Kay Bailey Hutchison: “Mr. President, the resolution is commending and is in honor of a fallen comrade. He was a Member of the House, a member…”

“Mr. President, the resolution is commending and is in honor of a fallen comrade. He was a Member of the House, a member of the Texas delegation, Frank Tejeda. Frank Tejeda was a hero, a patriot. He served his country in every possible way. Frank Tejeda dropped out of high school at the age of 17 to join the Marine Corps. He liked to tell the story that he thought he would have a couple of months to sit around and dream about being in the Marine Corps. And they said to this young 17-year-old, ``We would love to have you. Here are your tickets to California, you leave this afternoon.'' So he was off on his life adventure in the Marine Corps. Frank Tejeda went to Vietnam. He was a hero in Vietnam. Frank Tejeda won not only the Purple Heart but the Silver Star for his heroic performance in going onto a battlefield that was riddled with bullets flying all around him to save a comrade. He was always there when his country called. After he came back, the high school dropout went to college and graduated. He graduated not only from St. Mary's University, but also went to law school at the University of California at Berkley and received his law degree. Then, he got graduate degrees from both Harvard and Yale.”