[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6310]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             REMEMBERING LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROBERT L. HITE

  Mr. COTTON. Fellow Members, today I recognize a distinguished 
American hero, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hite of Camden, AK, who died 
last month at the age of 95.
  Just months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, a 
group of courageous young pilots flew Army Air Forces bombers off the 
deck of the USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean to carry out a dangerous, 
low-altitude bombing attack on Japan's home islands. The Doolittle Raid 
provided an enormous morale boost for Americans with a crushing blow to 
the imperial regime in Tokyo.
  Among these brave men was an Arkansan, Colonel Robert L. Hite. 
Colonel Hite had enlisted as an aviation cadet on September 9, 1940. He 
was later commissioned as a second lieutenant and rated as a pilot on 
May 29, 1941. Almost bumped from the mission because of space 
limitations, Colonel Hite was assigned as a copilot ultimately to the 
B-25 ``Bat Out of Hell.'' He rejected his fellow airmen's attempts to 
buy his spot on the plane and launched his mission on April 19, 1942.
  Lieutenant Colonel Hite's aircraft successfully carried out a low-
level bombing run on an aircraft factory and fuel depot in Nagoya, 
Japan, but inclement weather forced the crew to bail out over Japanese-
controlled territory as their plane ran low on fuel. Lieutenant Colonel 
Hite landed in a Japanese rice paddy field, where he was captured and 
sentenced to execution.
  Lieutenant Colonel Hite served 40 months in a Japanese prison--38 of 
them in solitary confinement--where he was tortured and endured brutal 
conditions. Following V-J Day, Lieutenant Colonel Hite was freed on 
August 20, 1945. He returned home and married his first wife Portia 1 
year later.
  Lieutenant Colonel Hite later returned to active service, training 
pilots overseas during the Korean war from 1951 to 1955. After leaving 
Active Duty, he and Portia moved home to Camden, AR, where he managed 
the Camden Hotel until 1965.
  Lieutenant Colonel Hite was widowed in 1999 and later married his 
late wife, Dorothy.
  Lieutenant Colonel Hite is survived by two children, five 
grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and two great-great-
grandchildren.
  On April 18, just 2 weeks after his death, and the 73rd anniversary 
of the Doolittle Raid, Lieutenant Colonel Hite and his fellow soldiers 
were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.
  Arkansans young and old and all Americans can appreciate Lieutenant 
Colonel Hite's service to his family, his community, and his Nation--a 
fine example for us all to emulate.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I see my colleague, the Senator from Delaware. I know 
he asked for time. I didn't ask for time set aside for myself.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I appreciate Senator Carper, and I know he asked for 
time, so I will yield for his remarks.

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