Colonel Hans Christian Heg Post Office

Floor Speech

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Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7199.

This bill, which is supported by the entire Wisconsin House delegation, designates the U.S. post office located on Janesville Road in Muskego, Wisconsin, as the Colonel Hans Christian Heg Post Office.

Colonel Heg is nothing short of remarkable.

In 1840, Colonel Heg immigrated to Wisconsin from Norway. At just 10 years old, he quickly learned English and became a trail guide for settlers traveling throughout the region.

Fast forward to 1859, Colonel Heg became the first Norwegian American anywhere to be elected to a State office when he was elected prison commissioner and warden of the State prison in Waupun, Wisconsin.

Just a couple of years later, he was appointed colonel of the 15th Wisconsin Infantry. He traveled throughout the Midwest recruiting Scandinavians to serve in the Civil War. Colonel Heg and his men went on to win a major battle for control of the Mississippi River at Island No. 10 during the war, and they were given the honor of raising the flag by battle commander Flag Officer Andrew Foote. On September 20, 1863, at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia, the 33-year-old colonel was shot and killed in action while serving the Union.

After the war, veterans raised funds to erect a cannonball pyramid at Chickamauga National Military Park dedicated to Colonel Hans Christian Heg.

Sixty years after the war, the Wisconsin community rallied together to raise funds to erect a statue in honor of Hans Christian Heg in Madison, and 157 years after the war, the community and his descendants gathered to rededicate the statue.

Colonel Heg was an institution in his community, State, and country, and he was a treasure to his family, friends, and those who served with him.

It is an incredible privilege to honor Colonel Heg and to show his many descendants that he lives on as a legend, both in Wisconsin and nationally, to this day.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Comer for his support on this bill.

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