Congressional Record Statement of Senator Daniel K. Akaka

Mr. President, today I want to share a story with my colleagues about the accomplishments of one of my constituents. It begins with a feature story in Landscape Superintendent and Maintenance Professional magazine and ends with selection as the Air Force Association's 2008 Department of Veterans Affairs Employee of the Year Award. The link between the two is a fine veteran and fellow Hawaii resident, Mr. Larry L. Thornton .

In June of last year, Landscape Superintendent and Maintenance Professional magazine featured an article entitled ``Maintaining Honor,'' on the quality of the grounds-keeping at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The national cemetery, located on the island of Oahu and known to Hawaii locals as ``Punchbowl,'' is a crown jewel of America's memorials, and the last resting place of thousands who so valiantly served their Nation. Millions visit Punchbowl annually, to walk the grounds, to stand silently in its beauty, and to pay tribute to those laid to rest there.

The article featured pictures of the groundskeepers, each identified by first and last name. Unbeknownst to the readers, these hard working stewards are injured veterans, some with disabilities for which others may have written them off as unable to contribute a day's labor. But thanks in large part to one man, one of their fellow veterans, they succeed beyond such expectations, one day at a time. That man, their supervisor for VA's Compensated Work Therapy Program for disabled veterans, managed to escape the feature photos. That man is Punchbowl's Cemetery caretaker foreman, Larry Thornton .

Fortunately, Mr. Thornton could not escape the limelight when he finally received just recognition for his work with disabled veterans and for his dedicated labor to maintain a national shrine. This year his work was recognized and earned him the Air Force Association's Department of Veterans Affairs Employee of the Year Award for 2008. I join the Air Force Association in commending this fine veteran, Mr. Thornton , for his service to his fellow veterans and our Nation. His service began long before this award, and I am sure that it will continue long after it. I am doubly proud of him, as a Senator from Hawaii and as the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

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September 11, 2008