Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, this week, a Louisiana legend turned 102 years old. Dr. Attorney Johnnie Jones, Sr., has lived a lifetime fulfilling every day with service, activism, and love for family and country. Born in 1919, he was one of eight children in a successful family who leased land in eastern Louisiana. He attended Southern University until being drafted into the Army in 1942 during World War II where he was the first-ever African-American warrant officer in United States Army history. Jones was injured in the battle at Normandy on D-day 77 years ago. Before landing on the beach, his ship hit a mine, and he flew from the second deck down to the first. As he described it, he flew like a bullet, but he survived, coming ashore on Omaha Beach, facing off with German snipers. Later in the war, he was hit with shrapnel during a bomber attack and finished his military service in the Battle of the Bulge. These nightmarish memories have remained with Mr. Jones until today. Much of his paperwork and records of service were lost during Hurricane Katrina, so it was earlier this year, at the age of 101, that Dr. Attorney Jones finally received the Purple Heart award in recognition of his battle injuries. Through all that he endured, he persisted. He returned home to Louisiana, where he began to serve in a different capacity, this time as a lawyer. Just 15 days out of Southern University's law school in 1953, the Reverend T.J.…”