Happy 100th Birthday, Ms. Carol Couch

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Florida's Third Congressional District, I wish Ms. Carol Couch a very happy 100th birthday.

Carol has always been known for her confident and strong personality. Carol joined the U.S. Army in April 1942 and was assigned to 1612th SCU Sta Comp WAC Det in Washington, D.C. While there, Carol worked to decode enemy messages which was then a top-secret job. After World War II, Carol and her husband Edgar Cox were honorably discharged, and they packed all their belongings, including three young children, into a truck to move to Florida.

After opening a collections bureau, her plans changed and Carol drew up plans to build a million-dollar building providing office space to professionals, including doctors and dentists. Her husband thought her plans too ambitious and attempted to stop her, but Carol went to the courthouse and had herself declared separate from her husband so she could continue without his permission.

A woman of many interests, Carol became partner in a road construction company, oversaw the construction of her home, worked with doctorate students to form their thesis papers at the University of Florida, and maintained a multitude of hobbies. She even worked for 15 years at the University of Florida as a typist with an incredible speed of 120 correct words per minute.

In her later years, Carol worked for the Census Bureau and volunteered at Grace United Methodist Church, Friends of the Library, and several other organizations. Carol gradually bowed out of these responsibilities and gave up driving in her early 90s. Of all she accomplished, however, being a veteran was her favorite accomplishment, and she always drove with an American flag in the back windshield.

For the last several decades, Carol has made her home in North Central Florida, and has been a treasured member of several veterans' groups. I am honored to wish her a happy 100th birthday on May 22, 2024, and to thank her for her dutiful service to our Nation. I Congratulate her on this milestone. I am elated to celebrate with her.

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