Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my dear friend, Staff Sergeant Lewis Smith, affectionately known as Slugger and also very affectionately known as the Mayor of Washington Mills, who recently passed away at the age of 99. Lew was born in Washington Mills, New York, in 1922 and graduated from Sauquoit Valley Central School in 1940. After the terrible attacks on Pearl Harbor, Lew immediately signed up to fight for our country in the United States Air Force, with what at the time was known as the 13th Army Air Corps 307th Bombardment Group in the South Pacific. A member of the Greatest Generation, Lew honorably served our country in World War II, completing 50 combat missions in the South Pacific with, as I said, the 13th Army Air Corps 307th Bombardment Group. He wrote a wonderful book chronicling his experience in the war, which I highly recommend to everyone who is interested in finding out what it was really like to just be an average member of the Air Force, enlisting and learning and growing and sacrificing. After the war, Lew came home to Washington Mills and married the love of his life, Jane, on May 5, 1945, after moving to Denver to complete Lew's military service. The couple moved back to Washington Mills, where they would live together for 76 years until Jane's passing in 2021. Upon moving back to Washington Mills, Lew worked as a welder for Utica Structural Steel before taking over his father-in-law's service stations with his two sons.…”