mr. donald stratton, escorted by petty officer first class juan rodriguez and national park chief historianiel martinez is ready to return honors as a representative for all pearl harbor survivors. mr. stratton is a former crew member of uss arizona. when the attacks started, then 19-year-old first class seaman stratton had just finished breakfast. when he saw the japanese planes topside he ran to his battle station even before the general's quarter alarm sounded. during the attack, don stratton suffered severe burns on over 60% of his body. following the attack mr. stratton spent nearly a year recovering from his injuries yet chose to return to sea as soon as he was able. mr. stratton reported to uss stack as gunner's mate and continued his service through the end of the war. mr. stratton made the journey back to pearl harbor with his family to honor fallen crew members and reconnect with old friends. he's one of five known remaining pearl harbor survivors of uss arizona, and he stands on stage today for all pearl harbor survivors. all pearl harbor survivors and world ii veterans invited t

mr. stratton reported to u.s.s.'s mate and continued his service through the end of the war. mr. stratton made the journey back to pearl harbor with his family to honor his fallen crew members and reconnect with old friends. he's one of five known remaining pearl harbor survivors of u.s.s. arizona, and he stands on stage today for all pearl harbor survivors. all pearl harbor survivors and other world ii veterans invited to stand as able. mr. stratton will now return the salute to u.s.s. halsey. [applause] >> carry on. pearl harbor survivors and world war ii veterans, please be seated. we thank the u.s.s. halsey and 199th and 19th fighter squadrons for participating in today's ceremony. we thank the u.s.s. halsey and in the hawaiian culture, the religious leader or spiritual advisor is known as a kahu. today we're pleased to have for our invocation a hawaiian blessing offered. ♪ >> [speaking hawaiian] our eternal father in heaven -- [speaking hawaiian] good morning, heavenly father. our dear creator, my blessing this

mr. donald stratton, escorted by petty officer first class juan rodriguez and national park chief historians a representative for all pearl harbor survivors. mr. stratton is a former crew member of "uss arizona." when the attacks started, then 19-year-old first class seaman stratton had just finished breakfast. when he saw the japanese planes topside he ran to his battle station even before the general's quarter alarm sounded. during the attack, don stratton suffered severe burns on over 60% of his body. following the attack mr. stratton spent nearly a year recovering from his injuries yet chose to return to sea as soon as he was able. mr. stratton reported to uss stack as gunner's mate and continued his service through the end of the war. mr. stratton made the journey back to pearl harbor with his family to honor fallen crew members and reconnect with old friends. he's one of five known remaining pearl harbor survivors of "uss arizona," and he stands on stage today for all pearl harbor survivors. all pearl harbor survivors and world ii veterans invited to stand as able. mr. stratton will n

mr. donald stratton, escorted by petty officer first class juan rodriguez and national park chief historianeturn honors as a representative for all pearl harbor survivors. mr. stratton is a former crew member of "uss arizona." when the attacks started, then 19-year-old first class seaman stratton had just finished breakfast. when he saw the japanese planes topside he ran to his battle station even before the general's quarter alarm sounded. during the attack, don stratton suffered severe burns on over 60% of his body. following the attack mr. stratton spent nearly a year recovering from his injuries yet chose to return to sea as soon as he was able. mr. stratton reported to uss stack as gunner's mate and continued his service through the end of the war. carry on. please be seated. we thank the "uss halsey" and 199th and 19th squadrons for participating in today's ceremony. in the hawaiian culture, the religious leader or spiritual adviser, today we're pleased to have for our in vocation offered. ♪ [ speaking foreign language ] >> our eternal father in heaven -- -- good morning, heavenly fat

mr. stratton spent nearly a year from his injuries, yet chose to return to sea as soon as he was able. r's mate and continued his service until the end of the war. he made the journey back to his family to th honor his fallen crewmembers and friends.t with old he is five known remaining pearl u.s.s. survivors of the arizona and he stands on stage today for all pearl harbor survivors. survivors and other world war ii veterans are invited to stand as able. mr. stratton will now return the u.s.s. hallsy. [cheers and applause] >> pearl harbor survivors and please beii veterans, seated. u.s.s. hallsy and the fighter squad rons tore in today's g ceremony. hawaiian culture, the or spiritual er dvisor, we have having a hawaiian blessing. hawaiian]in heaven,ternal father in father.ning, heavenly blessing reator, my this day is for the sacred resence of our pearl harbor survivors who are physically here. prayer also is dedicated to lost their roes who who are also spiritually here sitting and us.king among heavenly father, i come before to make ly and ask hings right finally and righteous and to

mr. donald stratton will now turn to salute.e be seated we think the 199th fighter squadron for participating in today's ceremony. the religious leader or spiritual advisor. today we are pleased to have a hawaii a blessing. ♪ our father in heaven, good morning heavenly father, our dear creator, our pearl harbor survivors that are physically hear my prayer also is dedicated to the great heroes that lost their lives that day were also spiritually here sitting and walking among us. i come before and asked to make things right and to ask for forgiveness for the pain and suffering has been for so long that in doing so there shall be a commitment beginning from this day for peace and in this piece it's shall translate to world peace. gracious and heavenly father, enough of the war are here on this sacred day we all come humbly and we ask to love one another until we are received allow us to be at peace. i ask them see these things in the sacred name amen. for the past 35 years the religious committee for the duration has honored a pra

mr. donald stratton will now turn to salute.e be seated we think the 199th fighter squadron for participating in today's ceremony. the religious leader or spiritual advisor. today we are pleased to have a hawaii a blessing. ♪ our father in heaven, good morning heavenly father, our dear creator, our pearl harbor survivors that are physically hear my prayer also is dedicated to the great heroes that lost their lives that day were also spiritually here sitting and walking among us. i come before and asked to make things right and to ask for forgiveness for the pain and suffering has been for so long that in doing so there shall be a commitment beginning from this day for peace and in this piece it's shall translate to world peace. gracious and heavenly father, enough of the war are here on this sacred day we all come humbly and we ask to love one another until we are received allow us to be at peace. i ask them see these things in the sacred name amen. for the past 35 years the religious committee for the duration has honored a pra

mr. stratton, we've injured in the attack? >> guest: is burned over 70% of my body. >> host: what was the recovery process like? >> guest: it took a year. >> host: what hospital? s. go they shoot me back to california and from their medical discharge. back home for a year, reenlisted, went back in and had to go through boot camp and wanted at least 100 through their in the cpl and they wanted me to stay there and then sent me to treasure island there is a request for the uss stack and went to board their proceeded to the south pacific and we were there planting new kidney and a couple islands offshore and then we were going to pick up some troops and put them in the mood that the invasion in two okay now i'm than we were on patrol for a number of days and night. but their readers syndicate of the old from japan and the sauce five ships one night. there was about 100 ships or whatever it was an okay now what. when i left there they went to san diego for a while. back to san diego and i had to finish the school and the second ti

mr. speaker. i come to the house floor today to honor one of my longtime district staffers, virginia stratton, who retired recently. virginia had been with my office serving the people of iowa since i first came into office in january, 2007. since then, she has handled more than 3,300 cases for iowans having issues with the department of defense, the department of labor and the post office. but by far, the largest portion of her cases involve the veterans administration. as i travel across my district, all 24 counties, meeting with veterans, it never fails that one of the first things i hear is about how hard virginia fought on their behalf or on behalf of their loved ones, to cut through the red tape at the v.a. whether it is securing medals for veterans who served but didn't receive their proper recognition or helping expedite a disability appeal, there was nothing, and i say nothing, virginia wouldn't do to ensure our veterans receive the assistance that they need. i always knew that if virginia was on the case, there would be no stone left unturned and no question left unasked. she worked ever