[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 20109]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CONGRATULATING GENERAL BEN HODGES

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate General Ben Hodges on his 37 
years of active military service and his retiring on December 15.
  Ben and I entered West Point together in 1976, and both graduated as 
Goats in 1980. We both branched infantry and attended ranger school 
together, graduating in the spring of 1981. While I went Active Duty 
and Reserves, Ben continued his active military service.
  We met in Kirkuk, Iraq, as he commanded the brigade in the 101st Air 
Assault Division.
  We bumped into each other as he headed the Army legislative liaison 
here in Washington, D.C., and we saw each other numerous times in his 
last assignment commanding the United States Army in Europe. In that 
position, Ben gave comfort to our NATO allies in the east, creating a 
permanent rotational mission.
  Congratulations, Ben, on a job well done. Pride and excellence, and 
beat Navy. May God bless you and your future endeavors.

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