Tribute to Riverside County's Recipients of Operation Recognition

Floor Speech

TRIBUTE TO RIVERSIDE COUNTY'S RECIPIENTS OF OPERATION RECOGNITION -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 10, 2007)

* Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to a group of individuals--heroes--who are receiving the recognition and honor they deserve for their service to our country. Operation Recognition is operated by the Riverside County Office of Education with assistance from the Riverside County Department of Veterans' Services. The program awards high school diplomas to veterans who missed completing high school due to military service in World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War, or due to internment in WWII Japanese-American relocation camps.

* A recognition ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 16, 2007, for the following individuals who received their high school diplomas through Operation Recognition: David Gregory Aguilera, Benjamin Alcala, Walter Morton Anderson, John Angelo Jr., Ronnie D. Archer, William Armstrong, Luis Velos Aviles Sr., Herb Bacon, Thomas Louis Baier, David H. Bartash, Paul W. Bennett, Ronald C. Bissey, Alec Carson Boatman, David A. Bravo, William A. Bray, Aaron E. Bulin, James Elroy Butler, Robert Lee Chaffin, Arthur Charton, Israel Chavez, Gordon Michael Cody, Doyle L. Conklin, Ezra L. Craycraft, Donald Edward Davis, Moses F. Diaz, Howard Ellis, Scott Leslie Faust, John P. Flanagan, Frederick Lopez, Frank Garces, Benjamin Garcia, Robert George Greene, Patrick Roy Guaydacan, Gordon LeRoy Hall, Charles R. Hansen, Allen Hartley, William R. Haskin, Jimmy L. Henry, Arthur F. Hill, Ramon D. Holguin, Jerome Stephen Huggins, Barney M. Jensen, William Johnson, William L. Klaasen, Robert L. Knechtel, Edward Knight, Lonnie L. Lambeth, Joseph A. Landry, George Jefferson Lawrence Jr., Richard S. Leivas, August J. Liberino, Thomas John Martin, William Maycock Sr., Walter Maykulsky, Ray George McClintock, Eleuterio E. Medina, Forrest Leroy Mitchell, Frank R. Montejano, Curtis L. Murphy, William J. Murray, Jack I. Odell, Donald E. Pechous, Donald Edward Pedersen, Donald R. Phillips, Jerome Kern Pittman, John T.R. Pollock, John Puz, Walter S. Pynn, Gilberto Ramos, Rex Lee Reed, Richard M. Rego, Russell William Reichert, Alexander ``A'' Reyes, Raymond F. Reyes, William Leonard Robey, Juan M. Rodriguez, Luis Alfredo Rosado, Leo Marty Schlocker, Ernest George Schrader, Donald Clifford Secory, Robert Lewis Smith, Cecil T. Spires, Ronald Stiff, Steve P. Stone, John W. Swanson, Thomas Joseph Tarpai, Anthony R. Travers, David Scott VanNyhuis, Ralph Watkins, Michael L. Weir, Alvin Wilkiewicz, Donald Wohlt and Saturnino James Zabala.

* Our country owes a debt of gratitude to all the above recipients for their service and sacrifice. I salute all the above individuals and congratulate them on receiving their high school diploma.

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