[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5130]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING LIEUTENANT JOHN LEAHR

  (Mr. WENSTRUP asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, on March 27, another outstanding member of 
America's Greatest Generation departed from this world.
  Lieutenant John Leahr--Johnny, as he was known--a lifelong 
Cincinnatian, is an example of an American we should all strive to 
emulate. Lieutenant John Leahr was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a 
group of African American fighter pilots that flew missions protecting 
Allied bombers over the skies of Europe during World War II.
  On March 27, 2009, 6 years before Mr. Leahr's death, the Tuskegee 
Airmen were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Lieutenant Leahr had 
hoped that the successes of the Red Tails, as they were known, would 
shift the racial prejudices that African Americans faced before the 
war; but, after fighting fascism overseas, he had to continue fighting 
discrimination back home.
  Over the years, times changed, and the people of Cincinnati and our 
entire Nation began to recognize the heroism of Lieutenant John Leahr. 
I had the honor to get to meet John in recent years, and his story is 
remarkable, a story that needs to be told for unending generations.
  Today, I, with all of you, honor his courage and thank him for his 
unparalleled service.

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