[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14667]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      COMMUNITY RALLYING TO HONOR FALLEN HERO THOMAS EDWARD HUNTER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Abraham) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with you an inspiring 
story about a community rallying to honor one of our Nation's heroes. 
On September 12 of this year, Thomas Edward Hunter passed away at the 
wonderful age of 93.
  He was a World War II veteran who served in Normandy and fought with 
our troops to liberate Europe from the Nazis. Unfortunately, Mr. Hunter 
spent his final years mostly alone in a nursing home, and died without 
much close family. He literally outlived all of his siblings. He never 
married, nor had any children. As a result, he had no one to serve as 
pallbearers at his funeral.
  Word of Mr. Hunter's passing reached the folks at Winnfield Senior 
High School, which is in a small community in rural north central 
Louisiana that I had the privilege of representing. After learning 
about Mr. Hunter's fate, six Winnfield football players--Matthew 
Harrell, Brett Jurek, Justin Lawson, T.J. Homan, Christian Evans, and 
Lee Estay--stepped up to serve as pallbearers for Mr. Hunter.
  In addition, the folks at Southern Funeral Homes arranged for 
military honors, along with the flag and the playing of taps.
  I am so inspired by the actions of Matthew, Brett, Justin, T.J., 
Christian, and Lee, as well as others in the community, who gave Mr. 
Hunter the hero's sendoff that he so deserved. They didn't know this 
man, but they knew that every veteran deserves to die with dignity and 
to be honored for the sacrifices they made for our great Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I think the actions of these men that you see in the 
photo to my left here speaks volumes of what is so truly important in 
our country: community, country, family, God.
  Our flag and the Nation it stands for is special because of veterans 
like Thomas Hunter who answered the call to serve without question. 
Thousands have given their lives for that flag and this Nation, and 
they deserve our respect for their ultimate sacrifices.
  These young men in Winnfield, they get that. They got that at this 
funeral. I think others in this country will learn from their wonderful 
example.

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