[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 156 (Friday, October 31, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2179-E2180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E2179]]



   IN HONOR AND IN MEMORY OF SPECIALIST PAUL J. BUECHE OF DAPHNE, AL

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 30, 2003

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, this past Monday the First Congressional 
District of Alabama and indeed, our entire State and Nation, said 
goodbye to another casualty of the war in Iraq.
  Army Specialist Paul Joseph Bueche, a native of Baton Rouge, 
Louisiana, and longtime resident of Daphne, Alabama, joined the Army 
National Guard in 2001 and was assigned to Company E of the 131st 
Aviation Regiment based in Birmingham.
  Earlier this year, Paul's unit was activated and deployed to the 
Kingdom of Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In August of this 
year, his unit was transferred to its new duty station in Balad, Iraq. 
It was in Balad that, on October 21, 2003, a tire he was changing on an 
Army MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter exploded, killing Paul and seriously 
wounding one of his fellow soldiers.
  During his 2-year career in the National Guard, Paul set a standard 
of excellence and displayed the qualities of discipline, devotion and 
dedication to country that are the hallmarks of men and women 
throughout the long and distinguished history of the American military. 
As a result of his hard work in the Middle Eastern Theater, Paul was 
recently advanced to the rank of Specialist, and he was posthumously 
awarded the Bronze Star medal and accompanying citation.
  Mr. Speaker, as you can imagine, south Alabama is truly mourning the 
loss of this fine young man. In conversations with his friends and 
family, the one characteristic that was mentioned time and again when 
describing Paul was his love for life. As the Rev. Timothy Deasy noted 
during Paul's funeral mass, ``he lived more in 19 years than many of us 
live in a lifetime. Paul gave his life for all of us.''
  A devoted brother, son, and grandson, Paul Bueche never waned in his 
appreciation for the many wonderful gifts of love and friendship that 
came his way during his brief 19 years. To a person, his fellow 
students and teachers from McGill-Toolen High School, his minister and 
fellow parishioners at Christ the King Catholic Church, and his many 
other family and friends spoke affectionately of Paul's boundless 
energy and enthusiasm and the genuinely warm feelings he displayed for 
his fellow man.
  A telling story of his generosity came just days before he died. 
Recently, Paul had won a lottery held within his unit in Iraq which 
would have allowed him a 2-week furlough back in the United States in 
December. However, Paul chose to give that pass to a fellow guardsman 
from the unit, feeling it was more important that he--a husband and 
father--be at home with a wife and children who needed him more during 
the holidays.
  Mr. Speaker, it is only right for us to pause and give thanks to God 
that there are still young men like Paul Joseph Bueche. On his 
handsome, young face, the world can see the very best America has to 
offer.
  I urge my colleagues to take a moment and pay tribute to Specialist 
Paul Bueche and his selfless devotion to not only our country and the 
freedom we enjoy, but to a people who are but now in the infant stages 
of a new life--a new freedom--in their own land.
  We should also remember his parents, Emory Paul and Maria Bueche, his 
sisters Jessica and Melissa, and his grandparents, Sydney and Doris 
Bueche and Jose and Ilena Alonso. Our prayer is that God will give them 
all the strength and courage that only He can provide to sustain them 
during the difficult days ahead.
  It was Joseph Campbell who said, ``A hero is someone who has given 
his or her life to something bigger than oneself.'' Make no mistake, 
young Paul Bueche was not only a dedicated soldier who made the 
ultimate sacrifice serving in the uniform of his country, but he was 
also a true American hero.
  In addition to my statement, I ask that an accompanying article from 
the October 25th Mobile Register, written by Robert Buchanan, be 
included in this tribute to Paul. May he rest in peace.

                     A Time Too Soon To Comprehend

     There is a time for everything,
     And a season for every activity under heaven:
     A time to be born and a time to die,
     A time to plant and a time to uproot,
     A time to kill and a time to heal,
     A time to tear down and a time to build,
     A time to weep and a time to laugh,
     A time to mourn and a time to dance,
     A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
     A time to embrace and a time to refrain,
     A time to search and a time to give up,
     A time to keep and a time to throw away,
     A time to tear and a time to mend,
     A time to be silent and a time to speak,
     A time to love and a time to hate,
     A time for war and a time for peace.
     --Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

  When you cradle your infant in your arms, rocking back and forth 
while reading to his young ears, more than likely it will be from a 
book of fairy tales with glorious, happy endings. Surely, though, it's 
not the time to tell him that the 16 lines from Ecclesiastes sum up the 
life that he will face. Of course, he couldn't comprehend it, nor would 
you want him to; life as a baby has its own time for being, for growing 
and for learning.
  A time to be born and a time to die.
  It's left to the parents to do the worrying, often quietly, without 
evidence that there is harm in that infant's way. As he grows to be a 
toddler, it's the parents who fret about the stumbling boy crashing 
into furniture, hitting walls, slapping the sofa. The rite of passage 
into official boyhood comes with its share of nicks and scratches. But 
a boy he is, and a boy he will be.
  The years evaporate, and your baby boy is a man. Your concerns, 
however, have grown with him. You watched him waddle in a sand box, not 
thinking that one day his life could end in the sands of an Iraqi 
village so small that it would be difficult to spot on a map.
  It's too soon for a 19-year-old to die.
  We humans comprehend this, lacking the understanding of why someone 
so young should leave this Earth now. It's even more heartbreaking for 
parents to have a son die before them.
  It's not supposed to be this way.
  A time to weep and a time to laugh.
  The order of life has turned upside down for Emory and Maria Bueche. 
They have already told stories--terrific stories--about their son, 
Paul. They have shared them with family, friends and the media. It's a 
normal therapeutic exercise to keep their minds clear while preparing 
for funeral services.
  Others will share their stories, bringing more laughter and tears. 
They'll be proud of the people Paul touched in his short life. They'll 
be proud he died serving his country. The Bueches won't be able to feel 
it, yet all the parents of our American babies will share in their 
pain.
  Meanwhile, three more American soldiers die in Iraq. Three more sets 
of parents are experiencing the trauma of children passing too soon. 
All of us will be suffering along with them.
  There is a time for everything.
  Paul was a member of the 2002 graduating class of McGill-Toolen 
Catholic High School. Local television stations grabbed yearbooks from 
his days at McGill, showing Paul's smiling portrait in a row of 
students' photos.
  A telephone call went to the cherubic looking youngster in the 
picture to the left of Paul. He's now a young college man, sans the 
rounded face.
  ``Paul Bueche died in Iraq,'' he's told.
  ``What?'' he answers. ``I didn't know he was over there. Oh, my God. 
What happened?''
  He is told about the unfortunate circumstances, but the explanation 
falls flat. A classmate had died; the first member of the 2002 class 
was gone. It's too incredible for the student to absorb.
  ``Man, he was cool. We were in the Model U.N. together. I mean . . . 
I can't believe it. What happened?
  ``Of all the people over there, that accident, it happened to one of 
us.''
  The McGill-Toolen senior class of 2002 was close, unusually close. 
The Bueches recalled how their house was always full of kids, that it 
wasn't unusual to wake up and find Paul's friends asleep on the den 
floor.
  That was the class of 2002.
  From house to house, class members found parents with open doors. Now 
these same parents are sharing the Bueches' ache, along with their 
young-adult children who are experiencing a type of grief they were not 
prepared to handle. It's just too soon.
  Eventually, though, they will realize that Paul's death was not in 
vain, for there are few earthly callings higher than sacrificing for 
one's country, for one's friends back home.

[[Page E2180]]

  In the meantime, they can pray and take solace that there will be a 
time for peace.

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