Today. Since the days of the revolution, congress has awarded gold medals to express the peoples appreciation for distinguished achievements. The first recipient was general George Washington himself in march of 1776. Today, pursuant to House Resolution 324 we will present a gold medal in honor of the First Special Service Force. The force was activated in 1942 as an elite unit of 1,800 american and canadian commandos. Just how elite . Well, for every man they lost they killed 25. For every man they captured, they took 235. The force was so fearless that the enemy dubbed them, the devils. And so effective today that our special forces refer to them as pioneers. These men represent the finest of the finest. So today we bestow on them our highest honor. So let me thank all of you for being here, especially ambassador door, secretary mccue and all of our army leaders. Of course in addition to many family members were truly humbled to have with us some 42 veterans of the force. Please join
Leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell disease. Joining us today from the match is jiro okochi, who is the board chair and a donor, but, more importantly, father of finn okochi, who received his bonemarrow transplant a few years ago. Good to have you with us today. Ken, thank you for having me on. I think a lot of people misunderstand what it is to be a donor. First of all, lets talk about the organization, how it got founded, and what it is to be a bonemarrow donor. Absolutely. Be the match is a wonderful organization. Its one of the few notforprofit organizations that really does save lives. It provides research for science to make sure that the bonemarrow transplants are successful. It has over 22 million bonemarrow registrants, who can then also provide the stem cells or bone marrow. And then, most people dont realize this, but it also offers a lot of patient assistance. So its a fantastic organization that really does ultimately cure and save lives. Thats the best part about it. Of c
He is very sensitive and working in the area of Mental Health and crime. A few months ago someone observed that in every single state in this country there are more people who have been determined to be potentially dangerously mentally ill in our jails and prisons than in all private and public Mental Health facilities in those states. Its a real problem on the inside and outside and congressman sensenbrenner is working on that. And throw in a side issue i noted today that he has legislation on civil Asset Forfeiture which is a problem that one of my old heroes henry hyde also a midwesterner fought to correct for many years when he was in congress. So jim. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you very much for that very kind and generous introduction. Yes, you have known me since i was in high school. At that time my hair was black. There was years that have gone by sense less here and more there. I guess thats the way it will be with all of us. You are younger than i am. You never did disclo
Congressional gold medal to the world war ii for special Service Force. The special Operations Team was formed in 1942 and helped liberate much of europe. Both american and Canadian Veterans attended the event at the u. S. Capitol. This program lasts about an hour. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the United States house of representatives, the honorable john boehner. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to the United States capitol. Its good to see all of you here today. Since the days of the revolution, congress has awarded gold medals to express the peoples appreciation for distinguished achievements. The first recipient was general George Washington himself in march of 1776. Today pursuant to House Resolution 324 we will present a gold medal in honor of the First Special Service Force. The force was activated in 1942 as an elite unit of 1800 american and canadian commandos. Just how elite . Well, for every man they lost, they killed 25. For eve
Ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the United States house of representatives, the honorable john boehner. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to the United States capitol. Its good to see all of you here today. Since the days of the revolution, congress has awarded gold medals to express the peoples appreciation for distinguished achievements. The first recipient was general George Washington himself in march of 1776. Today pursuant to House Resolution 324 we will present a gold medal in honor of the First Special Service Force. The force was activated in 1942 as an elite unit of 1800 american and canadian commandos. Just how elite . Well, for every man they lost, they killed 25. For every man they captured, they took 235. The force was so fierceless that the enemy dubbed them the devils and so effective today that our special forces refer to them as pioneers. These men represent the finest of the finest. So, today we bestow them on them our highest honor. Le