[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12289]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING THE 100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF FORT LEWIS, WASHINGTON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DENNY HECK

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 27, 2017

  Mr. HECK. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to share my admiration and 
appreciation for the institution of Fort Lewis, which this year is 
celebrating 100 years in Washington's South Sound. In 1917, as the 
United States was fighting at the peak of World War I, the people of 
this community came together to show solidarity and sacrifice. Pierce 
County overwhelmingly passed a bond to raise $2 million dollars to 
purchase and donate over 60,000 acres to the Army in order to found 
Camp Lewis. Civil-military partnerships and cooperation are a heritage 
we proudly continue to this very day.
  What started as a modest training area has grown to become the 
premier power projection platform on the West Coast. Camp Lewis became 
Fort Lewis in 1927 and then Joint Base Lewis-McChord in 2010. It is now 
the fourth largest military base in the world, with active duty service 
members, National Guard, Reservists, and civilians working side by side 
to ensure our national security.
  The soldiers stationed at Camp Lewis fought valiantly in World War I. 
The Ninety-First Division took part in the Battle of Flanders where it 
captured 2,300 German prisoners and 400 machine guns, despite facing 
enormous odds. Incredibly, five members of the Division were awarded 
the Medal of Honor for their bravery, including First Lieutenant Deming 
Bronson, a graduate of the University of Washington.
  America's 34th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, served at Fort Lewis 
as Chief of Staff of Third Army Division with the rank of Colonel 
between 1940 and 1941 before going on to become the Supreme Allied 
Commander in World War II. In that conflict, Fort Lewis units, 
including the 41st Infantry Division and the 3rd Infantry Division, 
deployed to New Guinea, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and 
Central Europe. Their record was astounding; soldiers from the 3rd 
Infantry Division earned 16 Medals of Honor.
  From early on, Fort Lewis was a bastion of diversity. In 1943, Fort 
Lewis was home to the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, with heroic women 
serving in the motor pools, on sentry duty, and as medical technicians. 
The military, under President Truman's Executive Order, helped lead 
society toward desegregation in the 1940s and 50s. When the segregated 
``South Fort Lewis'' and the black soldiers there joined ranks with the 
rest of the post, both the units and soldiers became stronger.
  The storied history of Joint Base Lewis-McChord has chapters in 
Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The Soldiers and Airmen 
stationed there have fought for freedom and democracy across the globe 
and back here at home. The base is now home to the Army I Corps, the 
Air Force 62nd and 446th Airlift Wings, the 7th Infantry Division, the 
1st Special Forces Group, the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger 
Regiment, and Madigan Army Medical Center--the Army's second largest 
medical treatment facility. They lay claim to an inspiring and 
influential past, only to be surpassed by a great future, full of 
potential, full of bravery, and full of patriotism.
  Mr. Speaker, our country owes Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the brave 
women and men working there an insurmountable debt of gratitude. On the 
100-year anniversary of its historic founding, I want to say thank you 
for the past century of protection, hope, and comradery coming out of 
Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

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