[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 153 (Wednesday, December 13, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H12082]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CRASH OF MV-22 OSPREY IN JACKSONVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

  (Mr. REYNOLDS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, an MV-22 Osprey crashed during 
a training mission in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The crash took the 
lives of all four Marines on board: Lieutenant Colonel Keith Sweaney of 
Richmond, Virginia; Major Michael Murphy of Blauvelt, New York; Staff 
Sergeant Avely Runnels of Morven, Georgia; and Sergeant Jason Buyck of 
Sodus, New York.
  My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of these brave men who 
gave the last full measure of their devotion and service to our Nation. 
I know that all Americans join in mourning the loss of these brave 
Marines.
  While it is difficult to find the words that express the depth of our 
sadness and sense of loss, I am reminded of a 1864 letter from 
President Abraham Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby of Boston, which became widely 
known after its use in the film Saving Private Ryan.
  President Lincoln's simple eloquence is timeless and poignant:
  ``I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which 
should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so 
overwhelming,'' Lincoln wrote. ``But I cannot refrain from tendering to 
you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic 
they died to save.
  ``I pray that our Heavenly Father may ease the anguish of your 
bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and 
lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a 
sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.''

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