[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 11, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1556]]
           IN MEMORY OF CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER CHARLES STANLEY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. STEVE C. LaTOURETTE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 11, 2002

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, Chief Warrant Officer Charles 
I. Stanley was laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington 
National Cemetery. It had been 33 years since the Army helicopter he 
was piloting crashed in bad weather in South Vietnam during the Vietnam 
War. A search and rescue mission to find Stanley and six others on the 
helicopter following the crash had been unsuccessful.
  For more than three decades, Stanley's family was unsure of his fate, 
and wondered if he would always be classified as MIA and if their grief 
would have no end. Finally, in November of 2000, several years after a 
crash site was identified, Stanley's remains were positively verified 
through DNA analysis. His burial at Arlington National Cemetery, our 
nation's most hallowed ground, took place last week and finally gave 
his beloved family some closure after decades of uncertainty.
  Stanley grew up in Highland Heights, OH. He was a graduate of 
Mayfield High School and attended Ohio State University before 
enlisting in the Army in 1968. He was just 23 years old at the time of 
his death.
  Stanley is survived by a brother, Ronald Stanley of Highland Heights, 
a sister, Carol Subel, a Chagrin Falls resident, and many other family 
members. Sadly, Stanley's mother and father both passed before learning 
of their son's fate.
  At Stanley's funeral last week, about 50 family members, friends and 
Vietnam veterans gathered at Arlington to pay their last respect and to 
give this military hero a long overdue farewell. There was a chapel 
service at Fort Myers and then a graveside burial at Arlington, 
complete with a three-gun volley, a flag presentation and the 
performance of Taps by a lone bugler.
  On behalf of the 19th Congressional District of Ohio, I extend my 
condolences to Stanley's family. I am pleased that you finally were 
able to give your brother the burial that befits him as a war hero, and 
that you have gained some closure in this painful chapter of your 
lives. Please know that Charles Stanley's heroic service and sacrifice 
for our nation are appreciated and will never be forgotten.

                          ____________________