[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 62 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S5063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                        Sergeant michael barkey

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise this evening to pay tribute to a 
young Ohioan who lost his life while serving our Nation in Iraq. PFC 
Michael Barkey was killed on July 7, 2004, when enemy fire caused the 
vehicle he was riding in to overturn. He was 22 years of age.
  I had the opportunity to meet Michael's family and to talk to them 
about their extraordinary son. They shared their memories with me--
memories of Michael lighting up the room with his infectious smile and 
causing others to laugh at his antics. An editorial in the Canton 
Repository from July 9, 2004 says it best:

       Michael Barkey's family and friends have a long time of 
     mourning ahead of them. But it is a testament to his vibrant 
     personality and strong character that as the news of his 
     death began to sink in, their memories of him made the people 
     who loved him smile and laugh.

  Michael's vibrant personality, touched the lives of all who had the 
privilege of knowing him. As the fourth of six children of Hal and 
Julie Barkey, Michael learned at a young age that he loved to make 
people laugh and that he was good at it. When his older sister Jennifer 
had her first child, eight year-old Michael quipped that since he was 
an uncle at 8, he would be a grandma before age 30. His mother Julie 
could only laugh at her young son when he flubbed his words. She liked 
to call him a ham.
  Every member of Michael's family has fond memories of him. Growing 
up, Michael and his brother John loved to wrestle each other and--
though he wouldn't do it for anyone else--sister, Therese, remembers 
how Michael would dance around for hours to entertain her and her 
friends. Youngest brother Tony recalls a time when Michael popped out 
his false tooth in church to shock a small child. Cousin Joe Mitchell 
remembers when they went to Myrtle Beach together and saw an attractive 
woman. Michael and another man argued for so long about who would speak 
to her first that she walked away. All who met Michael were touched by 
his witty humor.
  At Canal Fulton Northwest High School, Michael excelled both 
academically and athletically. He loved to play basketball and 
football. High school football coach, Vic Whiting, remembered that 
after their last game, Michael--then a senior--couldn't bring himself 
to take off his uniform. High school friends said that ``Mikey,'' as 
they called him, was always the center of attention and a natural 
leader.
  After high school, Michael enlisted in the National Guard so that he 
could pay his way through the University of Akron, where he earned an 
associate's degree in fire technology. His dream was to become a 
firefighter, but his unit was called to go to Iraq. Michael believed 
strongly that he was needed to secure freedom for others, that he was 
needed to help the Iraqi people.
  Answering the call of duty was not new in the Barkey family. 
Michael's grandfather, Edmund, served in Europe during WWII; father, 
Hal, is a Navy veteran of the Vietnam war; brother, Todd served in 
Operation Desert Storm; and brother, John, was an Air Force firefighter 
stationed in Qatar during Operation Enduring Freedom. Michael was proud 
to follow in what had become a family tradition.
  Michael and the rest of the 1484th Transportation Company trained in 
Indiana before being sent to Kuwait and then on to Iraq. Michael had 
been in the National Guard for 4 years. Soon Michael developed the 
reputation of being able to lighten the mood despite the chaos around 
them. Captain Curtis Brown, commander of the Company said that Michael 
was ``a remarkable young man who had the gift of making you see the 
good in a bad situation. He was a master of the gift of laughter.''
  One young soldier, in particular, can attest to that. Specialist 
Jesse Hensel was Michael's bunkmate and best friend. The two were 
inseparable--whether they were lounging in their room or lifting 
weights. Jesse and Michael were like brothers and they argued like 
brothers. The only thing they agreed on was that Jesse was better 
looking and Michael was the better dancer.
  Michael knew that his family worried about him while he was away. He 
sent home recordings and pictures--all of which Hal and Julie treasure. 
One picture in particular always brings a smile to the Barkey family's 
faces. In it, Michael is lying on the desert, pulling up his shirt to 
reveal grains of sand arranged in the shape of a smiley-face on his 
stomach.
  Jesse accompanied his best friend on his final trip home. He said 
that Michael was everything he wanted to be--as a person and as a 
soldier. Jesse noted at a service honoring his friend that during the 
trip home, ``I sat by Mike the whole way home and I did a lot of 
talking. It was the first time Mike didn't talk back. I love him with 
every piece of my broken heart.''
  In Michael's hometown of Canal Fulton, OH, thousands of residents 
came to show their support for the Barkey family. Some waited nearly 
two hours to pay their respects to Michael. The funeral mass was a 
celebration of the life of this extraordinary soldier--and Julie Barkey 
would have it no other way for the son who brought so much light into 
the world.
  Jennifer Barkey, Michael's older sister wrote the following 
remembrance letter to provide comfort to the family:

       Know that [Michael] was truly an uncommon man. Grieve for 
     the incredible man, husband, and father he would have become. 
     Know that following the example of our father, he stood up 
     for what he believed. His conviction was such that he was 
     willing to die for it.

  We know that Michael is in heaven, continuing to spread the laughter 
he did while on earth. And perhaps the Barkey family is right--Michael 
is still cracking jokes, exchanging war stories with his grandfather, 
and is now the patron saint of Cheetos or hamburgers, which were his 
favorite foods.
  Michael will never be forgotten.

                          ____________________