Ralph Hall: “I just want to say a word or so of gratitude to those that have been of such great help to a group of veterans to whom…”

“I just want to say a word or so of gratitude to those that have been of such great help to a group of veterans to whom this means so very much. This bill, of course, is to recognize a group of veterans who put their lives in harm's way, and I am going to mention some of them. One of them right off, Speaker Rayburn, appropriated the funds with which these ships were built and bought and dispatched. It is from these ships that they went to Omaha Beach. Olin Tiger Teague of this body, the first chairman of the Committee on Space and longtime Member here departed from this ship. General Earl Rudder, who is next to the highest decorated veteran of World War II from Texas, just under Audie Murphy, embarked from this ship. It means a lot to us and it means a lot to these old soldiers and sailors. After World War II, it was transferred to Greece. The government of Greece has requested the consent that it come back. I think all the bases have been tagged. This ship was in Sicily. It was in Italy, Salerno, Normandy, Omaha Beach. It suffered casualties. It transported prisoners of war when the war was over. It is a ship that will find its home port in New Orleans with the help of these two fine leaders in Congress and the support their committees have given, and I appreciate it.”