[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 22872] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]HONORING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF JOHN ``JACK'' PATRICK GILLESPIE ______ HON. JOE BARTON of texas in the house of representatives Friday, September 26, 2008 Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, today, I rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of the late Jack Gillespie. This American, immigrant, veteran, and patriot passed away on April 17th, 2008. Today would have been his 87th birthday and, in his honor, I would like to submit for the record the eulogy his son Ed read at his funeral on April 22nd of this year. In November 1929, young John Patrick Gillespie--called Sean at the time--left his home by the Eanybeg stream at the base of Carnaween Mountain to head into Donegal Town with his mother and brothers and sisters. He was beginning a journey to a new life in a wonderful place where he would find happiness, achieve glory, and eventually discover waiting for him there the woman he was meant to be one with. By the time he came to be called ``Jack'' in his new country, he had figured out what success in America required. He may have read some tips on board the Lititia, the steamer on which he spent two weeks crossing from Ireland to Ellis Island. Many of the boats that sailed that route posted in their galleys a notice with the heading, ``Advice to Irish Emigrants.'' The posting included these words: ``In America, a man's success must altogether rest with himself--it will depend on his industry, sobriety, diligence and virtue . . . and he may rationally expect to raise himself in the world by his labour.'' People who met Jack Gillespie quickly realized that their friend or coworker or fellow soldier was extremely diligent, very industrious, generally virtuous and--most of the time sober. And he certainly wasn't afraid of labor. His high school sweetheart Conny Carroll noticed something else about him--something other pretty lasses tended to notice too. He was a strikingly handsome man. She wrote to him regularly during the war, and clipped newspaper articles on the progress of the 28th Infantry--the famed and feared ``bloody buckets''--and kept the clips in a scrap book. Sergeant John Patrick Gillespie fought for the cause of freedom. He fought for the honor of his country. And though he never fought for the sake of glory, at war's end he was draped in it. After landing in France, his Company L was among the first to confront the hedgerows that made a patchwork of the French countryside. His commanding officers spent days hunkered down trying to figure out how to advance over the thick, eight- foot-high lines of brush that separated them from an enemy whose size and strength they had no way of knowing. Eventually a frustrated, impatient Sergeant Gillespie carved toeholds into the knotted hedgerow and told his lieutenant to listen for him after he went over the top. When this fearless soldier dropped to the ground on the other side, he began firing his weapon to find--nobody firing back. Sixty years later, when asked what he did to get his Bronze Star, he laughingly said, ``Nothing, really.'' Of course, it wasn't for nothing. Nor was his subsequent Silver Star for Valor in Combat, earned saving a wounded platoon mate, or the Purple Heart for the bullets that ripped through both his legs in the Hurtgen Forest. He was a successful salesman and a savvy entrepreneur willing to take risks--but calculated ones. He said he never took a chance in business unless he assessed better-than-60 percent odds for success. And he won a lot more often than he lost. He was an opinion leader in his community. Bobby Kennedy was once asked how his brother Jack won the Democratic nomination in 1960. He said that when other campaigns went in to organize a town, they'd ask, ``Who's the Mayor?'' or ``Who's the county party chairman,'' or ``who's the Chamber of Commerce President?'' And we always asked, ``Who's the man to see?'' For a long time in this community, Jack Gillespie was the man to see. What he cared most about was his family--his wife and children. He was a devoted husband. As a father, he was a disciplinarian who gave the greatest gift you can give your children: unconditional love. And sage advice. If Jack Gillespie said ``that's a good house,'' you should buy it. If he said ``you can't trust that guy,'' you couldn't. If he said ``you ought to marry that girl,'' you ought to. Because of the guidance and advice he gave to me, I have been able to give guidance and advice to Congressmen, Senators, governors, Supreme Court Justices, prime ministers and, yes, the President of the United States of America. Remarkable men and women, all. Yet I never felt intimidated in their presence. You see, the most remarkable man I've ever known lies before us here today. John Patrick Gillespie has left home again--on a journey to a new life in a wonderful place, where he will find happiness and achieve eternal glory. And waiting for him there, the woman he was meant to be one with. Farewell, poor immigrant. Farewell, successful businessman. Farewell, brave soldier. Farewell, loving husband, son, brother, uncle, grandfather, and friend. Farewell, Dad. ____________________