Jose Luis Correa: “Today, I rise to honor my good friend, World War II veteran Jess Saenz, who was a member of the Greatest Generation. He…”

“Today, I rise to honor my good friend, World War II veteran Jess Saenz, who was a member of the Greatest Generation. He passed away at the age of 98. Born in 1924, Saenz was 19 and had recently graduated from Anaheim High School when he joined the military in 1943. Jess was 1 of 50 young men from the historic Colonia Independencia, a segregated Mexican-American community in my hometown of Anaheim, California, who fought in the Great War. Jess fought the Germans in the Ardennes of France and would later tell us his stories of how he lived in foxholes for 14 months, withstanding cold winter nights and drenching rains. The war, he said, taught him to be responsible and made him a greater man. Upon his return to the United States in 1946, he married Nellie, raised four children, became a carpenter, and helped build this great country. Mr. Speaker, please join me in saluting World War II veteran Jess Saenz, a true American hero and a member of the Greatest Generation. ____________________”