[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 56 (Monday, May 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E834-E835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  A TRIBUTE TO BRIAN MAYER, OF MEDFORD, LONG ISLAND, RECIPIENT OF THE 
  UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS' SILVER STAR MEDAL FOR HEROISM IN BATTLE 
                      DURING THE VIETNAM CONFLICT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL P. FORBES

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 1, 1997

  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Brian 
Mayer, a resident of Medford, Long Island, who learned just last week 
that he will be decorated with the U.S. Marine Corps Silver Star Medal 
for heroism during the Battle for Hue City, Vietnam, on February 22, 
1968.
  Though this recognition of Brian's remarkable courage under enemy 
fire comes nearly 30 years later, its significance to his family and 
the U.S. Marines whose lives he saved has not been lessened by time, 
for he has been credited with putting his own life in grave danger, 
several times exposing himself to enemy gunfire in order to rescue 
wounded comrades. Brian's heroism did not come without a price. While 
delivering wounded Marines to a medical aid station he was seriously 
wounded in action.

[[Page E835]]

  The Marine Corps will award Brian the Silver Star Medal after 
receiving several personal accounts from the wounded Marines of Lima 
Company that he pulled from the battlefield at Hue City. Working alone 
and without regard for his own safety, Brian drove a four-wheel drive 
mule into the middle of the raging firefight, loaded the dead and 
wounded on the mule and sped them to safety. Within minutes, Brian was 
back, evacuating more wounded Marines to the aid station. Two days 
later, Brian again rode his mule into a raging firefight to rescue 
wounded Marines. Again, he was successful in delivering his precious 
cargo to an aid station. But not without a price. Brian was wounded 
during that battle, and the scars of that injury have never fully 
healed.
  Because Brian was attached to a different Marine battalion, the men 
of Lima Company did not know their rescuer. If not for the 
determination of Sgt. Joe McLaughlin, whose witness to Brian's actions 
inspired a 30-year search for the Marine who pulled so many injured men 
from that Vietnamese battlefield, this Nation may never have had the 
privilege of honoring Brian's heroism in service to his country. 
Brian's sense of patriotism and duty have been passed along to his son, 
Craig Mayer, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.
  Mr. Speaker, even words of praise from this esteemed Chamber cannot 
carry the weight of gratitude offered by Dennis Freed, one of the 
Marines whom Brian Mayer saved during the Battle for Hue City, who 
said: ``Brian Mayer is a true American hero, whose sacrifices and 
heroism will always remain an inspiration to us all. He is truly 
deserving of, and long overdue for recognition of that heroism and 
sacrifice.'' Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring 
Brian Mayer, who was willing to lay down his own life, ultimately 
sacrificing his own well-being on the field of battle, in an effort to 
save the lives of his fellow U.S. Marines. Brian Mayer is a true 
American hero.

                          ____________________