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[Pages H3135-H3136]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LIFE OF GERALD ALEXANDER KNIGHT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
South Carolina (Mr. Norman) for 5 minutes.
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a great American,
Gerald Alexander Knight, who was born on April 11, 1944. He was the
middle child of five children born to his parents, Woodrow and Virda
Knight.
[[Page H3136]]
His family, like most American families, had much to overcome during
the ending of World War II and the economic and emotional hardship that
ensued during the postwar period.
While the Knight family struggled to make ends meet, the American
values of hard work, pride in what you do, and determination were
instilled at a very young age. Gerald began working at the early age of
6 when he routinely walked a half mile to gather 3 gallons of water
from his grandparents' home.
When he turned 14, he earned his driver's license and began driving a
pulpwood truck at 4:30 every morning to earn money for his family.
After finishing his early morning drive to the lumberyard, he would
attend school and then returned home to gather another load of wood.
Gerald would often say: ``I was born into poverty, but I did not
choose to stay in poverty.''
After graduating from Flat Creek High School in 1962, he joined the
Air Force and boarded a bus to San Antonio, Texas, where he entered
training to become an air traffic controller. He was one of only three
out of 18 to graduate, and he became an air traffic controller as part
of the 648th SAGE Squadron serving during the Cuban Missile Crisis,
where he monitored air traffic in the Southeastern United States and
Puerto Rico to Cuba.
Gerald was soon stationed in Germany. During a visit to his home, he
met his future wife, Joyce, on a blind date set up by his brother
Charles. After one date, he asked her to marry him. However, being a
senior in high school and needing to graduate, Joyce declined but
promised to wait for Gerald until his military service was completed.
Gerald spent the next 2.5 years in Birkenfeld, Germany, where he
continued to work in air traffic control and warning systems,
monitoring the airspace of Europe, including tracking and identifying
all aircraft in the airspace.
After completing his service in the Air Force, Gerald hitchhiked
home, where the Vietnam war was raging. His younger brother Ronnie had
been drafted and sent to serve in Vietnam. Gerald, wanting to be with
his brother, offered to reenlist in the Air Force, provided he went to
Vietnam. He never served in Vietnam due to a clerical error by the Air
Force and was, instead, sent to Maine, where he declined and returned
to South Carolina.
He married Joyce on November 6, 1966, and by 1970, they were the
proud parents of two small girls, Carrie and Bobbie.
After working in the textile industry for a short time, he was hired
by the DuPont company located in Camden, South Carolina, where he
initially worked as a spinner operator. The company quickly realized
that Gerald had a unique talent for listening and relating to people
and moved him into the employee assistance department, where he was
certified and began investigating sexual harassment cases and
representing DuPont in Federal court.
He counseled employees and their families dealing with addiction
problems, as well as working for the Lancaster Recovery Center, which
served the entire community on these issues. Gerald was uniquely
qualified to deal with these issues as he had struggled with alcohol
abuse in his younger years until surrendering his life to Christ at the
age of 38.
Gerald was instrumental in writing new human resources policy for
DuPont and was once told: ``You are the best outhouse lawyer I have
ever seen.''
His career at DuPont was stellar, and he was characterized by his
peers as being honest, caring, and treating everyone with respect and
dignity, regardless of their status in life.
When Gerald was asked what his greatest accomplishment was in life,
his response was: ``My girls. I look at their lives to measure my
success, as they are well-adjusted human beings with their own families
serving God.''
Gerald Alexander Knight has lived a life with a sense of moral
obligation to duty and a personal creed of God, family, and country, in
that order.
He is a proud member of the Greatest Generation and will be
remembered for his kindness, generosity, and integrity.
God bless you, Gerald Alexander Knight. The world was a better place
because you were in it.
____________________
