[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 50 (Thursday, March 27, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4463-S4465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO SGT. BRADLEY KORTHAUS

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise today for the very sad purpose of 
honoring a fallen American.
  I learned this morning that Sgt Bradley Korthaus of Davenport, Iowa, 
has died while in service to his country as part of Operation Iraqi 
Freedom. I would like to take this opportunity to salute his patriotism 
and his sacrifice.
  Sgt Korthaus disappeared Monday during an operation in which he and 
three other Marines were swimming across a canal in southeastern Iraq, 
and his body has now been recovered.
  This is the first Iowan who has died in the current conflict in Iraq 
and the news has hit home with me and my staff.
  We all know that sacrifice is part of war, and the President has 
tried to prepare us for the inevitable losses; but it is impossible to 
fully prepare for the loss of a young life.
  My prayers go out to Steve and Marilyn Korthaus who grieve for their 
son and to all of the family, friends, and neighbors who are touched by 
his passing.
  There is nothing I can say that can take away the pain they must 
feel, but they should know that they are not alone in their grief.

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  Iowans have a strong sense of community and I know that Bradley's 
loss will be felt deeply by many who never even knew him.
  Bradley Korthaus deserves the highest gratitude of this body and the 
entire Nation. His sacrifice reminds us that freedom is so precious 
because of its incredibly high cost.
  Bradley's father served in Vietnam and Bradley followed that 
tradition of service to his country.
  This is an example of the patriotic contribution made by thousands of 
American service members and their families.
  The love of country and dedication to service shared by so many of 
its citizens is the great strength of our Nation and we can all be very 
proud of patriots like Bradley Korthaus.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the 24 young 
American men who have died in the conflict in Iraq.
  I would like to pay particular tribute, however, to the six men from 
my home State of California, and to talk briefly about each of them.
  To date, the young men of California account for one-fourth of all 
the Americans that have made the ultimate sacrifice. To date, nearly 
120,000 men and women now stationed in the Middle East, many of them in 
harm's way, are either from California or were stationed there before 
being deployed.
  It is often said that California receives too much from the Federal 
Government--too much of the appropriations pie. But when you consider 
our population is 35 million and you remember that, on average, 
Californians pay more in federal taxes than they receive in Federal 
programs, this is simply not the case. And Californians are playing a 
very prominent role in liberating the Iraqi people from the tyranny of 
Saddam Hussein.
  Of the six Californians that have died so far, two were not yet 
citizens, while one was a direct descendant of the second and sixth 
Presidents of the United States.
  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.
  The first four I would like to honor--Corporals Jorge Gonzalez, 
Randal Kent Rosaker, and Jorge Garibay, and SGT Michael Bitz--were 
killed on March 23, in heavy fighting outside the town of An Nasiriya.
  Two were fathers with infant children that they never met, a third a 
son who followed his father into the military.
  Twenty year-old Cpl Jorge Gonzalez was part of the 1st Battalion of 
the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. He grew up in Rialto, with his 
parents, Rosa and Mario, and five siblings. He was an avid soccer 
player, and a graduate of El Monte High School.
  His last visit home was at Christmas. There, his younger sister 
Nancy, who was never affectionate with her brother, hugged and kissed 
him before he left. ``I knew I had to do that,'' she said.
  He also left behind his wife Jazty and their 3-week-old baby boy, 
Alonso, who he never knew. He had hoped to retire from the Marines in a 
year and become a policeman.
  Before leaving he told his anxious mother,: ``Don't worry, mom. If I 
die a Marine, I'll die honored.''
  Marine Sgt Michael Bitz, a part of the 2nd Assault Amphibious 
Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, was just 31 years old. He grew up in 
Port Hueneme.
  He loved being a Marine so much, he reenlisted last fall. He loved 
his wife Janina so much that they had just renewed their vows. When he 
left for the gulf, they were expecting twins, Caleb and Taylor, who are 
now a month old. They also have a 2-year-old son, Joshua, and a 7 year-
old son, Christian, from an earlier marriage.
  In his last phone call to his mother, Donna, Sargeant Bitz was able 
to tell her that he loved her--and in his last letter he said that he 
was her warrior. In classic Marine-style, she always called her 
``ma'am.''
  Cpl Randal Kent Rosacker was also a member of the 2nd Marine 
Expeditionary Brigade. He was a rough-and-tumble athlete who loved the 
outdoors and ever since he was a boy he knew he wanted to follow his 
father, Rod, into the military.
  Cpl Rosacker grew up in San Diego, the son of a Navy man. He played 
football, baseball and wrestled for the Serra High School 
Conquistadors. His wrestling coach, Steve Stone, recalled when Randal 
broke his hand senior year, just before an important game.
  ``Well, we heard some thudding on the wall in the lockeroom,'' he 
said. ``We walk in, and Randy had broken off his cast. He said: 'Coach, 
tape it up. I'm ready to go.'''
  His former baseball coach, Chris Herrin, said that Rosacker's 
teammates could always count on him. ``He was the kind of guy who you 
would want fighting for your country,'' Herrin said.
  His grandmother, Patricia, said her grandson died doing something he 
loved--serving America. ``He believed in what he was doing,'' she said. 
He was just 21 years old.
  Born in Jalisco, Mexico, Cpl Jorge Garibay played football at Newport 
Harbor High School, in Costa Mesa. He, too, was just 21 years old.
  One of his teachers, Janis Toman, described him as a hard worker who 
frequently returned to the high school campus in full uniform, to 
encourage students to do their best.
  Ms. Toman received a letter from Cpl Garibay just a few hours before 
learning of his death, as she packed him a care package. ``He wrote of 
simple things that we take for granted but make soldiers happy,'' she 
said. ``Things like moving from a small tent to a bigger one.''
  ``I want to defend the country I plan to become a citizen of,'' he 
wrote to her. He also left a tape recording before his deployment for 
his beloved Uncle Urbano, whom he regarded as a surrogate father.
  In the tape he said: ``I'm being called to represent and serve my 
country. I don't know if I'll return, and I want you to know that I 
love you and how much I appreciate the support and love you have given 
me over the years.''
  LCpl Jose Gutierrez was the first American killed in combat. He was 
struck by enemy fire while fighting alongside fellow Marines near the 
southern Iraqi port city of Umm al Qasr. He was 22 years old.
  LCpl Gutierrez arrived in the United States when he was a 16 year old 
orphan, having left poverty-stricken circumstances in Guatemala City 
and a country racked by a brutal civil war.
  He traveled over 2,000 miles by foot, north through Mexico, in search 
of a better life here in the United States.
  Like so many immigrants, his past was soon eclipsed by his new life 
as an American. He was taken in by the Mosquera family, of Lomita, CA. 
Nora and Max Mosquera had begun helping immigrant foster children when 
their own children had grown.
  ``He joined the Marines to pay back a little of what he'd gotten from 
the U.S.,'' Max Mosquera said. ``For him it was a question of honor.''
  A tall and quiet young man who enjoyed soccer and chess, Jose learned 
English quickly and had plans to study architecture.
  ``He was such a good kid,'' remembered Robert Nobles, a physical 
education teacher at North High in Torrance, where Corporal Gutierrez 
graduated in 2000.
  I have been told that news of his death has resonated throughout 
Guatemala. Every major newspaper, radio and TV station carried his 
story. He has been portrayed as a brave and selfless young man--which 
he most certainly was.
  Navy LT Thomas Mullen Adams grew up in comfort, in the suburb of La 
Mesa, as a member of a family that traces its roots directly to John 
Adams, one of America's most important Founding Fathers.
  He graduated from Grossmont High School in 1993 and the United States 
Naval Academy in 1997.
  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.''

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  In October 2002, Lieutenant Adams was assigned as an exchange officer 
with the British Royal Navy's 849th 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's family said he particularly enjoyed his time with 
the Royal Navy for two reasons: Every ship had a pub onboard, and he 
was allowed a weekly 20-minute phone call home. He died with the Royal 
Navy when the helicopter he was flying collided with another helicopter 
over the Persian Gulf. He was just 27 years old.
  Mr. President, we all wish for a quick resolution of this war to 
limit casualties, military and civilian, American, allied, and Iraqi. 
We wish that American and coalition forces will be able to liberate the 
people of Iraq soon, and that our men and women will be able to return 
home to their families. Until then, however, they remain in our 
thoughts and our prayers, along with those who have already fallen.
  All Americans owe an enormous, an almost incalculable debt to these 
young men who were willing to sacrifice their own futures for the 
future of this country they so dearly loved so that we, as a people, 
might be safe and free. Their sacrifices must never be forgotten.
  I thank the Chair.

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