[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14453]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             CHUCK HAUPTMAN

  (Mr. ZINKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ZINKE. Madam Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to a Billings 
resident, a World War II veteran, and a fabled member of the Army 10th 
Mountain Division K Company, Chuck Hauptman.
  Seventy years ago, the young lieutenant was crawling on his belly up 
Mount Belvedere under the cover of darkness. The K Company was charged 
with leading the allied assault on the Germans through the minefields--
set up along the steepest peak--and driving the Germans out of Italy.
  On one February night, they battled snow, darkness, vertical climbs, 
freezing temperatures, and booby traps, all while under the heavy 
machine gun fire of the Nazis.
  The K Company was in combat for 110 days against Nazi forces in the 
Italian Alps. During this time, Lieutenant Hauptman was shot and 
wounded in battle while assaulting a machine gun nest. Like many young 
men, he went back to battle.
  It is easy to forget the young men who were sent to the battle in 
World War II. We look at our veterans and the aging today of our World 
War II veterans.
  Remember, as our young men go to battle, that our Nation asks our 
youngest men and women to go to battle and fight for this country, and 
we should never forget the sacrifice.
  When we go to war, we send our Nation's best. I am proud to recognize 
Chuck Hauptman as one of our Nation's best. He represents the best of 
Montana, the best of our country, and the best of our youth.

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