[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13544]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO RICHARD A. PAUL

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it has been said that nations that forget 
its defenders will be itself forgotten. Well, I would like to take a 
moment to recognize one of those defenders who fought for and secured 
our freedom during World War II. First, I want to commend Richard Paul 
for his brave actions and quiet courage--and thank him for a debt that 
we can never fully repay. I also want to wish him an early happy 
birthday. On October 23, Richard Paul, first lieutenant of the 13th 
Army Air Force--from Quincy, IL--will turn 100 years old. What an 
achievement.
  Today, I am honored to share his story. Let me take you back to 
November 29, 1942. On that November day, in the midst of World War II, 
rather than waiting to have his draft number called, Richard drove down 
to the nearest Army Air Force Cadet Training Program in Peoria, IL, and 
volunteered to serve. The next day, he was sworn into the program and 
told to await further orders. In January 1943, Richard received his 
orders and reported to Decatur, IL.
  After stints in Jefferson Barracks, MO, and Galesburg, IL, Richard 
found himself in Texas for pilot training. On March 12, 1944, Richard 
graduated from flight school and spent the next 7 weeks in Liberal, KS, 
learning to fly the B-24 Liberator, an American bomber with the 
greatest bomb load carrying capacity and longest range of its time. By 
the spring of 1944, First Lieutenant Richard Paul and his crew flew B-
24 Liberators on 36 combat missions, including two recon missions in 
the South Pacific theater. Richard also received the Distinguished 
Flying Cross for his heroism and extraordinary achievement while 
participating and supporting military operations in an aerial flight.
  Although he didn't know it at the time, on March 20, 1945, Richard 
flew his final mission. The following day, he was told he was going 
back to the States. For all his wartime accomplishments, I think 
Richard would agree that his greatest achievement happened in flight 
school, marrying Esther Viola Jewell, who he simply called Vi. After 
getting permission from his base commander, the chaplain picked Richard 
and his bride up from the hotel she was staying at in Independence, KS. 
There was one problem: Richard and Vi didn't have witnesses. So Richard 
rushed back to the barracks and found two cadets to fill in. Disaster 
averted. And on Christmas Eve 1943, Richard and Vi were married. They 
would spend the next 64 Christmases together before Vi passed on 
December 14, 2008.
  We owe a great debt to veterans like Richard, who came home after the 
war and built this Nation. When the war ended, Richard first looked for 
work as a pilot at a Minneapolis airline. But despite his incredible 
experience, he was told they received nearly 100 applications from 
former Army pilots every day and did not have enough jobs. Well, it was 
the airline's loss and a blessing for the people of Quincy. The 
following year, Richard became a pharmacist and spent the next 44 years 
working in Quincy at the Brown Drug Company--the same Brown Drug 
Company Vi worked at in 1940.
  There are many advantages of having 100 years on Earth, but on top of 
the list may be the ability to spread love in so many ways. Whether it 
was through love of country--while serving as first lieutenant in the 
13th Air Force during World War II; love of community--spending 44 
years as a pharmacist at the Brown Drug Company; or love of family, 
raising 4 daughters with his wife, Vi, 8 grandchildren, and 18 great-
grandchildren--what an extraordinary legacy.
  I will close with this: I have heard the first 100 years are the 
hardest. But I am reminded of what an old ball player once said: ``Age 
is a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter.'' So 
when the big day arrives, I hope Richard celebrates with friends and 
family--and enjoys it. He has earned it.
  Thank you, Richard, for your service and sacrifice, and 
congratulations on an outstanding milestone.

                          ____________________