[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12758]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF MR. IRWIN STOVROFF

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. WALTER B. JONES

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 25, 2017

  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a remarkable man 
who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of veterans.
  Irwin Stovroff, originally from Buffalo, NY, was shot down over 
France in August of 1944, during his last mission as a Bombardier with 
the 44th Bomb Group during World War II. Upon parachuting down to 
safety, Stovroff landed in Nazi-occupied territory. Fearing the Nazis 
would discover his Jewish roots, Stovroff removed his dog tags before 
his capture. Upon capture, Stovroff was recognized by one of the Nazi 
interrogators from his hometown in New York. In fact, Stovroff had been 
the Nazi interrogator's newspaper boy. Fortunately, the Nazi 
interrogator saved his life by putting a ``question mark'' on his 
records.
  After liberation from the Nazi POW camp, Stovroff returned to the 
United States where he finished his education, married, and started a 
family. He led a successful post-military career in furniture, but at 
the age of 75, began to volunteer at a VA Medical Center in South 
Florida.
  While working over the years to get our veterans the benefits and 
care they so deserve, Stovroff noticed that the Department of Veterans 
Affairs does not receive any funding to provide service dogs to 
veterans. Knowing the great benefit that service dogs can have on the 
rehabilitation of veterans, he was determined to change that.
  In 2006, at the age of 84, Stovroff launched Vets Helping Heroes, an 
organization dedicated to financing the acquisition and training of 
service dogs for wounded veterans and active duty military personnel. 
Along with his board of directors and donors, Stovroff has now raised 
over $4.5 million to pay for trained service dogs for more than 400 
wounded veterans.
  As Mr. Stovroff continues to help and change the lives of veterans, 
it is my hope that he feels a deep sense of accomplishment and pride 
for the outstanding contributions he has made to our veterans and 
military. I believe I can speak on behalf of our country in thanking 
him for his extraordinary efforts.

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