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“TRIBUTE TO COLONEL RAY RENOLA” mentioning Jack Reed was published in the Senate section on page S570 on Feb. 8.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO COLONEL RAY RENOLA
Mr. REED. Madam President, today I pay tribute to a very special Rhode Islander, COL Ray Renola, USA (Ret.), who holds a unique distinction among all Americans.
Mr. Renola, at 104 years old, is the oldest living graduate of my alma mater, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. A member of the class of 1940, Mr. Renola stands at the head of the Long Grey Line of West Pointers who have served the Nation since 1802.
As described in a recent column by Mark Patinkin in the Providence Journal, Ray was the son of Italian immigrants and one of eight children raised on the West End of Providence. He was a graduate of Classical High School in Providence and then entered Brown University, but in 1936, he made the decision to serve his country and restart and complete his college education at West Point.
Like many of our World War II veterans, Ray did not talk much about his service on the western front as a lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of the 375th Field Artillery Battalion. In short, he deployed his battalion and led them against fierce enemy resistance, unpredictable weather, harsh terrain, and austere conditions. And he led them as they made great contributions to Allied forces during the push toward Berlin in 1944-1945. After the war, Ray continued his service to our country with postings from Belgium to the Pentagon, before retiring from the military after 20 years of service. He had a similarly successful career in the private sector, working for Bulova and GTE.
He found the love of his life with Lucille, to whom he was married for 30 years, until her passing in 2010. They shared an active life of sport and travel. He remains the loved and revered patriarch of the larger, extended Renola family.
Ray embodies what it means to live an extraordinary life: love for his country; love for his family; a life of duty, honor, and country.
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