[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 26, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4430-S4431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NAVY LIEUTENANT THOMAS MULLEN ADAMS

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, it is with a heavy heart that I rise 
today to pay tribute to another American--and another Californian--
killed in the line of duty. His name: LT Thomas Mullen Adams, of La 
Mesa. He was only 27.
  Yesterday, I spoke of LCpl Jose Gutierrez, a young immigrant from 
Guatemala who was struck down trying to liberate the Iraqi port city of 
Umm al Qasar. Corporal Gutierrez was an orphan who first settled in a 
homeless shelter in Hollywood, before being taken in by foster parents.
  Lieutenant Adams, on the other hand, grew up in comfort, in the 
suburbs, as a member of a family that traces its roots directly to John 
Adams, one of America's most important Founding Fathers.
  On the surface, there seems little in common with Corporal Gutierrez 
and Lieutenant Adams. But together, they embody the depth and breadth 
of America's Armed Forces--men and women from all walks of life, 
willing to give their lives to defend our freedoms.
  Lieutenant Adams graduated from Grossmont High School in 1993 and the 
United States Naval Academy in 1997.

[[Page S4431]]

  He received flight training in Pensacola, FL, and inherited his love 
of flying from his father, John, an architect who helped design the 
Aerospace Museum in San Diego.
  Promoted to lieutenant in the year 2000, Adams won two National 
Defense Service Medals, three Sea Service Deployment Ribbons and other 
awards.
  ``He's one of these amazingly clean-cut, all-American kids,'' his 
aunt, Elizabeth Hansen, told the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper. 
``He's the kind of kid that if you had a very special daughter, you 
would hope that she would snag him. He was just amazingly bright, funny 
and kind.''
  In October of 2002, Lieutenant Adams was assigned as an exchange 
officer with the British Royal Navy's 849 Squadron, now on the aircraft 
carrier Ark Royal.
  An avid soccer fan who had volunteered to go to Japan with the 
carrier Kitty Hawk in time for the World Cup finals last summer, he 
joined a local team near his base in Helston, England. Lieutenant 
Adams' family said that he particularly enjoyed his time with the Royal 
Navy for two reasons: every ship had a pub on board, and he was allowed 
a weekly 20-minute phone call home.
  ``This is an extremely close family, and none of us will ever be the 
same,'' said his aunt, Elizabeth Hansen. ``All of us just remember him 
as a fun-loving guy with a wry sense of humor and we can't imagine 
going forward without him.''
  I can only hope that they do go forward. And it is to his family--to 
his parents, John and Marilyn, and his younger sister, Cari--that I 
extend my deepest sympathies.
  All Americans owe an enormous--an almost incalculable--debt to LT 
Thomas Mullen Adams, who accepted great risk and was willing to 
sacrifice his future for the future of the country he so clearly loved, 
so that we, as a people, might be safe and free. His sacrifice will 
never be forgotten.

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