[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8088]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                      HONORING TOMMY L. McCULLOUGH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 2017

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
remarkable public servant, Mr. Tommy L. McCullough, who was born in 
Pickens, Madison County, Mississippi to the late parents of W.E.L. and 
Classie McCullough. He was the youngest of twenty siblings, where ten 
(10) were added by marriage.
  Mr. Tommy L. McCullough was raised in Valley View, Mississippi and 
attended Nichols School until the eighth grade. Later he went to 
Cameron Street High School and left to go to the Army while he was in 
the 12th grade.
  Mr. McCullough entered the Army on December 13, 1954, and was in the 
25th Division at Scofield Barracks in Hawaii. While there an Honor 
Guard was formed after a few months, and height requirements were 5 
feet 10 inches tall. But, because he was sharp and intelligent he was 
chosen to be a Guard, although he was 5 feet 8 inches tall. They later 
changed the title from Guard to Drill Platoon. No one could handle a 
rifle the way Mr. McCullough handled it, and he was recognized with 
many letters of congratulations for his performance in the Drill 
Platoon. He also went to the Non-Commission Officer Academy and 
received a diploma. Within two years, he went from a Private to SP3 
(Specialist 3rd class). There he stayed until his discharge on November 
27, 1956 and went back to Jackson, Mississippi.
  He had many friends who were Civil Rights Activist, one of them was a 
Freedom Rider. Mr. Jake Freeze was one of the leaders in the Freedom 
Riders Movement that lived in his house in 1963, which was later called 
the Freedom House in Madison County. Pictures are on the wall of the 
Civil Rights Museum in Canton, Mississippi, today.
  Mr. McCullough afterwards moved to Louisville, KY in 1965. He worked 
at Harshaws Chemical Company for about five years. He missed 
Mississippi so much that he came back and opened up a night club, Billa 
Farro, for five years in Jackson and later opened a Car Dealership, TC 
and III, and then he retired.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mr. Tommy 
L. McCullough for his dedication to serving others.

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