[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 100 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8415-S8416]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                Army Private First Class Gavin Neighbor

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to honor and 
remember a young man from Somerset, OH. I rise to honor Gavin Neighbor, 
a soldier who gave the last full measure of devotion to our Nation on 
June 10, 2003. On that date, Gavin was killed by a rocket-propelled 
grenade while serving in Iraq as part of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 
325th Infantry Regiment, of the 82nd Airborne Division. At the time of 
his death, Gavin Neighbor was 20 years old.
  When Gavin Neighbor was killed, Marisa Porto, who at the time was a 
journalist with the Zanesville Times Recorder, had a very difficult 
time writing about Gavin. She struggled to write about his life and his 
death because she said she knew she had to balance the reporting of the 
news with the personal connection she felt knowing that someone so 
young from her own community had just been killed. She managed, though, 
to find the right words and wrote the following:

       My thoughts [are] simple. Gavin Neighbor's family won't get 
     the chance to see his wedding announcement in his newspaper. 
     They won't ever have the opportunity to see his son's birth 
     announced in this newspaper. These next few days may be the 
     last time his name is ever published in this newspaper. . . . 
     So, let's give him the homecoming he deserves.

  Mr. President, Members of the Senate, since his death, I have learned 
that Gavin Neighbor, in his all-too-brief 20 years on this Earth, did, 
in fact, live life fully. He was an outgoing, determined young man, who 
felt great love and affection for his family, for his fiancee, his 
friends, and his country.
  Gavin was born in Newark, OH, on November 25, 1982. He graduated from 
New Lexington High School in 2001, where high school friends described 
him as dependable and fun loving. Gavin was a gifted artist. He had a 
signature piece: a drawing of a dragon. His friends say he would draw 
that dragon anywhere, anytime.
  He loved to draw, and he was good at it. According to his high school 
art teacher, Jody Bowen:

       Gavin would work on projects on the side, after his 
     classwork was done. I saw something more in him. . . . He 
     certainly impacted my life. I feel fortunate I met him and 
     got to know him.

  Equal in his devotion to art, Gavin was committed to serving his 
country and making his family proud. Gavin had a strong sense of duty 
and a strong sense of family. He was always trying to take care of 
others and protect others. That is part of what compelled him

[[Page S8416]]

to join the military. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of several 
relatives. Like them, he wanted to protect his family and his friends 
and his country. So after his high school graduation in 2001, Gavin 
enlisted in the U.S. Army.
  According to Gavin's grandmother, Gladys Hykes:

       He was wonderful. He loved the service. That was his goal.

  Gavin planned to make a career for himself in the military, aspiring 
to join an elite Ranger battalion. He was well on his way toward 
achieving that dream. Gavin earned his paratrooper wings and was known 
for performing, with ease, some of the most difficult airplane jumps. 
Known as a ``Javelin Jumper,'' he would jump from planes while carrying 
part of an antitank missile system strapped to his leg. Upon receiving 
an award of recognition for this accomplishment, Gavin dedicated it to 
his parents and had his thanks to them engraved on the plaque.
  Gavin loved his family very much. He had an especially strong bond 
with his mother Cathy. Oh, he loved her cooking. He loved to spend time 
with her. He wrote and called home often, and when he did he had simple 
requests. According to his mom, Cathy:

       I kept sending him letters and boxes. He wanted Kool-Aid 
     and chips. And Copenhagen. He wanted Copenhagen. I didn't 
     want to send it, but I did.

  Gavin called home on February 13, 2003, to say his unit was leaving 
on Valentine's Day for Iraq. Soldiers only had an hour for family 
visits. Cathy and her husband Willie drove more than nine hours to 
visit one last time with Gavin. As Cathy said:

       All I knew was that I had to get there. I had to be there 
     to hug him.

  Many of his fellow comrades have said that Gavin Neighbor was the 
kind of soldier you wanted by your side--any time, any place. He was 
dependable. He was tough. He was a real leader.
  Gavin was also known for his ability to make light of serious 
situations--an admirable quality in the face of war. While training in 
California, to humor his comrades, he would walk around flapping his 
arms like a chicken and then claim to be a dinosaur. During a punishing 
mountain hike, Gavin lightheartedly asked his leader, ``Are we there 
yet? Are we there yet?'' The other members of the platoon could not 
help but smile. As Sergeant Arthur Swartz said at Gavin's memorial 
service:

       When we were at our lowest, Gavin could turn the whole 
     platoon around just by making a joke or saying something 
     funny. . . . He was definitely the best, youngest soldier in 
     my platoon.

  Gavin's unique sense of humor did not cloak the fact that he was also 
a very hard worker and a very independent young man. Captain Todd 
Hollins, a chaplain with the 82nd Airborne Division, said that when he 
thinks of Gavin:

       I see a young man who chose to walk the road less 
     traveled--a man who gave 100 percent, all the way, all the 
     time. . . . I see a young man, one who cared about others 
     more than himself, a man with a zest for life, who was 
     willing to face his fears. . . . I see a volunteer, a bold 
     spirit. I see a young man who was genuine in all regards.

  Gavin Neighbor's dependability, commitment, and fun-loving attitude 
will never be forgotten. His life is an example for us all. Left to 
cherish his memory are his parents; his sisters, Roxanne Lewis and 
Tracy Neighbor; brother Willie Neighbor, Jr.; and Gavin's special 
friend--his fiance, his soulmate--Rachel Sanderson.
  Gavin Neighbor was just a good kid, who died too young. I think that 
Brigadier General Abe Turner, assistant division commander of 
operations with the 82nd Airborne, said it best:

       He quickly became a very important part of our band of 
     brothers. We asked him if he'd be willing to pay the ultimate 
     sacrifice, and he did. . . . He was our hero.

                          ____________________