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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— Extensions of Remarks E1731 HON September 14, 2006 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1731 wife, Martha Sharp, who were true heroes of courageously returning to Europe to aid more to the family and the community and our sym- the Holocaust who risked their lives to save people flee the horror of the Nazi regime. pathy goes out to them. We are grateful for Jews from the atrocities of the Nazi regime. By the time the Sharps arrived in Europe, his service to our county.’’ The Sharps’ incredible story was told this the Nazis had already occupied France, but Travis was a life-long resident of Boyertown, morning at a very moving ceremony at the the Sharps were undaunted. They set up the Pennsylvania and is the son of Gail United States Holocaust Memorial Museum American Unitarian Universalist Service Com- Camperson and Lloyd Zimmerman. After where family, friends, and admirers gathered mittee in Lisbon, Portugal, from where they Travis’s graduation in June of 2005, he at- to pay tribute and remember the selfless and continued to assist many more refugees from tended basic training and then joined the laudatory actions of this amazing couple. Their war-torn Europe escape to safety. Army’s 101st Airborne unit. Travis’s unit de- story was also a powerful reminder that all of In all, the Sharps and their Unitarian col- ployed to Iraq in February 2006. us have the moral obligation to do anything leagues worked to save approximately 2,000 Scarlett Kulp, Travis’s life long friend, want- we can to end violence and genocides where men, women, and children. ed to make sure that the community did not ever and when ever they occur. Mr. Speaker, the Sharps’ courageous, sac- forget the commitment and sacrifice he made On June 13, 2006, the Yad Vashem Holo- rificial and selfless example should motivate to serve his country. Scarlett took action and caust Remembrance Authority in Israel hon- all of us to do everything we possibly can to worked with the local community to create a ored the Rev. Waitstill Sharp, and his wife, prevent the horrors of genocide taking place memorial fund to honor Pfc. Zimmerman and Martha Sharp, posthumously as ‘‘Righteous anywhere on this planet. As the only survivor other local military heroes. Local schools took Among the Nations’’ for risking their lives to of the Holocaust in Congress, I have a special Scarlett’s lead and held events such as ‘‘Hats save Jews during the Holocaust. The Sharps commitment to raising this. Off to Travis Day’’ at Colebrookdale Elemen- are only the second and third Americans to be This morning’s ceremony at the U.S. Holo- tary School, Travis’s elementary school from so honored. Varian Fry, with whom the Sharps caust Memorial Museum concluded with a visit kindergarten to sixth grade. The students and worked, was the first. to the special exhibit on Darfur, Sudan. We staff at Boyertown Jr. High West and the Sen- Our colleagues in the Senate passed a res- were reminded that when the horrors of the ior High-School held tributes and helped olution on September 8 of this year honoring Holocaust were made public, we often heard Scarlett gather funds for the memorial military the courageous service of the Sharps. My col- the phrase ‘‘Never Again!’’ But since World bear statue. league from Massachusetts, where the Sharps War II we have seen such genocidal tragedies By Memorial Day weekend, Scarlett, with once lived, and I soon will introduce similar occur in Cambodia, Rwanda, and now Darfur. the help of the community, had raised enough legislation in the House remembering the The most moving and important message money to order a six-foot military bear statue Sharps and their story and heroism. from the story of the Sharps is that they had and create the ‘‘Pfc. Travis Zimmerman Me- Mr. Speaker, the Sharps left everything be- the foresight and courage to leave their chil- morial Fund’’. This permanent fund will not hind, including their home and two young chil- dren and comfortable home behind—not just only provide for the cost of the creation and dren, to answer a call from the American Uni- once, but twice—to go to the dangerous, gray, maintenance of the memorial, but it will also tarian Association to go to Czechoslovakia in uncertain war zone of Europe to save people help area military personnel as they readjust February of 1939. The Sharps were not con- they probably did not even know. Their first to civilian life upon their return from services tent merely to feed the hordes of refugees trip was just days after kristallnacht, when the overseas. passing through Czechoslovakia; they also persecution of the Jews was just beginning to Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join began to assist anti-Nazi dissidents and Jews get more violent and ugly. Concentration me today in paying honor to a hometown to escape Nazi oppression. In the very shad- camps were not yet even a glint in the Nazis’ hero, Pfc. Travis Zimmerman, as his commu- ow of aggression, they helped thousands flee eyes. nity honors him and other service members to safety elsewhere in Europe and the United Mr. Speaker, the Sharps, and those who during the September 17, 2006 Hometown States. helped them to be able to do this, deserve the Heroes parade and ceremony. Heartiest con- One month after the Sharps’ arrival in gratitude and admiration of all of us. Each and gratulation, out to all the individuals who have Prague, Nazi forces occupied Czechoslovakia, every one of us should make every effort to helped to make this lasting memorial possible, making their work much more dangerous. The learn more about the wars and genocide oc- and our utmost gratitude and respect con- Sharps could have escaped, but they refused curring around the globe this very day, strive veyed to Travis’s family for his unflinching de- to leave the refugees helpless. Though the to have the courage of the Sharps, and act votion and sacrifice for our nation. Nazis descended upon the Unitarian mission with equal resolve to do everything each of us f in Prague, ransacking the office and throwing can do to stop these horrors. the furniture into the street, Reverend and I urge my colleagues to join me in paying A TRIBUTE TO GOVERNOR ANN Mrs. Sharp continued their mission. They tribute to this selfless and dedicated couple, RICHARDS began working out of private residences, bold- whose response to the Holocaust and to inhu- ly defying Nazi restrictions. manity and brutality is one that men and HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON The Sharps did whatever was necessary to women everywhere should emulate. OF TEXAS help Jews and opponents of the Nazi regime f IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES to escape Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, in spite of the considerable risk to their own HONORING PFC. TRAVIS CLYDE Thursday, September 14, 2006 lives. They entered and exited the border re- ZIMMERMAN Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. peatedly, crisscrossed Europe to obtain need- Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart ed travel documents, even escorted some of HON. JIM GERLACH on the passing of my dear, trusted and long- their clients by train through Germany itself, all OF PENNSYLVANIA time beloved friend, the late Governor Ann the way to Great Britain. Focused on serving IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Richards. I also rise to pay tribute to her many others, the Sharps ignored warning that they contributions and her sincere dedication of Thursday, September 14, 2006 were in danger from the Gestapo. public service to our great State of Texas and On August 30, 1939, six months after they Mr. GERLACH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to to extend my deepest sympathies to her family arrived in Czechoslovakia, the Sharps con- honor an American hero, Pfc. Travis Clyde and friends everywhere who share in my sad- cluded their first mission and returned to the Zimmerman, who died on April 22, 2006 while ness. U.S. Their exit was just one day before Ge- serving his country in Iraq. I not only lost an esteemed colleague with stapo agents came to arrest Martha, who had Pfc. Zimmerman was on a combat recon- whom I could always count on for support, earned a reputation for her daring disregard of naissance operation when an improvised ex- since so often we agreed on social and polit- Nazi rules. plosive device exploded near his observation ical issues, but also a dear and trusted friend After returning home for two years, the post. This young man’s high school goal, as whom I shared many fond moments and with Sharps issued a report with the American Uni- stated in his yearbook, was to serve in the whom I shared a vision for our great State of tarian Association about the dangers faced by United States Army. Neighbors, friends, and Texas. refugees all across Europe. As a result of this former teachers have all testified that Travis Our friendship expanded more than 40 report, the Sharps were asked to set up a par- was a courteous, cooperative, and compas- years; I first met Ann when she lived in Dallas allel operation in France under the newly sionate young man. Dr. Harry Morgan, the before moving to Austin where she ran for founded Unitarian Universalist Service Com- Boyertown School District Superintendent, told Travis County Commissioner in 1976 and I mittee. In 1940, the Sharps answered this call, students that Travis’s death ‘‘was a great loss was elected to serve at the Texas House of VerDate Aug 31 2005 05:53 Sep 15, 2006 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\K14SE8.002 E14SEPT1 ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with REMARKS.
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