Hershel ``woody'' Williams Va Medical Center

Floor Speech

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Mr. GIANFORTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation, as well as legislation I introduced along with the Montana Senate delegation to honor three Montana veterans by renaming three Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in their honor. These three veterans have shown the true spirit and dedication all Montanans and Americans should aspire to.

Ben Steele from Roundup, Montana, joined the Army Air Corps and was stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines in 1941 when he was 24. Following the Japanese invasion, Ben fought on Bataan and survived the Bataan Death March. He was held prisoner for 3\1/2\ years, and sketched with charcoal scenes on concrete and secret scraps of paper. Some of his work is still on display in the MacArthur Museum in Norfolk. After the war, he continued his passion for art and taught at MSU-Billings for 33 years.

Mr. Steele passed away in September of 2016 at the age of 98. The only thing he liked more than art was fishing. I am proud that the Billings Community Based Specialty Clinic will be renamed in honor of Benjamin Charles Steele.

David Thatcher enlisted in the Army Air Corps in December of 1940. Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Mr. Thatcher volunteered for a secret mission joining Jimmy Doolittle in a bombing mission over Tokyo. Serving as a B-25 tail gunner on the Ruptured Duck, Thatcher saved the lives of his crew when the plane crashed into the sea trying to make landfall in China after the raid. For his actions, Thatcher was awarded the Silver Star.

The Ruptured Duck was piloted by Lieutenant Ted Lawson, who wrote ``Thirty Seconds over Tokyo.'' Robert Walker played Thatcher in the movie.

Thatcher flew in the African and European theaters for the rest of the war. Thatcher worked for the Postal Service for 30 years following his Army career and was an avid outdoorsman. He passed away in June, 2016, at the age of 94. The community-based outpatient clinic in Missoula will be designated in his honor.

The community-based outpatient clinic on Spring Creek Lane in Billings will be designated in honor of Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow. Dr. Medicine Crow was born in the Crow Indian Reservation in 1913 and was the first member of the tribe to receive a master's degree, graduating from the University of Southern California in 1939.

After working in the naval shipyard in Bremerton, Medicine Crow joined the Army in 1943 and served as a scout in the 103rd Infantry Division in Europe. He became the last surviving war chief of the Crow Nation, having successfully led a war party, stolen horses from the Nazi SS, disarming an enemy and capturing him without killing him. For his service in World War II, he received the Bronze Star and the French Legion of Honor.

After the war, he worked for the Crow Agency and the Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as the Little Big Horn College. He has served on numerous boards and educational commissions. He even addressed the United Nations. He passed away in April of 2016.

Mr. Speaker, while their friends and families know their great deeds, I am honored to share this story with you and the rest of the country.

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