Charlie Dowd Va Clinic

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for S. 3285, a bill to designate the community-based outreach clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Butte, Montana, as the Charlie Dowd VA Clinic.

Charlie Dowd was Montana's last known survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Charlie Dowd had just settled into his cot after a long night shift in the early hours of December 7, 1941. Without hesitating, the 17- year-old Dowd leapt into action at the sound of the bombs, sprinting from the barracks to the armory in only his T-shirt and trousers.

There, he retrieved his rifle and fired at low-flying enemy torpedo bombers, some of the first American shots fired in World War II.

Mr. Dowd continued to serve aboard Navy fighting vessels in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Never one to back away from a challenge, Charlie earned the moniker ``Devil Dog Dowd'' from his shipmates, who saw him volunteer for the most dangerous assignments time and time again. Mr. Dowd was honored with seven Bronze Star Medals before his honorable discharge from military service.

Returning to his home of Rochester, New York, Mr. Dowd worked as a mason and contractor. He eventually relocated to Dunnellon, Florida, where, after completing his degree at the University of Florida, he became a high school teacher.

Mr. Dowd shared his knowledge of industrial arts and drafting with his students, helping them to design and build residential houses and even commercial buildings and reinvesting the profits of these projects into the school and the local community.

In recognition of his inspiring and transformative work, he was promoted to regional director for building trades in the Florida public school system to expand the success throughout Florida.

Mr. Dowd was an advocate for his fellow veterans and worked to preserve the memory of the events of World War II as an active member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

After a long career in Florida, Mr. Dowd retired to Anaconda, Montana, in 1984. Mr. Dowd passed away in 2023 at the age of 99.

Mr. Speaker, I support this important piece of legislation and ask that my colleagues do the same.

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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I am always moved by poignant examples of veterans who, once they take off their uniforms after valiant service, still go on to serve our country and serve their communities.

Charlie Dowd is certainly an example of that, especially deserving of the honor of having the community-based outpatient clinic at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Butte, Montana, named as the ``Charlie Dowd VA Clinic.''

Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing S. 3285, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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