[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S27]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS

 Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, on November 25, 2002, Oregonians 
were reminded once again what the whole nation witnessed on September 
11, 2001, that the men and women who run into burning buildings when 
everyone else is running out, are true heroes.
  For it was on November 25, 2002, when Randy Carpenter, Jeffrey Common 
and Chuck Hanners, all members of the Coos Bay Fire Department, gave 
their lives while protecting others, when the roof of a warehouse 
collapsed during a fire.
  Randy Carpenter was a thirteen year veteran of the Coos Bay Fire 
Department. He was a mentor to many young firefighters, and was 
respected as a man of integrity and professionalism. Along with 
fighting fires, Randy built houses and taught emergency medical aid 
classes. He was a loving father to two daughters.
  Like his father, Jeffrey Common was a volunteer member of the Coos 
Bay Fire Department. He worked in the tugboat business and was the 
devoted father of three young children.
  Chuck Hanners was also a volunteer member of the Coos Bay Fire 
Department. He served as the manager of a retail sporting goods 
department, but always carried a scanner in his back pocket so he could 
rush to a fire whenever help was needed. He left behind a wife and six 
children.
  At a very moving memorial service, which was attended by over 7,000 
community members and delegations of firefighters from across Oregon 
and the Pacific Northwest, Chuck's 17-year-old son, Daniel, read from 
the Firefighter's Prayer. The last line of this prayer says, ``If 
according to fate, I am to lose my life, please bless with your hand my 
children and my wife.''
  I join with countless other Oregonians in extending my prayers and 
condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of these three 
courageous Oregonians. While I was not privileged to know Randy, Jeff, 
and Chuck, I know of the pride they took in serving as a first 
responder, and I know that in giving themselves for others, they made 
themselves special, not just to us, but to God. The Bible tells us that 
``Greater love than this has no man than to lay down his life for his 
friends.'' Because God is love, we know He was there with them when 
they died, and that He is with them still.
  One of America's most beautiful monuments to courage and unselfish 
service is the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, MD. 
Flags at this Memorial were flown at half-staff in honor of Randy, Jeff 
and Chuck. And their names will also be added to a plaque at the 
monument, which stands near an eternal flame that represents the spirit 
of the firefighter, past, present, and future.
  The holiday season was a tough one for many in Coos Bay, but I hope 
that community members can take solace in the fact that they are 
fortunate to live in a community and we are all fortunate to live in a 
country that produces individuals like Randy, Jeff, and Chuck, 
individuals who are willing every day to risk their life so others 
might be safe. May God Bless the men and women of the Coos Bay Fire 
Department, and all fire department across the country, and may God 
Bless America.

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