The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL ``MICKEY'' DePALO
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HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Michael ``Mickey'' DePalo for his innumerable contributions to veterans and the residents of the City of Burbank, California.
Mickey has been a Burbank resident for sixty-five years. He graduated from Burbank High School in 1964, and the following year, began his four-decades-long career with the City of Burbank Parks and Recreation Department. Shortly after graduating from college, Mr. DePalo briefly left the City of Burbank to honorably serve in the U.S. Army for two years during the Vietnam War.
As a child, Mickey played many sports, including flag football, baseball, softball and basketball. His love of sports continued into adulthood, and along with participating in Burbank sports leagues, he has generously volunteered his time and knowledge to the sports organizations for decades. He was a volunteer baseball, flag football and basketball coach for the City's Parks and Recreation Department, and a volunteer assistant coach for his son, Michael's youth basketball teams. Additionally, Mr. DePalo was Loyola High School Cross Country Team's volunteer coach and the race director for Burbank's Run for the Hungry for ten years.
A staunch advocate for veterans and their welfare, Mickey has been Chairperson of the Burbank Veterans Commemorative Committee and the emcee for the Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies at McCambridge Park in Burbank for over thirty years. Under his leadership, the committee has organized numerous veterans events in Burbank, including one event that Mr. DePalo is most proud of--assisting the City in 1998 to be selected as a site to host The Moving Wall, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. that tours the nation. He also worked on the Hands Across the Battlefield program, which partners with community businesses and individuals to collect and send supplies to our troops, and has raised funds for youth and veterans organizations in his role as Sr. Vice Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8310.
A few of the numerous community awards and commendations Mr. DePalo has received include the Burbank Association of Realtors' Citizen of the Year Award, an induction into the City of Burbank's Athletics Walk of Fame, the L.A. County Older Americans Volunteer Service Award, and the Veteran of the Year Award from both Assemblyman Paul Krekorian in 2009 and from Assemblymember Laura Friedman in 2017.
It is my honor to call Michael ``Mickey'' DePalo a friend and I want to thank him for over half a century of extraordinary support and dedication to our nation's veterans and the community of Burbank. I ask all Members to join me in paying tribute to this extraordinary American patriot.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 65
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