Political Quotes

“I ask unanimous consent to have the statement I previously delivered about the life of Benjamin Charles Steele printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Benjamin Charles Steele, Billings, MT I rise to honor the life of an exceptional Montanan and a true American hero, Benjamin Charles Steele. He passed away on Sunday, September 25 in Billings, surrounded by his loving family. He was 98. Ben was born on November 17, 1917, in Roundup, MT. He was 22 when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in Missoula, MT, on September 9, 1940. A year later, assigned to serve in the Philippines, he arrived in-country and was promptly handed a rifle and told: ``now you're in the infantry.'' Then, 10 hours after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded the Philippines. A few weeks later, Ben's unit was ordered to the Bataan Peninsula. Soon after, Ben's unit was captured, and he and his fellow soldiers began the infamous Bataan Death March. Ben was a prisoner for 3.5 years and was sent to Japan where he did hard labor in the Japanese mines. He was liberated once the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, with Ground Zero less than 80 miles from Ben's coal mine. Ben was discharged from the U.S. Air Force on July 10, 1946. After beginning his art career drawing on the concrete floor of a prison in the Philippines, Ben pursued a formal art education.…”