to Ohio 
National Guard Airman Lt. Frank Dailey, who was there having dinner 
with his family.
  Myles wrote a heartfelt note about his father, Army SGT Andy Eckert, 
who was killed in Iraq just 5 weeks after Myles was born. The note 
read:

       Dear Soldier, My dad was a soldier. He's in heaven now. I 
     found this 20 dollars in the parking lot when we got here. We 
     like to pay it forward in my family. It's your lucky day! 
     Thank you for your service, Myles Eckert, a Gold Star kid.

  This story of Myles Eckert's thoughtfulness was covered by news 
organizations across the country. Myles was a guest on a national talk 
show and asked that any donations be given to the Snowball Express, a 
national military children's charity that hosts a weeklong vacation 
around the holidays for Gold Star children--the military name for 
children who have lost a parent in the line of duty. An initial $20,000 
donation to the Snowball Express was made in Myles' name, and a Dallas, 
TX, company offered to match every donation up to $1 million made 
through Memorial Day, 2014.
  Myles Eckert did a simple act of kindness and found out just how far 
``paying it forward'' can go. Today, I would like to recognize him for 
his heartfelt and noble act.

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