Karen Bass: “I come to the House floor today to pay tribute to a man of exceptional valor, a quiet hero, a committed family man, a…”

“I come to the House floor today to pay tribute to a man of exceptional valor, a quiet hero, a committed family man, a successful entrepreneur, and my constituent: Leonard Earl Roberts, Sr. Mr. Roberts lived an extraordinary life. At the age of 16, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and later voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Platoon Sergeant Roberts led a special unit ashore on D-day. He and his entire squadron received the Bronze Indian Arrowhead for Assault Troopers, and he received the Purple Heart. After he was honorably discharged at the close of the war, Mr. Roberts returned home to claim the hand of his childhood sweetheart, Dessie, and then used the GI Bill to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Roberts used his MIT engineering degree to invent a machine that would revolutionize the aerospace industry. And in 1972 in Torrance, California, with his wife and family by his side, Leonard Sr. established Roberts Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering Corporation, one of today's leading companies in the industry. Leonard Earl Roberts, Sr. was a great American born of a great generation. He was a man of service, honor, integrity, faith, and family. He lived an inspirational life, and our Nation will forever be enriched because of him. ____________________”