Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Edward Longenecker and wish him a happy 100th birthday. Mr. Longenecker is a World War II veteran who has a steadfast love and devotion to God, his family, and his country. He is from my hometown of Victoria, Texas. Today, we honor him for his service to the United States Army Air Corps as a radio operator and nose gunner on the B-24 bomber in the 451st Bomb Group, 726th Squadron. During World War II, on July 14, 1944, he and his fellow airmen traveled to Petfurdo, Hungary, for their 29th combat mission. What they expected to be a routine mission was anything but when they began to receive anti-aircraft fire that took out two of the aircraft's engines. From the nose gunner position, he received word that they were dropping elevation very quickly. The pilot made the call urging everyone to jump. Mr. Longenecker headed to the flight deck to retrieve his parachute. On the flight deck, he saw his ball gunner about to jump and gave him a good luck salute. Then Mr. Longenecker jumped. Everyone who jumped before him was captured, but he landed on top of a hill and began taking on heavy fire from Yugoslav soldiers that were sympathetic to the Germans. He made his way to a nearby forest line, crawled under a briar bush, and stayed under that bush until nightfall. That first night, he slept near a lake. The second night, he stayed in a pile of hay where he could hear a group of people playing the guitar and singing.…”