[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15905]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CELEBRATING THE REUNION OF THE 50TH COMPANY, INFANTRY OFFICER CANDIDATE 
                         SCHOOL CLASS OC 24-69

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONALD S. BEYER, JR.

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 12, 2017

  Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a special group of 
Americans who are worthy of our recognition for the sacrifices they 
made for our country.
  In October of this year, the surviving members of the 50th Company, 
Infantry Officer Candidate Schools Class OC 24-69 will have their first 
reunion at Fort Benning, Georgia, 48 years after pinning on the gold 
bars of Second Lieutenants. It was a time when the United States was 
still deeply mired in the Vietnam war.
  The young men who made up the 50th Company came from 42 of our 50 
states and represented all walk of life and ethnic heritages. Almost 
all of them had recently graduated from college, and were of an age at 
which most of their contemporaries were starting their careers, not 
facing military service and the rigors of war and sacrifice.
  They were fully aware that the Vietnam war did not receive the near 
universal support that the country had offered the servicemen and women 
of World War II, in whose shadow they had grown up. The feelings of 
these men toward the war in Southeast Asia were as varied as those of 
their countrymen.
  Nevertheless, they accepted the risks inherent in their decision to 
become Army officers. Despite their varied backgrounds and their 
support for, or opposition to, the Vietnam war, they shared more 
important traits--a love of the United States of America, an abiding 
belief in democracy, and a devotion to duty no matter the consequences. 
They had all volunteered for the OCS.
  Within a year of graduation, over half would receive orders for 
Vietnam. Two classmates made the ultimate sacrifice for our country--
James DuPont from North Canton, Ohio and Thomas Edgren from 
Libertyville, Illinois. Many others were awarded the Purple Heart.
  They all, no matter where they served, made sacrifices as previous 
generations who had served in the armed forces had sacrificed--
separation from families, missed holidays, arduous and often dangerous 
work, and sometimes miserable living conditions. And sadly, for these 
men of the Vietnam era, their sacrifices were often met upon their 
return with indifference and even open hostility from a seemingly 
ungrateful country.
  Some of these men made the military a career. But most were classic 
``citizen soldiers'' who returned to civilian life once they had 
served. They raised families and became successful lawyers, doctors, 
ministers, teachers, government workers, farmers, and business men.
  Over the years, most of the men of the 50th Company put their time in 
the service behind them. They lost contact with each other as other 
life issues took precedence. But through the efforts of a few 
determined classmates, plans were laid for this fall's reunion. They 
will gather again at Fort Benning, another generation of Americans who 
laid down their plowshares to pick up rifles, only to beat them back 
into plowshares when duty was honorably done.
  At the reunion, these old comrades-in-arms will renew the bonds that 
were forged 48 years ago through the long marches in the brutal Georgia 
heat, the early morning runs in combat boots and rain, the countless 
pushups, and the brotherhood of blood and sweat of hard Army training. 
Now they will share their pride in having served.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in pausing to reflect on the 
sacrifices made by these men and the millions of others they represent, 
and to extend to them our personal thanks and the thanks of our 
country.

                          ____________________