Political Quotes

“on Sunday, September 16, Texas and the Nation lost a patriot and a true public servant, Mr. Ted C. Connell. My friend, our Nation's friend, passed away at his home in Killeen, Texas, after a courageous battle with cancer. Ted Connell lived a life of service to others and to his beloved country. He was a World War II combat veteran, was elected Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was a great friend of my political mentor, former Congressman Olin E. (Tiger) Teague, and he was a friend of President Lyndon Johnson and the Johnson family. Ted Connell was born in 1924 in the small town of Hamlin, Texas, the fifth of ten sons. He dropped out of high school, but finished his diploma while serving in the U.S. Army field artillery on the island of Guam during World War II. During his 30-month tour in the South Pacific with the 316th Tank Destroyer Battalion of the 98th Division, he also fought in Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. He eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve. While on Okinawa, in one of the bloodiest battles of the war, Ted Connell rescued a young Marine who had been shot in the chest. He sat with his mortally wounded comrade for 3 hours, comforting him in the last moments of his life. When Ted returned to the United States, he traveled to the Marine's hometown in Colorado to tell his parents in person about their son's death. That mission of comfort and solace opened a new chapter of service in Ted Connell's life.”