[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 5, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE VALIANT EFFORTS OF COALITION SOLDIERS IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, the news media is quick to provide 
gratuitous coverage of anti-war protests in Europe and elsewhere. They 
are quick to provide a forum for critics of U.S. policy in Iraq and 
even quicker to highlight the problems, misfortunes, and missteps of 
our coalition forces in Iraq. What they rarely do, however, is to 
highlight the contributions and valor of our coalition soldiers.
  Take, for example, the case of Salvadoran Corporal Samuel Toloza. 
According to a recent Associated Press story, ``One of his friends was 
dead, 12 others lay wounded and the four soldiers still left standing 
were surrounded and out of ammunition. So Toloza said a prayer, whipped 
out his . . . knife and charged the Iraqi gunmen.''
  The story goes on, ``In one of the only known instances of hand-to-
hand combat in the Iraq conflict, Toloza stabbed several attackers who 
were swarming around a comrade. The stunned assailants backed away 
momentarily, just as a relief column came to their rescue.''
  According to the reports, Toloza and 16 other members were trapped by 
members of Muqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi militia. They initially did not 
fire their weapons for several hours, for fear of inflicting civilian 
casualties, despite the fact that insurgents were peppering the group 
with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Finally, after 
fighting back, the group, comprised of Salvadoran and American 
soldiers, ran out of ammunition. Faced with mounting casualties, they 
placed wounded soldiers on transports and tried to make their way back 
to the base. Unfortunately, they ran into a contingent of about 10 
insurgents on the way. That is when Toloza, out of ammunition, rushed 
the insurgents with nothing but his knife, buying enough time for 
reinforcements to arrive.
  ``We never considered surrender,'' Toloza reportedly said, ``I was 
trained to fight until the end.''
  Phil Kosnett, who heads the Coalition Provisional Authority in Najaf, 
also has nothing but praise for the nearly 400 Salvadoran troops 
fighting shoulder to shoulder with American troops in Iraq. In fact, he 
is so impressed with their valor and dedication to duty, he has 
nominated six of them for the Bronze Star, and for good reason. The AP 
story goes on to explain that Kosnett himself believes he owes his life 
to them. Salvadoran troops, the story continues, ``repelled a well-
executed insurgent attack on Kosnett's three-car convoy in March.''
  Mr. Speaker, let us pay tribute to the sacrifices and heroism of our 
soldiers, as well as those of our allies, like Corporal Toloza, for 
their efforts and contributions to protecting freedom and on their 
efforts in the war on terror.

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