[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 154 (Wednesday, October 29, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13427-S13430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I have risen on numerous occasions over 
the last several months to pay tribute to our Nation's troops serving 
in Iraq, Afghanistan, and across the globe in support of the war on 
terrorism. Today I would like to add to that ongoing tribute by 
honoring the troops of the 39th Infantry Brigade or ``the Arkansas 
Brigade,'' as we know it at home. The 39th was recently mobilized for 
action in Iraq with troops pulling out this week for training in Fort 
Hood before a 12-month deployment in the Middle East.
  Last weekend I had the honor of attending a send-off ceremony for the 
39th Brigade in Little Rock. That ceremony brought together soldiers, 
families, friends, and loved ones to commemorate the occasion and to 
wish them the best in their mission. The send-off was not a 
celebration. In fact, it was a sober occasion. After all, no one 
relishes the prospect of traveling halfway around the world, far from 
family, friends, and home, to take on a dangerous but necessary 
mission.
  But along with the sense of sobriety at the ceremony, there was an 
enormous sense of duty, honor, and pride among these individuals. These 
men and women recognized that they were taking on a great personal 
risk, but they also recognized that, in so doing, they are part of a 
long tradition of American soldiers taking up arms to defend our 
freedoms and to bring security and stability to the world. As their 
fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers fought in the First and 
Second World Wars, in Korea, Vietnam, the gulf war, and in countless 
other conflicts in the last century, these men and women are embracing 
a new historic mission.
  The 39th Infantry Brigade is the largest combat command in the 
Arkansas Army National Guard, with nearly 3,000 troops comprising 47 
units from across the State. While this is the first time since World 
War II that the entire brigade has been activated for overseas service, 
the 39th has been remarkably active within Arkansas for decades.
  At the Governor's behest, the 39th has been quick to respond in the 
event of State emergencies. When floods, tornadoes, forest fires, ice 
storms, and drought have struck Arkansas, the members of the 39th have 
been there to offer their expertise and to lend a hand to communities 
in need. The 39th has offered assistance to law enforcement in missing 
persons cases, anticrime efforts, and counterdrug programs. Members of 
the 39th have offered themselves for countless hours of leadership and 
volunteer service in their communities, in schools and churches, civic 
organizations, private businesses, law enforcement, and even elected 
office.
  Consider, for example, the small town of Bradford just a few miles 
northeast of Little Rock. This town of 800 people is preparing to lose 
their mayor, their police chief, and the school librarian, all of whom 
are leaving for Iraq. While these temporary losses may bring temporary 
hardships, I have every confidence that these communities, Bradford and 
many others, will pull through.
  I am happy to report that Bradford is already coping--Grebe Edens, a 
78-year-old former school teacher who serves as the town's recorder and 
treasurer, will be serving in the mayor's place until he returns.
  I ask unanimous consent that an October 24 Washington Post article 
about how the town of Bradford is coping be printed in the Record 
following my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, this is but one example of the effect 
this deployment will have on my home State of Arkansas. Many 
communities in Arkansas will no doubt be able to share similar stories 
of losing key personnel in the next 18 months.
  Furthermore, let us not lose sight of the impact of this deployment 
on the families of these troops.
  I was standing in that auditorium on Sunday visiting with mothers, 
aunts, daughters, as well as wives and children, and watching their 
faces with a sense of not knowing what is coming down the pike and yet 
being so incredibly proud of their loved ones who are serving this 
great Nation.
  I have an October 27 newspaper story written by Stephen Ziegler, 
editor of the Searcy Daily Citizen in White County, AR.
  Mr. Ziegler's story focuses on the troops of the Second Battalion, 
153rd Brigade, and their families. Some are newly married, or have 
young children.
   The stories illustrate the mixed emotions that many Arkansans 
experience

[[Page S13428]]

in seeing loved ones, friends, and neighbors leave to serve our great 
Nation.
   Here is one young couple who are expecting a child in May. Here is a 
school superintendent who has been away from his job for 3 of the last 
6 years on account of frequent deployments. Here is a young Army medic 
whose greatest fear is that he may see a friend die.
   But coupled with the uncertainty is a clear sense of dedication and 
commitment.
   I ask unanimous consent that this article from the Daily Citizen be 
printed in the Record following my remarks, so that we may be ever 
mindful of the effects of war both on those who serve and on those they 
leave behind.
   The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 2.)
  Mrs. LINCOLN. As recent events have made startlingly clear, the 
situation in Iraq remains dangerous.
  It is true that some parts of the country--notably in the south and 
in the Kurdish north--have achieved a measure of stability and 
security. To the extent that stability has been achieved in these 
areas, it has been entirely attributable to the hard work, commitment, 
and ingenuity of American troops on the ground. We praise them for 
that.
  Unfortunately, it is also true that parts of Iraq remain critically 
unstable, particularly in the country's central region around Baghdad 
and Tikrit. With these facts in mind, let us salute the remarkable 
courage of our men and women who are placing themselves at great risk 
to serve in bringing security and peace to Iraq. We owe them a 
tremendous, tremendous debt for this service and sacrifice.
  Finally, I would like to once again pay tribute to the troops 
currently serving in Iraq--roughly 140,000 American troops, with an 
estimated 5,000 from Arkansas. Many have given their lives to this 
mission, and many more have been wounded, some quite seriously. Those 
who remain in Iraq, and those who are preparing to enter into rotation 
in theater, will be in our thoughts and prayers in the months to come. 
We pledge to take care of their families and loves ones who are left 
behind.
  We wish our troops safety, we wish them success, and we wish them a 
swift and safe return to their homes and loved ones as soon as their 
service is complete.
  Thank you, Mr. President.

                               Exhibit I

                [From washingtonpost.com, Oct. 24, 2003]

                  A Town's Leaders Marching Off to War

                          (By Lee Hockstader)

       Bradford, AR.--For months, Paul Bunn had an inkling that 
     his unit of the Arkansas National Guard would be shipped to 
     Iraq, and there were a few things he wanted to get done 
     before he left.
       Such as running the drug dealers out of town, ensuring a 
     safe supply of drinking water and compelling his more 
     slovenly constituents to get rid of the junk in their yards--
     if necessary by fining them.
       Bunn, 36, took office in January as the supercharged mayor 
     of Bradford, a one-blinking-stoplight hamlet of cow pastures, 
     low-slung houses, rickety shacks and modest churches set 
     among the rice and soybean fields an hour's drive northeast 
     of Little Rock. His impending departure for the Middle East--
     Bunn has already reported for training and expects to be in 
     Baghdad early next year--has shaken this town of 800.
       So has the scheduled deployment of the police chief, the 
     school librarian and five other townsmen, all members of the 
     39th Infantry Brigade of the Arkansas National Guard.
       ``I'd say our town is paying one heck of a price, but to me 
     it's a price worth paying,'' said Bunn, a former Army Special 
     Forces soldier who fought in Panama and the Persian Gulf War.
       The deployment of the 39th Infantry Brigade, announced in 
     late September, means about 3,000 Arkansas Guardsmen from 47 
     units scattered across the state will be going to Iraq early 
     next year as part of a major deployment with the Army's 1st 
     Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Tex. The troops are 
     expected to replace soldiers of the 1st Armored Division who 
     have been serving in Iraq since April.
       For Arkansas, the effect is dramatic. Counting 2,000 
     guardsmen already deployed elsewhere overseas, including in 
     Afghanistan, the departure of the 39th means that more than 
     half the state's 11,000 guardsmen will be serving overseas. 
     Only a handful of other states--Oklahoma, North Carolina 
     Washington--have a similarly large portion of their guardsmen 
     serving overseas, according to the National Guard.
       To the extent that Bradford--or at least its leadership--is 
     being decapitated, the town is unusual. But it is also 
     typical of communities that, disproportionately, are sending 
     military men and women to serve in Iraq and other areas of 
     conflict.
       ``Broadly speaking, [the military] tends to be more rural 
     and more southern,'' said Doug Bandow, who has analyzed the 
     demographics of the U.S. military for the Cato Institute, a 
     think tank. ``But it is also a broadly Middle America, 
     middle-class force.''
       The departure of so many prominent citizens is causing 
     ripple effects and dislocations not easily absorbed in so 
     small a rural town. At the town's one school, for instance, 
     the departure of the librarian, Nolan Brown, 57, a 
     grandfather of nine who is a personnel clerk in the Guard, 
     triggered a domino effect in which one new teacher was hired 
     and three others, in the departments of math, science and 
     social studies, were compelled to add or drop courses they 
     had already begun.
       At Bradford's somewhat misleadingly named city hall, a one-
     story red brick building that also houses the police and 
     water departments, Mayor Bunn's powers have been transferred 
     to Greba Edens, 78, a retired schoolteacher whose last 
     specific memory of a combat casualty that touched her life 
     involved a friend's brother--killed in World War II.
       ``I'm not moving into the mayor's office,'' said Edens, 
     known locally as Miss Greba, the town's recorder-treasurer 
     for 19 years, who by law will assume Bunn's duties until he 
     returns. ``But he made promises that he'd clean up the trashy 
     places around town and try to get rid of some of the drugs, 
     so I guess I'll try to do that.''
       Like the mayor and the librarian, the police chief, Josh 
     Chambliss, 28, is expected to be gone from 18 months to two 
     years on duty in Iraq. Chambliss, recently married, had been 
     hoping to start a family, but those plans may be on hold for 
     now. His five-officer police department, which deals mainly 
     with domestic disputes, thefts and a methamphetamine drug 
     problem common in small rural towns, will be led in his 
     absence by Michael Ray, the assistant chief.
       Ray, 34, who counts the chief as well as the mayor among 
     his best friends, seems slightly uneasy both at their 
     departure and his own ascendance.
       ``In the last Gulf War, they were all surrendering to 
     anyone who came along,'' said Ray, whose badge, affixed to 
     his belt, still says assistant chief. ``This time, it's just 
     a whole different ballgame, and there's a good chance that 
     some of [the Americans] aren't coming back.''
       Ray's apprehension about the fighting in Iraq is widely 
     shared, even though most people in this resolutely 
     conservative town are quick to say they support the troops as 
     well as President Bush. Many say they want to see the troops 
     ``get over there, get the job done and get home quickly''--
     intoning their wishes almost like a mantra--and in 
     practically the same breath acknowledge that they see no 
     swift end to the fighting or the U.S. engagement in Iraq.
       ``We don't want to get into another situation like in 
     Vietnam, of not supporting these people,'' said Larry 
     Robinson, a county veterans services officer. ``You bet we're 
     behind them, and this is really bringing the Iraqi situation 
     right to the front door. But this is a new type of war, and 
     it worries me.''
       For his part, Bunn has no illusions about the toll that may 
     result from the 39th Infantry Division's deployment. A 
     sergeant who expects to be a Humvee squad leader in Iraq, 
     Bunn has already bluntly told his two children and two 
     stepchildren, ages 11 to 15, that he and some of his fellow 
     guardsmen may not be coming home alive.
       ``I'm hard as woodpecker lips when it comes to this, but in 
     this job here there's gonna be body bags coming home and 
     bullets going downrange,'' he said. ``I don't believe in 
     lying to the kids about it.''
       Bunn worries nearly as much about what he is leaving behind 
     in Bradford as what he will face in Iraq. He worries about 
     his insulation business, in which he has several hundred 
     thousands of dollars in loans, and whether it will survive 
     his absence. He worries about miss Greba, the stand-in mayor, 
     and whether she will be able to oversee an $800,000 grant 
     from the state that Bunn secured to improve the town's 
     drinking water. He worries about what will happen in the 
     event of tornadoes hitting Arkansas--Bradford lies in the 
     heart of twister country--in the absence of thousands of the 
     state's National Guard troops.
       ``I'm a wheeler-dealer, and it doesn't bother me to pick up 
     the phone and call the governor,'' Bunn said. ``But I'm not 
     even going to try over there. My job now is to be a soldier 
     and take the guys I got and bring them over there and bring 
     them back safe.''
       Yet he also worries about making it back to Bradford for 
     his stepson Bradley's high school graduation in the spring of 
     2005. And he frets about his friend Chambliss, a staff 
     sergeant in the Guard who has never been in combat.
       ``Josh to me is a special person,'' Bunn said of his police 
     chief. ``Not too many people that you find who have an 
     innocence about them, and Josh does. . . . That innocence 
     will be shattered, and that's what bothers me.''
       Bunn believes he will be prepared for Iraq, but the other 
     guardsmen are much less experienced. Nolan Brown, the school 
     librarian, was in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968, 
     but he was a clerk in a dental unit at the time, not involved 
     in combat.
       The younger men enlisted, in some cases while still in high 
     school, were lured mainly by the Guard's generous provisions 
     for helping pay for college and health insurance. Few 
     imagined they would be heading off to combat anytime soon.

[[Page S13429]]

       Two of them, both privates in the Guard, wandered into the 
     Bradford school the other day dressed in green fatigues, 
     their hair cropped short. One, Richard Farmer, 21, a supply 
     specialist, joined the Guard a few years ago when he was 
     still in school. The other, Wesley Hodges, 20, an 
     administrative assistant in the Guard, joined shortly 
     thereafter.
       Asked if they would have joined then had they known it 
     would mean duty in Iraq, the two shrugged and mumbled an 
     unconvincing ``yeah.''
                                  ____


                               Exhibit II

                [From the Daily Citizen, Oct. 27, 2003]

                 Focus on White County: Called to Duty

                          (By Stephen Zeigler)

        White County gave a rousing sendoff Friday at Spring Park 
     in Searcy to the 140 local troops of the 39th Infantry 
     Brigade who begin heading to Fort Hood Tuesday. From there, 
     the troops go to Iraq sometime in March.
        There were balloons, hugs and tributes.
        But it is the third deployment since 1998 for members of 
     the Second Battalion, 153rd Brigade, who went to Kuwait on 
     the Iraq border in 1999 and then to Egypt in 2001, just 
     returning in August.
        It is safe to say they were hoping for an extended time 
     home before being deployed again.
        The honor to White County is significant, but so are the 
     sacrifices. Lt. Sgt. Kirk Van Pelt estimates the soldiers' 
     active duty time will be 18 months, including deployment to 
     Iraq for a year.
        Many businesses will have to compensate for the loss of 
     valued employees for that period. Many cities will lose 
     public officials, including police and firemen.
        Bradford is losing a mayor. The Riverside School District 
     is losing a superintendent.
        Some soldiers are newly married. Some are leaving behind 
     pregnant wives. Many families are losing a parent for a time 
     very important in children's lives.
        The soldiers themselves face worries about what to expect 
     in Iraq, concerns for their wives and children, and 
     uncertainties about their safety and their friends' safety.
        But they are called to duty. Here are just some of their 
     stories.
        Command Sergeant Major James ``Larry'' Nowlin, 55, was 
     born in Searcy and now lives in Jonesboro.
       ``For the first 30 years, the only tours I went on were to 
     Honduras, Panama, and Wales, each for two weeks' training. 
     After 9/11, everything changed,'' Nowlin said.
       He has two boys, but doesn't worry too much about them 
     because they are 23 and 19. He does worry about the other 
     families, however.
       ``We'll be so busy we'll think about our families when we 
     have time, but the time will pass so fast for us. The wives 
     will be pulling the load for the whole family while we're 
     gone. A lot wives are expecting.''
       Nowlin has been superintendent of the Riverside School 
     District for six years.
       For three of those, he has been gone.
       ``I always try to e-mail with my students but will probably 
     be limited this time,'' Nowlin said. ``When we were in Egypt 
     I e-mailed with about 60. They want to know what the kids are 
     like there, the culture, the schools. When I got back from 
     Kuwait they'd made me a quilt with messages on it, and they 
     made me a throw when I got back from Egypt.''
       His biggest worry is the usual one for officers.
       ``What I'm scared of is the possibility of losing soldiers. 
     The though of having to notify families that their loved ones 
     might not come back or be disabled is the biggest fear I 
     have. We're fixing to put 3,000 soldiers over there from 
     Arkansas, altogether in one group. That's a concern.''
       Staff Sergeant Joshua Stewart, 24, was married in July to 
     Dana Martin from rural White County, where they both went to 
     White County Central school. They now live near Fayetteville 
     in West Fork. Dana is attending the University of Arkansas.
       ``We got a phone call the unit had been put on duty the day 
     our honeymoon in Pigeon Forge ended,'' Stewart said. ``I 
     wasn't surprised, but I'm not at all eager to go. My 
     enlistment ended last February, but I was involuntarily 
     extended.''
       ``I wasn't married or thought that I would be soon when I 
     wanted to quit in February.
       ``It's not what I wanted in the first six months of my 
     marriage but I'm prepared. What we'll face will be different 
     from our training. A lot of weight will bear down on every 
     decision we make. The outcome will be more than a slap on the 
     wrist if we make a mistake.''
       Pfc. Tyson Weaver, medic, 20, of Little Rock, has been in 
     the Guard two years and three months. He and his wife 
     Jennifer, 19, were married May 31.
       ``I had a feeling I was going to be able to come home from 
     training and raise my family,'' said Weaver. ``This was a 
     complete shock to me, but I'm ready to go do my job and come 
     back to my family.''
       Weaver says his extended family gave him a party at his 
     grandmother's house a couple of months ago.
       ``When I was walking out the door in my greens, my 
     grandmother started crying because it's the last time I'll 
     see her for about 18 months. At first I was completely torn 
     up, but then I remembered this is what I signed up to do, so 
     there's no point crying about it. If you're accepting 
     taxpayer money you can't gripe when you're called to do your 
     job.''
       Even at 20, Weaver has seen what happened to some veterans 
     of the Vietnam war. He fears being traumatized by what he may 
     see.
       ``I'm most afraid of changing, of being a different person 
     when I get back. I believe now I'm a happy person. I'm secure 
     and things don't get to me. I'm afraid of coming back a hard-
     hearted person, cold to my family. That's not who I am.''
       Weaver says he will try to keep himself centered with lots 
     of letters and communication back home.
       He and Jennifer have a baby girl, Olivia, due Christmas 
     day.
       ``We're coming home Dec. 20 to Jan. 3, so I'll be there 
     when the baby's born. It tears me up. She'll be walking and 
     talking when I finally get home. But my wife is a very strong 
     person. She'll cope.''
       Like many other medics, Weaver fears another thing.
       ``I'm scared of having to bag one of my buddies.''
       Specialist Jeremy Abele, 21, of Bald Knob, has been in the 
     Guard four years. He and his girlfriend Jennifer have been 
     together 14 months.
       ``I slightly expected it but it hasn't bothered me yet. I 
     won't think about it until I get there. I'm a medic, so I'll 
     probably see things a lot of doctors in a hospital don't see. 
     I'm taking it day by day.''
       Abele's 16-year-old brother Derreick was in school Friday 
     in Bald Knob, missing the Spring Park tribute.
       ``I don't want him to enlist. I don't want him to go 
     through this.''
       Sgt. Randall Martin, 27, of Searcy, will turn 27 on Monday. 
     He has been in the guard 7.5 years, went to Kuwait in `99 and 
     Egypt in `02, and is first-year nursing student at ASU-
     Searcy.
       ``I wasn't expecting it so soon. You have mixed emotions. 
     You feel good you're selected out of so many units in the 
     nation. But sometimes, it's sad and heartbreaking to miss out 
     on the experience of being there.''
       He and his wife Kelly have a child due May 10, to be named 
     Mac if It's a boy, Emma if a girl.
       Kelly said, ``I just try to be positive. I know he likes 
     the military and that's what he chooses to do so there's not 
     much I can do about it. I have a great support system 
     in Randall's mom and my grandparents.''
       Specialist James Poyner, medic, 26, from Bald Knob, has 
     served 7.5 years and also has just returned from Egypt. His 
     wife Leah was born in Searcy and raised in Bald Knob. They 
     were married in 1998. They, too, heard about the new 
     deployment in July.
       ``I wasn't expecting it, neither was my wife. These two 
     deployments back-to-back are really difficult. I've got a 
     four-year scholarship to UALR. Now it'll take seven years.''
       The timing is as bad for him as for most.
       ``Leah's upset. We're best friends and it's hard to be away 
     from each other. It's time to start having children, but we 
     don't want to be apart for that.''
       Poyner does operations and network administration for a 
     restaurant equipment company in Searcy. His absence will be 
     stress on his boss, John Faucett, and the company, he said, 
     but added that Faucett has been very supportive.
       ``He's a true patriot, and he says my job will be waiting. 
     It's a great company, and going back to it is something I'll 
     think about every day to keep me going in Iraq.''
       Poyner is confident about his readiness.
       ``I'm in a treatment squad, recently moved from the field. 
     We'll see 80-100 percent of the injuries, and we're not 
     treating strangers, they'll be friends and guys I'm close to. 
     Seeing them go through pain is something I'm trying to be 
     prepared for. This past summer camp a friend went down with 
     heat stroke and stopped breathing. We cut him out of his 
     clothes and doused him with water, and he's OK. When you're 
     doing the treatment you're in a zone doing the work.''
       Sgt. Jerome Geroge, 40, has served 17 years, counting two 
     in the Army. He is originally from Holly Grove, moving to 
     Searcy in late 1994.
       His wife Bambi is the president of the White County Family 
     Readiness Group. They have four children: Chance, 13; Annie, 
     12; Hunter, 10; Savanna, 8.
       ``The last time I was deployed, in Egypt, the loss was 
     apparent in Chance. He didn't get in trouble or anything, but 
     his grades fell. A dad needs to be there to explain things at 
     that age,'' George said.
       ``I'll miss the holidays, the anniversaries, the birthdays, 
     children's dance recitals and sports. I'll miss part of their 
     childhoods. What'll happen is there's a transition period 
     when you get back. You have to be really careful what you do 
     and say, because the spouse is used to being the total parent 
     figure. It's a transition for the spouse, the kids, 
     everybody.
       ``When I told the kids, I didn't tell them all at the same 
     time. I told the oldest first, then the next, then we were 
     all together telling the youngest. Let's just say they 
     weren't happy, the wife wasn't happy, but we've done it 
     before and it's what I have to do.''
                                  ____


                      [From CNN.com, Oct. 5, 2003]

     Arkansas Town's Mayor, Police Chief, Librarian Called to Iraq

       Bradford, AR.--The mayor, police chief and school librarian 
     are all leaving for military duty Monday that is expected to 
     take them to Iraq, and the residents left behind in

[[Page S13430]]

     this tiny town of 800 are scrambling to fill their roles.
       At the local cafe and in school hallways, the callup and 
     what to do about the loss of city leaders is the talk of the 
     town. At city hall, meanwhile, officials have been rushing to 
     prepare paperwork necessary to transfer the mayor's power to 
     a 78-year-old retired school teacher.
       The soon-to-be acting police chief says Bradford is just 
     one example of how the war in Iraq has affected small town 
     America.
       ``One way or another we're going to handle it,'' said 
     Michael Ray, who will become the new police chief, along with 
     his job as a school resources officer. ``It's going to be OK. 
     I'm going to run it the same way as if the chief was here.''
       In addition to Mayor Paul Bunn, Chief Josh Chambliss and 
     librarian Nolan Brown, five other citizens of this farm town 
     have received orders to report to Fort Hood, Texas. There, 
     they will prepare for a tour of duty in Iraq that is expected 
     to put them in Iraq by Christmas.
       Greba Edens, the town's recorder-treasurer, will take over 
     for the 35-year-old mayor. Previously, she spent 24 years as 
     Bradford's fourth-grade teacher.
       ``Most of the people on the city council now, she's paddled 
     them before,'' Bunn said.
       Edens said she plans to carry on with Bunn's ideas. ``As 
     the mayor says, we're a family here,'' she said.
       At the elementary school, Brown was organizing the library 
     ahead of his deployment, He served in Vietnam and has been in 
     the National Guard for 31 years. Now 57, he was hoping to 
     leave the guard at age 60.
       ``I've got stuff scattered from here to there getting 
     ready,'' he said. ``I want to leave it as if I'm not coming 
     back.''
       ``The children here, they ask me, `Are you going? When are 
     you going?''' he said. ``They know there's some turmoil 
     somewhere. I tell them they may not take me because of my age 
     . . . but it would be unwise not to prepare them.''
       The school had a going-away party for Brown in the 
     cafeteria, presenting him with a cake that read, ``Our 
     prayers are with you.'' The school will shuffle around 
     teachers to make up for Brown's absence.
       After nine years at the school, all the students know him. 
     As he leaves, he shouts a goodbye to his cousin's son in the 
     hallway.
       ``Tell your Mom, since things have escalated, that I may 
     not get to see her,'' he said to the boy. ``Tell her I'll 
     miss her and love her.''
       Brown says he's edgy about his departure, as are his wife 
     and the three children they care for. But he's adamant that 
     he has to give back to a country that gave him an education.
       ``The U.S. has been very good to me,'' he said, adding he 
     believes citizens need ``to be willing to do whatever it 
     takes to make sure kids in the future have the same 
     opportunities that we have.''
       Unlike Brown, who works in a headquarters group, the police 
     chief and the mayor are infantry soldiers responsible for 
     more dangerous security duty.
       ``I'll make a deal with the president,'' said Bunn, who has 
     fought in Panama and in the Gulf War. ``I'll go over there, 
     but I'm not willing to die. Maybe it's because I've got kids 
     now.''
       Bunn could be gone for up to two years. Even if he stays 
     that long, he'll still have over a year left of his term as 
     mayor when he returns.
       Chambliss, 28, has been the town's police chief since 2001. 
     He's not worried about Bradford, which is about 70 miles 
     northeast of Little Rock. He said he expects the town's other 
     four officers to continue to man the school crossings and 
     attend all the ball games.
       ``I'm curious to see what the next 18 months hold, not for 
     me but for Bradford,'' Chambliss said. ``I want to come back 
     into town and see the progress.''
       Chambliss said that he's upset to leave his wife. They were 
     planning to start a family soon.
       He is spending the rest of his time in Bradford saying 
     goodbye to friends and family. He had lunch at his regular 
     spot, the Front St. Cafe, just down the road from the police 
     station.
       The cafe's owner and waitress, Marcia Pressler, said she 
     gave him that day's $4.95 plate special of roast beef, 
     potatoes and carrots on the house.
       ``It's like a part of your family going off,'' she said. 
     ``I felt like I'm feeding him his last supper.''

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. How much time is remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Seven and one-half minutes.
  Mr. DURBIN. Thank you, Mr. President.

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