[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 15075-15076]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING PRIVATE FIRST CLASS FREELON F. KELLY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARSHA BLACKBURN

                              of tennessee

                  in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 26, 2017

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, today we honor Wayne County resident, 
Private First Class Freelon F. Kelly, decorated combat veteran, farmer, 
friend, and fallen hero.
  Born on the 2nd of May, 1912, PFC Kelly trained as an infantryman and 
shipped to the European Theater of Operations in 1940 where his 26th 
Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division led America's first-ever 
combat amphibious assault in North Africa. His division, nicknamed the 
``Big Red One'' for the red Arabic numeral 1 on their shoulder sleeve 
insignia, fought the enemy at Tunisia's Kasserine Pass, the Amphibious 
Battle of Gela,

[[Page 15076]]

Sicily, the Normandy invasion, the battle of Aachen, Germany, and the 
Battle of the Bulge in Belgium's Ardennes province.
  The Big Red One held the critical shoulder of the Bulge at 
Bullingen--a small, rural town of 2,000 residents--facing 
insurmountable odds, rallying to their motto: ``No Mission Too 
Difficult. No Sacrifice Too Great.'' PFC Kelly was Killed In Action on 
a snowy, bitterly cold day, December 21st, 1944, and for his sacrifice 
was awarded a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. His name is inscribed 
on the 1st Infantry Division obelisk in Bullingen, commemorating the 
458 Big Red One soldiers who died there while ``fighting for the 
liberty of the world.''
  He was brought home to his final resting place in the Gallaher 
Cemetery on Glenrock Rd less than a mile from his family's farmland 
through which the Factory Creek flows. Many family memories were made 
with his nine siblings, on this land, in this creek, and throughout his 
32 years.
  We dedicate the Factory Creek Bridge to the memory of PFC Freelon F. 
Kelly, WWII hero, who not only ensured the lives lost in combat were 
not lost in vain, but also embodied the legacy of service and sacrifice 
of The Greatest Generation.

                          ____________________