December 18, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 205 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE VOLUNTEERS AND STAFF ON THE DEDICATION OF THE NEW ARMED 
      FORCES SERVICE CENTER AT THE SAINT PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS AIRPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 18, 2019

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the dedicated volunteers 
and staff of the Armed Forces Service Center at the Saint Paul-
Minneapolis Airport as they prepare to dedicate a new, larger location. 
Since the center was opened nearly 50 years ago, more than one million 
active-duty military personnel, dependents and retirees have received a 
warm Minnesota welcome and hospitality from its volunteers.
  During the Vietnam War, Naval Petty Officer Scott Purdum wrote 
letters to his mother suggesting that dedicated space in the airport be 
provided for service members to rest and help boost their morale. He 
encouraged his mother Maggie to pursue creation of such a place. Sadly, 
Petty Officer Purdum was killed in a plane crash at the Da Nang Air 
Base in March 1970. Channeling her grief into action, Maggie started 
working with airport authorities to make her son's dream a reality for 
current and future members of the U.S. Armed Forces. She was granted 
600 square feet in a corner of the main floor of the airport, and on 
November 22, 1970, just four days before Thanksgiving, the doors to the 
Servicemen's Center were opened for the first time. Those doors have 
never closed.
  The Armed Forces Service Center continues to serve traveling members 
of the U.S. Armed Forces, family members and veterans 24 hours a day, 7 
days a week. With the full cooperation of the Metropolitan Airports 
Commission, the new space is now located behind security and is double 
the size of the old center to allow for more bunks, a laundry room, a 
place to store baggage, and even a children's playroom and a place for 
nursing mothers. This expansion will allow the Armed Forces Service 
Center to enhance their mission of ``Serving Those Who Serve'' as they 
begin their 50th year of service.
  While it is supported by a small staff including Executive Director, 
Debra Cain, and four part-time employees, the non-profit center is run 
and staffed by nearly 200 volunteers--many of whom are veterans. One of 
the volunteers for the very first shift in 1970, Jeanne Morford, 
continues to serve at the center every Monday evening. Operating 
independently of any national organization, the center relies solely on 
donations from the community.
  It has been a privilege and honor to support the center for many 
years as a volunteer and as an auxiliary member of the North Saint Paul 
VFW Post 1350 American Legion Post 39. I have seen firsthand the impact 
that center volunteers make providing hospitality to our servicemen and 
women, veterans and their families.
  The success of staff and volunteers has not gone unnoticed. In 2012 
the Saint Paul-Minneapolis Airport Armed Forces Service Center was 
named winner of the Joining Forces Community Challenge and honored at 
the White House by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden as part 
of their Joining Forces Initiative.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in paying tribute to our U.S. 
Servicemen and women and the selfless volunteers of the Saint Paul-
Minneapolis Airport Armed Forces Service Center as they enter a new era 
of providing excellent hospitality to U.S. servicemen and women, 
veterans and families.

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