[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 23 (Wednesday, March 6, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1592-S1593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              COMMEMORATING SENIOR AIRMAN JASON CUNNINGHAM

  Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, I rise today to commemorate a fallen 
hero from my home State of New Mexico--I see Senator Bingaman so I 
think it is appropriate to say ``our home State''--Senior Airman Jason 
Cunningham. He lost his life this week while trying to save the life of 
another serviceman in eastern Afghanistan.
  I express my heartfelt condolences to Jason's wife Theresa; his 
daughters, 2-year-old Hannah and 4-year-old Kyla; as well as his 
parents Larry and Jackie. I know I speak for all New Mexicans when I 
say how proud we are of your husband, father, and son, and that our 
thoughts and prayers are with you.
  Jason was a member of the Air Force's elite pararescue team whose 
mission is to rescue downed pilots in hostile territory. He joined the 
38th Rescue Squadron because it was his passion to save lives, and that 
is exactly what Jason and his comrades were doing this week when he 
came under heavy fire from the al-Qaida force.
  During an attempt by our forces to land a reconnaissance team in a 
mountainous region known to be inhabited by al-Qaida and Taliban, one 
troop fell from a helicopter when it was hit by enemy fire. Later, it 
was Jason and his rescue team who bravely went into the area where the 
trooper and helicopter were down in an attempt to extricate him. A 
heavy fire-fight ensued and Jason and five other Americans lost their 
lives.
  I know that words are of little consolation at such a difficult time 
for Jason's loved ones, but I want his family to know that all New 
Mexicans--this Senator, and I am certain my colleague, Senator 
Bingaman--mourn with them today. I am sure that for Jason's heroics his 
country will bestow upon him one of the most highly respected honors it 
can give, the Purple Heart. Such valor deserves no less.
  The loss of such fine Americans as Jason in the war on terrorism can 
be heartrending, but as a nation we must honor the sacrifices of men 
and women like Airman Cunningham and remain steadfast in our resolve to 
protect our freedoms and liberty from terrorism.
  President Bush has told us many times that this war would not be 
quick or easy, and it would be good to remember that while we mourn the 
loss of a good man like Jason Cunningham.
  I ask unanimous consent that a detailed statement surrounding the 
young man and his family headlined ``New Mexican Dies Trying to Save 
Others'' from the Albuquerque Journal, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 New Mexican Dies Trying to Save Others

                           (By Miguel Navrot)

       Jason Cunningham was one of the best the Air Force had to 
     offer.
       Cunningham served as a pararescueman--trained to rescue 
     downed pilots from the most hostile of enemy areas--in one of 
     the military's elite teams, sometimes compared to the Navy 
     SEALs.
       Cunningham, who grew up in Carlsbad and Farmington and 
     recently lived in Gallup, once considered becoming a SEAL as 
     a Navy petty officer. He had passed the Navy's fitness test 
     but decided to move to the Air Force.
       ``I didn't want to kill people,'' Cunningham told Airman 
     magazine, an Air Force publication, in October 2000. ``I 
     wanted to save them.''
       Cunningham, 26, died trying to save another serviceman 
     Monday. He was one of eight soldiers killed in renewed 
     fighting in eastern Afghanistan.
       The remains of seven of those servicemen arrived Tuesday at 
     Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
       Jason's parents, who live in Gallup, learned of their son's 
     death Tuesday morning.
       ``We're very proud of our baby,'' Jackie Cunningham said of 
     her son as she tried to hold back tears at a family news 
     conference on the lawn outside their blue ranch-style home.
       ``Jason died doing what he liked to do, save lives,'' said 
     his father, Larry ``Red'' Cunningham, choking on his words as 
     he read a brief statement.
       Since last summer, Cunningham, a senior airman, was 
     stationed at Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta, Ga., with 
     his wife, Theresa, and two daughters, 2-year-old Hannah and 
     4-year-old Kyla. He was deployed Feb. 1, his family said.
       ``We last heard from him on Saturday,'' the father said.
       Cunningham was the middle child of the family. Standing 
     next to his parents were his brother, Chris, 29, of 
     Washington state, and his sister, Lori, of Farmington.
       The family said memorial services will be in Georgia and in 
     Carlsbad this week. A funeral and burial are planned for next 
     week in Camarillo, Calif., where his wife is from.
       Cunningham was born and raised in Carlsbad. The family 
     moved to Farmington just before his high school years. After 
     graduating from high school, Cunningham went into the Navy 
     for four years before moving to the Air Force.
       Cunningham began the Air Force's pararescue school, a 
     grueling 21-month training program that few finish, about 
     2\1/2\ years ago.
       Training for pararescuemen, or PJs, concludes at Kirtland 
     Air Force Base. Cunningham graduated from the school on July 
     7, when he donned the group's maroon beret, Kirtland 
     officials said.
       He belonged to the 38th Rescue Squadron.
       Tech. Sgt. Tim Donovan, a supervisor for air operations 
     with the school at Kirtland, called Cunningham ``kind of 
     silly, kind of goofy,'' with a heart totally dedicated to the 
     pararescue mission.
       ``He had several setbacks that he overcame and persevered 
     through all the training,'' Donovan said. ``He never quit. He 
     was totally focused. . . .
       ``A lot of times you have kids who don't feel they have 
     their hearts into it or they're just in it for the beret or 
     they're doing it for something other than the motto (That 
     Others May Live). That wasn't him at all.''
       Cunningham is the fourth pararescueman the Air Force has 
     lost in the past three months. The Air Force has about 300 
     pararescuemen.
       ``They're a small, tight-knit community, and all of them 
     will most assuredly feel the loss of one of their own and 
     mourn his passing,'' Kirtland spokeswoman 2nd Lt. Kelley 
     Jeter said Tuesday.
       Theresa Cunningham spoke to her parents early Tuesday.
       ``She was hysterical. She talked to her mom and said, 
     `Jason is dead.' That's it,'' said her father, Lito D'Castro.

[[Page S1593]]

       ``He's a nice guy. He loves the service,'' D'Castro said 
     from Camarillo.
       D'Castro said the last time he saw Cunningham was when he 
     visited Camarillo at Christmas-time.
       Cunningham was one of seven Americans who died in the 
     bloodiest operation of the war in Afghanistan. They were 
     killed as troops were being taken into the battle area on two 
     different missions, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
       Early Monday, a two-helicopter team was ferrying in 
     reconnaissance troops south of Gardez when one was hit by 
     enemy fire, said Brig. Gen. John W. Rosa Jr., deputy director 
     of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
       One soldier fell from a helicopter and later died, Rosa 
     told a Pentagon news conference.
       Cunningham was killed during a subsequent rescue mission 
     involving special forces on two helicopters. Once on the 
     ground, those forces got into a firefight in which at least 
     11 were wounded and six died.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, I join my colleague, Senator Domenici, 
in expressing condolences to the family of Jason Cunningham. I also 
read with great sadness the report of his death in Afghanistan. It was 
emphasized in the report which I read that he was part of this para-
rescue team and that he had made a very conscious decision in choosing 
his career path in the military to be on a para-rescue team rather than 
on a different type of military team because he did want to commit his 
life to saving other people's lives. That is the exact activity he was 
engaged in in Afghanistan when he came under enemy fire and was killed 
in that combat.
  This is a reminder to all who serve in the Senate, as well as, of 
course, to his family. It is an enormous responsibility we take on as a 
nation when we send our best young people into battle to do the work of 
this country, to put these men and women at risk, as has been the case 
in Afghanistan. It is an enormous undertaking. His sacrifice is the 
ultimate sacrifice and his family's sacrifice, as well. We join with 
them in mourning his death.

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