S6196 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 22, 2010 He said later he felt the company com- began receiving hospice care at his home. digging machine unearthed a metal ob- mander, who said he was going to get rein- Baker was surrounded by his family when he ject, which was put in the bank. Upon forcements, had abandoned his group of men. died Tuesday evening. further examination, and after it was Hodge said Baker’s wife, Heidi Baker, plans ‘‘It made me all the more determined to ac- cleaned, it was determined to be a complish our mission,’’ he told the PBS se- to have a memorial service in St. Maries but ries ‘‘American Valor.’’ ‘‘Because at that the arrangements have not yet been made. sculpture of two hands clasping a rose time the Army was segregated. It was He said Heidi Baker also planned to talk branch with a snake winding through thought that we were unable to fight.’’ with military officials about possibly having the hands. The origin of this unex- No black soldiers were awarded the Medal Baker buried at Arlington National Ceme- pected find is still unknown. of Honor during World War II, although tery. To honor its 100 year anniversary, Baker did receive the , a Bronze A war hero, Baker was also a man of peace. the Timber Lake community is having Star and Distinguished Service Cross. After receiving the award, he told a news- a ‘‘Days of 1910’’ celebration, complete In 1993, U.S. Army officials contracted paper reporter for the Moscow-Pullman in Raleigh, N.C., to deter- Daily News: ‘‘I hope never to see someone with a banquet, a talent show and play, mine if there was a racial disparity in the else having the hung around and a viewing of 4–H exhibits. I am way Medal of Honor recipients were selected. his neck by the president of the United proud to recognize them on their his- The university researchers found that there States. You young people coming up, please toric milestone, and I look forward to was, and recommended 10 soldiers to receive don’t take war as a solution to a problem. seeing what else this great town ac- it. From that list, Pentagon officials picked God gave you the brains to think and not to complishes.∑ seven. use violence as a means to an end.’’ f But there was one problem—the statutory f limit for presentation had expired. Congress TRIBUTE TO SONYA DAMSKER was required to pass legislation that allowed ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS LEFKOVITS the president to award the Medals of Honor ∑ so long after the action. Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, today I Baker was the only recipient still living; GANN VALLEY, SOUTH DAKOTA wish to pay tribute to Sonya Damsker the other six soldiers received their awards ∑ Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today Lefkovits, who is being honored by the posthumously, with their medals being pre- I pay tribute to the 125th anniversary Columbiana Chamber of Commerce for sented to family members. her dedication and service to her com- Baker was initially rebuffed when he tried of the population center of our State, Gann Valley. This community, just 15 munity. to join the Army. Baker said in an interview Sonya was born May 6, 1923, in Mem- with public television that a recruiter told minutes away from the Missouri River, him that there was no quota for enlisting is the county seat of Buffalo County. phis, TN, to Louis and Helen ‘‘you people.’’ Gann Valley was named after Herst Richberger Damsker. Raised in Tyler, Reflecting on life in a segregated Army Gann, one of the area’s pioneers as well TX, Sonya graduated from Tyler High unit, he told The Washington Post, ‘‘I was an as the publisher of one of two local School and went on to attend Lou- angry young man. We were all angry. But we newspapers. Gann also donated the isiana State University, where she had a job to do, and we did it.’’ He added, earned a degree in public school music. though, that he ‘‘knew things would get bet- courthouse when the town was founded on January 14, 1885. Since the railroad Following her graduation at LSU, ter, and I’m glad to say that I’m here to see Sonya moved to Birmingham to work it.’’ never came through, a freight line Baker returned to his northern Idaho home made three trips a week to neighboring at the Jewish Welfare Board as its first after the war. When he received a call telling Kimball to bring in goods for the town activities director. It was there that him he was to receive a Medal of Honor, at and ship out the products from the she met her future husband, Norman first he was astonished. Then he was angry. town’s creamery. Leo Lefkovits. ‘‘It was something that I felt should have Gann Valley will spend Saturday, In July, 1947, Sonya married Norman been done a long time ago,’’ he told Idaho July 31, celebrating this historic mile- Leo Lefkovits, and she moved to public television. ‘‘If I was worthy of receiv- Columbiana to operate the Lefkovits ing the Medal of Honor in 1945, I should have stone. A wagon train will arrive in the received it then.’’ morning to kick off the festivities, fol- family mercantile store, The Baker called his 1997 memoir ‘‘Lasting lowed by a parade, games, a dance, and Columbiana Leader. Since arriving in Valor.’’ more. Small towns like Gann Valley Columbiana, AL, nearly 63 years ago, U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick said he met are the backbone of South Dakota, and Sonya has been an integral member of Vernon Baker in the 1990s when the soldier I am proud to recognize the people who her community. In 1949, she became a spoke at a College of Idaho event. Minnick charter member of the Vignette Club, said he’d been expecting a tough, battle- live in and around this great commu- nity.∑ which gave her the opportunity to par- hardened soldier, but says he was instead ticipate in various community struck by Baker’s gentle demeanor. Minnick f said Baker’s valor on the battlefield in Italy projects. Among her proudest achieve- was a rebuke of racist policies that domi- TIMBER LAKE, SOUTH DAKOTA ments was working on the building nated the U.S. military into the middle of ∑ Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today committee during the construction of the last century. I pay tribute to the 100th anniversary the Columbia Library when she was ‘‘His actions on the front line dem- of Timber Lake, SD, on the Cheyenne chairman of the Columbiana Library onstrates better than words can describe River Sioux Indian Reservation. The Board. why discrimination and segregation in the county seat of Dewey County, this Sonya has also held various commu- military was both unfair and absolutely in- nity leadership positions. She was a consistent with an effective fighting force,’’ small town embodies South Dakota Minnick said. ‘‘He demonstrated a degree of values. member of the Shelby County High courage few people have. He was prepared to Originally established by the Sec- School Band Boosters Club, the wom- give his life for his country—a country in retary of the Interior, the land plots ens coordinator for the Columbiana which he was considered a second-class cit- were so popular that 1,000 people Civil Defense Organization, and co- izen.’’ camped out when the land went on chairman of the Shelby County Civil Baker was born in 1919 in Wyoming. Or- sale. The town grew quickly with many War Centennial Commemoration. phaned as a small child, he was raised by his ‘‘tent stores’’ springing up. Settlers ar- Sonya was an active member of the grandparents in Cheyenne. He was working as a railroad porter when he decided to join rived before the railroad did, so build- Shelby County Historical Society. In the Army in mid-1941, a few months before ing materials were brought in by 1999, Sonya helped to form the Pearl Harbor. wagon. The Milwaukee Railroad quick- Columbiana Merchants and Profes- In 2004, Baker underwent emergency sur- ly realized the demand for a railroad sional Association, where she worked gery to remove a malignant brain tumor. Be- through Timber Lake, and by May, on the Columbiana Downtown Renova- fore he fell ill, he had failed to sign up for trains were reaching the thriving new tion Committee. She also served as an benefits from Veterans Affairs and Medicare, town. Timber Lake officially incor- ambassador to the South Shelby Cham- not realizing what the requirements were. porated in February 1911. The census in ber of Commerce. Community members and politicians in Idaho pitched in to help him get aid for his 1920 showed a population of 555, making Sonya has two children, Norman Leo unpaid medical bills. it officially a city of the second class. Lefkovits, Jr. and Marsha Phyllis Hodge said Baker continued to battle brain In the early 1920s, sewer lines were Lefkovits, both of whom now reside in cancer over the next years, and he recently laid for a town septic system. The California. In the early 1980s, Marsha

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