E180 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- Extensions of Remarks February 3, 2009
also served as Chief of Staff, Iowa Army National Guard, where he directed and supervised the activities of the State Area Command, Iowa Army National Guard Staff.
BG Zirkelbach has a long list of military awards and decorations which include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon.
I commend Brigadier General Mark Zirkelbach for his many years of loyalty and service to our great nation. It is an immense honor to represent BG Zirkelbach, and it has been a pleasure working with him during my time in the United States Congress. I wish him a happy retirement from the Iowa Army National Guard and all the best in his future endeavors.
f HONORING PAMELA A. KINDIG OF NAPA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA HON. MIKE THOMPSON OF CALIFORNIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Tuesday, February 3, 2009 Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Pamela Kindig on the occasion of her retirement as Auditor-Controller of Napa County. Pam has served her community honorably and the votto her post.
Mrs. Kindig began her career in public service as Auditor-Controller when she was elected in June of 1986. Six terms and 22 years later, she is retiring as one of the preeminent public figures in the Napa Valley. She has been a leader amongst her peers, serving as President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President and Bay Area Chair of the California State Association of County Auditors.
Mrs. Kindig is known around Napa County as a superlative mentor to family and friends; a lover of reading, fine dining, golf, and above all, her grandchildren. By all accounts, Mrs.
Kindig is the epitome of what a public servant should be: a tireless worker, a pillar of integrity, and someone with the utmost respect for the people she serves.
For the past 22 years Mrs. Kindig has given back to the community by serving on the boards of Napa-Solano United Way, Napa Emergency Women's Services, First Napa Federal Credit Union and Soroptimist International. She also hosts a monthly book review program on a local radio station, is a member of the Napa Valley Symphony and a founding member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Madam Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we thank Pamela Kindig for her years of dedication on behalf of the people of Napa Valley. She has been a model citizen and leader in Napa County and her presence there has enriched the lives of everyone in the community. I join her husband Russ, daughters Kimberly and Kirstin and three grandchildren in thanking her for her service and wishing her a lifetime of fulfillment.
oner of war by the Japanese for three years during World War Two.
At the incredible age of 108, Mr. Buckles has lived through 46 percent of our nation's history.
Today he resides on the family farm he purchased near Charles Town, West Virginia after the war.
Mr. Buckles is one of the forgotten veterans of a forgotten war. He is the lone survivor.
During WWI nearly 116,000 U.S. warriors gave their lives for this country. The service and sacrifice of those men and women changed the tide of that stalemate war and ensured victory for the Allies. But when they returned to the United States there were no parades or major memorials established to honor them.
Despite the fact that WWI was the first war to be fought on three continents and was the first industrialized conflict, it remains a largely forgotten war.
Today we have three memorials to the major wars in modern U.S. history on the National Mall: the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean Memorial, and the World War II Memorial, but no national memorial for WWI.
World War I should not be forgotten be cause there are few photographs and no blockbuster movies to tell the story.
That's why I introduced the Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act. My bill would restore the District of Columbia's World War I Memorial and expand it to also serve as the location for a national World War I Memorial.
After 90 years, of no national recognition it's time these doughboys were given the thanks that they are due-after all they are the ``Fa- ers rewarded her by re-electing her five times ther's of the greatest generation.'' Madam Speaker, it's time to honor the Lone Survivor of World War I and the other doughboys that went to war in the forgotten war to end all wars.
And that's just the way it is.
f TRIBUTE TO BRIGADIER GENERAL MARK ZIRKELBACH HON. TOM LATHAM OF IOWA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Tuesday, February 3, 2009 Mr. LATHAM. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the retirement of Brigadier General Mark Zirkelbach, the Deputy Adjutant General of the Iowa Army National Guard, and to express my appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his state and country.
For the last 39 years, BG Zirkelbach has served faithfully and honorably. BG Zirkelbach enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard in the Non-ROTC College Student State OCS Program at Iowa State University in 1970. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business from Iowa State University in 1970 and graduated from the United States Army War College in 1998.
In 1972, BG Zirkelbach was commissioned and qualified as Field Artillery and Signal Corps and commanded in both branches. He served as Commander, 67th Troop Command, Iowa Army National Guard and entered the Title 32 AGR Program in 1985. BG Zirkelbach
county problems for his constituents. Mike was also a powerful presence on the County's Open Space and Agricultural Preservation District, and instrumental in protecting thousands of acres of land under county ownership or conservation easements.
During the same 12 years, Mike also served on the California Coastal Commission, including two years as the Commission's Chair. He has been recognized by statewide environmental groups as having the strongest conservation record of any of the publically elected members of the Commission.
I would also note that Mike Reilly is a key player in moving forward the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary Modification and Protection Act, a bill that would provide permanent protection for the entire Sonoma Coast.
Mike led successful efforts to endorse the bill by both the Sonoma County Board of Super visors and the California Coastal Commission.
With our new Administration these efforts will result in passage.
This year Mike is celebrating another 12year anniversary, his marriage to Judi, which took place on January 25, 1997, in a home in Guerneville in the midst of a flood emergency.
Mike and Judi, their three daughter's, Kim berly, Sheri and Kelly, as well as Kelly's husband Stewart and their son, Stetson, and ´ Sheri's fiancee, Will, make up a loving and supportive family with great political energy and philosophies.
Although Mike has retired from the Board of Supervisors, we will not let him leave us. He continues to serve as a board member of Coastwalk, California's unique coastal education program and on New Ways to Work, a national non-profit that is finding ways to train youth for the new economy. Knowing of Mike's energy, his intelligence and his savvy, his cando attitude, we expect that although Mike will be able to play more golf now, he will continue to exert his powerful and positive influence on our community and our world.
Thank you, Mike Reilly.
f THE LAST DOUGHBOY TURNS 108 HON. TED POE OF TEXAS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Tuesday, February 3, 2009 Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, this week, Madam Speaker, the very last American doughboy, Mr. Frank Buckles, turned 108 years old.
Of the 4.7 million Americans that were mobilized during the First World War, Frank Buckles is the very last of his generation.
His remarkable life began in Bethany, Missouri where he was born in 1901, during the administration of the 25th President of the United States, President McKinley. At the tender age of 16, Mr. Buckles fibbed his way into the Army when he enlisted to fight in the First World War. He was rejected by several recruiters, but he was not deterred until he finally found a recruiter that would take him. He joined the United States Army, and he drove an ambulance in Europe during World War I.
Throughout his life, Mr. Buckles served in the First World War and was held as a pris
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