[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 73 (Monday, June 13, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: June 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING THE VETERANS OF SOMALIA
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HON. ROBERT K. DORNAN
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, June 13, 1994
Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the Record today
and throughout the next week the stories of 26 modern day heroes,
soldiers killed in combat in Somalia last year. I hope these stories,
reprinted from a May 30, 1994, Army Times article, will remind everyone
of the ultimate sacrifice each and every member of our Armed Forces are
prepared to make in service to our Nation.
We Remember
This Memorial Day, Army Times remembers 26 soldiers who
were killed in combat in the last year. All died in Somalia.
They came from everywhere: the South, the East, New
England, the Midwest, Southwest and the Far West. Their
private lives were as varied as the American nation.
The Army has recognized their sacrifice and honored their
memory with the posthumous award of the Purple Heart and
several Silver Stars, Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze
Star Medals. On May 23, two will receive the country's
highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.
The defining criterion for inclusion in this tribute was
the Purple Heart, America's oldest military decoration. These
soldiers post-humously received the Purple Heart from April
30, 1993, to May 1, 1994, according to the Total Army
Personnel Command.
PFC Matthew K. Anderson
When Somali gunmen brought down PFC Matthew K. Anderson's
UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during a night reconnaissance
mission over Mogadishu, they robbed the world of a
``brilliant'' wit with a great future as a writer, according
to his friends.
``The things we'll miss the most are his witty comments,''
says PFC Thomas Romano. ``He always had a witty comment for
everything.''
Romano and Matthew Anderson both joined the Army May 21,
1992, and since then their careers were inter-twined until
Sept. 25, when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the latter's
helicopter as it flew over the Somali capital.
The pair completed basic and advanced individual training
together at Fort Benning, Ga., and from there they both
joined B Company, 9th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment,
Fort Campbell, Ky., as Black Hawk door gunners.
They also became roommates, which gives Romano a lot of
experience of his buddy's laid-back approach to life. ``His
answer to any problem was `Don't worry about it, man,''' says
Romano.
When he wasn't working or playing practical jokes on his
colleagues, Matthew Anderson expressed his wit through his
writing, says Spec. James Houchin, another of B Company's
door gunners. ``He had a really weird sense of humor,''
Houchin says. ``He'd write . . . off-the-wall stories and
read them to us for something to do, especially over there
[in Somalia].'' He specialized in writing poetry and fiction,
with a particular emphasis on science fiction, his colleagues
say.
``He wanted to be a writer,'' Houchin says. ``He came in
the Army for the experience of doing it, for something to
write about.'' There's no doubt in his friends' minds that
Matthew Anderson would have achieved his literary ambitions
had he lived.
Romano's life was to have one final, fatal link with that
of his friend Sept. 25. ``I was supposed to take his flight
that night,'' Romano remembers, ``He was tired, and I told
him, `No, I'm up, why don't you let me fly it for you?''' But
his friend's commitment to the mission overcame his fatigue.
``He wouldn't let me take it. It would have been me instead
of him.''
CW3 Donovan L. Briley
As a child growing up in North Little Rock, Ark., CW3
Donovan L. Briley, 33, always wanted to climb higher. If he
wasn't in a tree or atop a roof, he was looking for one, says
his widow, Sharri Briley.
As an adult, he wouldn't have been happy doing anything
other than flying.
Donovan Briley graduated from flight school in 1985 and
joined the Army Reserve, Later that year, he was piloting
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and state
troopers on a marijuana detection mission when the helicopter
crashed. Three DEA agents were killed, and Donovan Briley
sustained burns and back injuries. But within four months, he
was back flying.
``He never wanted to stop flying,'' Sharri Briley said.
``He was a better pilot from that experience.''
In December 1987, Donovan Briley went on active duty a
month after his daughter, Jordan, was born. One of four
brothers, he was proud of his Cherokee heritage and had an
uncommon dedication to his work, Sharri Briley said. ``His
main interest was always studying for how he could better
himself. He was always trying to be a better pilot.''
He deployed to Somalia with the 160th Special Operations
Aviation Regiment, and was killed Oct. 3 while serving with
Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu.
During his career, Donovan Briley was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross, two Bronze Stars, two Purple
Hearts, two Air Medals with ``V'' devices, two Air Medals,
Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed
Forces Expeditionary Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
SSgt. Daniel D. Busch
Early last summer, SSgt. Daniel D. Busch--known as
``Rambusch'' to his high school buddies from Portage Senior
High School--took leave to visit his mother in Barabou, Wis.
He had a heart-to-heart talk with her to explain that his
unit, Army Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., was
being deployed on a mission.
``He told me his unit was going some place later than
summer, but he couldn't say where,'' his mother, Virginia
Johnson, says. ``He just told me not to worry. He said, `I
know this job is dangerous, but remember that it keeps me
close to God. A Christian soldier is just a click away from
heaven in this type of work.''
Virginia Johnson says she understood. ``He was always
trying to reassure us, because he could never tell us exactly
what he did,'' she says.
After that talk, they went fishing, something Busch always
looked forward to. That visit was the last time Virginia
Johnson saw her son. The 25-year-old light weapons infantry
specialist was killed Oct. 3 in Mogadishu, Somalia, in the
bloodiest single battle for American troops since Vietnam.
The Army posthumously awarded Daniel Busch the Silver Star
and the Purple Heart. A combat veteran of Operation Just
Cause in Panama, he received other awards during his seven-
year Army career, including the Bronze Star, Meritorious
Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge and National Defense
Medal.
But family members and close friends all say Daniel Busch
got his real reward when he took his last breath: The
opportunity finally to meet God, someone Busch spent a lot of
time talking to.
Daniel Busch joined the Army right out of high school in
1986. Something about serving God, country and fellow man
appealed to him, his mother says. But he was still planning
on getting out in September 1995.
His wife, Traci Busch, 23, says that her husband wanted
their 14-month-old son, Mitchell, ``to grow up in an
atmosphere that had nothing to do with the Army and the
constant deployments and moving around.''
In a letter to his son, dated Sept. 29, Daniel Busch talked
of his desire that is son grow up to be a man of morals and
values. ``It's very important for you to grow up to be a
Christian,'' he wrote. ``Listen to your mother.''
The family has established a scholarship fund for students
who want to pursue a career in conservation. For information,
write Virginia Johnson, 707 7th Street, Barabou, Wis. 53913.
spec. James m. cavaco
Spec. James M. Cavaco could have gotten out of deploying to
Somalia with his Ranger unit. But his dedication wouldn't let
him, says his mother, Barbara Cavaco, James Cavaco was among
the American soldiers killed in the Oct. 3-4 firefight in
Mogadishu.
When James Cavaco enlisted in 1991 at age 24, he was a
little older than most recruits. He decided that since he
couldn't find fulfilling work in the civilian world, he could
find it in the Army.
James Cavaco had an associate's degree from Cape Cod
Community College and worked at several jobs, but the sagging
New England economy couldn't provide him a job with a future.
``He just made up his mind--`This is it, I've had enough of
this, I'm not going to live like this, I'm not going to be a
bum, I'm going to be the best I can be and that's it,''' his
mother says.
James Cavaco not only enlisted, he volunteered for the
Rangers. Barbara Cavaco says her son quit smoking and
drinking and started an exercise program to meet the high
Ranger standards.
Ranger training didn't phase him. ``As brutal as Ranger
School was, he loved it,'' Barbara Cavaco says. ``He thought
it was great.''
To break the tension, he fell back on his hobby, playing
rock music on the guitar. ``He was really into that; he was
quite good,'' his mother says, adding with a laugh, ``He used
to drive all the guys crazy in the barracks.''
When James Cavaco got the word that his company was to
deploy to Somalia, he had been notified of a death in the
family. Barbara Cavaco still weeps when she recalls her son's
selfless response to leaving his unit.
``He refused to come home,'' says his mother. ``What he
said was, `I have to do what I have to do to effect mission
success and to see that my men don't get hurt.'''
On Oct. 3, James Cavaco was riding in a convoy of Humvees
battling through the tight streets of Mogadishu to rescue
soldiers in a downed helicopter. He was killed in a rain of
automatic weapons fire and grenades. He was posthumously
awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor.
Barbara Cavaco has no grudge against the Army. ``He had
faith in his officers, in his unit, his equipment, his
training,'' she says. ``He was totally dedicated. He felt
that the men he was with were the best, that the selection
process was such that he was surrounded by the best he could
be surrounded by.
``That was his thing, to do the best he could.''
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