[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 72 (Thursday, June 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         MEMORIAL DAY SPEECH BY STAFF SERGEANT JOSEPH M. DIMOND

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. CURT WELDON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 2006

  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I would like to enter the 
following Memorial Day speech into the Record. It was made by Staff 
Sergeant Joseph M. Dimond. I am sure that you, and all who hear these 
words, will be moved by this unforgettable tribute to those who have 
fallen in the service of their country:

                              Memorial Day

       Good morning and happy Memorial Day!
       Memorial Day means many different things to many different 
     people. To some it means BBQ's and beer, to some its just 
     another long weekend to relax, to some it's the beginning of 
     summer, but to people like me, and I'm guessing people like 
     you since you are here, it means a lot more!
       Since I was a boy, Memorial Day has always had a special 
     meaning to me. I remember at 8 and 9 years old following my 
     father, a Korean War Vet, around East Lansdowne and Upper 
     Darby while he and his fellow American Legion brothers fired 
     off 21 gun salutes at all the memorials. I would run around 
     collecting all the shells from the rifles and save them as my 
     own little memorial. Afterwards, we would put flags on the 
     graves of all the Veterans in Fernwood Cemetary. I'm not even 
     sure if I understood completely what we were honoring, I just 
     knew it was very important! I knew, that for some reason, 
     every time I heard TAPS or the National Anthem played, I 
     would get teary eyed, but I don't think I ever really grasped 
     the importance of it all.
       Unfortunately, over the past year I had the chance to find 
     out first hand what it all meant, why I would cry, why I felt 
     the way I've been feeling for my entire life. I have 
     experienced many difficult times in my life, but nothing 
     could prepare me for the last year! You see, I was in charge 
     of security for the bomb squad for the entire city of 
     Fallujah. While over there, we dismantled 362 roadside 
     bombs and, unfortunately, got hit by some too.
       One of the many downfalls of being with the bomb squad in 
     the most violent city in Iraq is that whenever an American or 
     Iraqi soldier is killed by a roadside bomb or suicide bomber, 
     we have to go and make sure all of the ordnance that is in 
     the vehicles when they blow up are stabilized, and removed 
     before the mortuary affairs people can come in and remove the 
     bodies, so long story short, we were forced to work around 
     the bodies of every ally killed by a bomb in Fallujah and the 
     surrounding area. While doing this, my team had to remain 
     calm, keep our heads and not get tied up in what we were 
     seeing, because the bomb squad was a huge target, and I 
     needed to do my best to keep them safe while they focused on 
     their jobs. We were successful most of the time, but did have 
     some bad luck too. Since October 15th, six of my very good 
     friends were killed on the streets of Fallujah, five of which 
     happened while I was there, all in separate incidents. One 
     happened a week after I left Iraq, while my friend John was 
     finishing his last week of a 9 month tour.
       These men were all heroes! Whatever your politics, whether 
     you believe we should be in this war or not, whether you are 
     Republican or Democrat, we are all Americans! And I want to 
     make sure you all know this: every single soldier, sailor, 
     airman, and marine over there is there for you! They all feel 
     they are doing what they have to do to make life better for 
     you, our kids and me. I'm not a politician, and this isn't 
     the time or place for politics, but the #1 question I've been 
     asked in the past 2 months since I've been home is ``Do I 
     think we should be there?'' Well, my answer to that is very 
     simple, I don't know if we should have gone over there, but 
     I, like these men we honor today, was asked to go so I went. 
     I'm an enlisted man, and leave that to the people that sit 
     behind their desks and make the big decisions. What I do know 
     as a grunt on the ground, looking these people in the eye, 
     day after day, is that I've never seen or imagined the hate, 
     evil or torture that man is capable of until now! I also have 
     no doubt that these people that I was fighting hate you, they 
     hate all of us because we believe in a different God, they 
     hate us because we allow our daughters and sisters to walk 
     around malls in belly shirts, they hate us because we are 
     different from them, they hate us because we are free!
       In an America filled with violent movies, video games and 
     violent everything else, we've all become a little 
     desensitized. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked 
     by naive people, ``How many people have you killed?'' Like it 
     is a cool thing or something. Only someone who hasn't seen or 
     done the things I have would ask such a question with a smile 
     on their face. And I try to be understanding of the fact that 
     they haven't seen it, but at the same time I feel a 
     responsibility to let them know that there is nothing cool 
     about people losing their lives. Whether they are wrong or 
     deserved it or not, there will be a family mourning, 
     somewhere.
       More importantly I feel the responsibility to explain to 
     those people who may not know better, that regardless of what 
     Hollywood may want you to believe, there is no glory in a 
     twenty-something year old man dying violently in the dirt 
     thousands of miles away from his home, away from family, and 
     the people he loves. It is important to me that people 
     recognize and understand how devastating it is when an 
     American, a friend, dies in such a violent way. The hurt 
     and grief one feels when witnessing a twenty-year-old kid, 
     who you personally trained, die in a hellhole thousands of 
     miles away from his home is indescribable! Promising to 
     tell a man's unborn child that her daddy loved her while 
     he bleeds to death because it is too dangerous for a 
     helicopter to come into the city to medivac him is 
     something no human being should have to ever experience. 
     Listening to a friend ask as he is dying if you think God 
     will forgive him for all the things he had to do over here 
     is not glamorous in any way, shape or form.
       But most importantly, I feel a responsibility to explain 
     that these men that we honor today were not looking for Glory 
     or medals or memorials! They were all just doing what they 
     felt was right, they were men doing the job that nobody 
     wants! Living in misery, so the people they love could live 
     in happiness! Dying horrible deaths, so the ones they love 
     can live on in peace! That is why they are heroes, and that 
     is why they deserve our thoughts, time and respect at least 
     for this one day of the year!
       There is a saying in the war fighting community that says:
       ``We are the unwanted, doing the impossible, for the 
     ungrateful.'' Well, now that I'm moving on to the civilian 
     sector again, I'm here to say that not everyone is ungrateful 
     my brothers!
       I've seen enough bloodshed for twenty lifetimes! And I pray 
     for peace just as every true warrior prays for peace!
       For me, every day is Memorial Day, and it is because of men 
     like these:
       Mark Adams, killed by a roadside bomb at age 24, on October 
     15th 2005.
       Joel Dameron, killed by a roadside bomb at age 27 on 30 Oct 
     2005, his wife has since had their baby girl.
       Michael Presley, killed by a suicide bomber at age 21 on 
     Dec 14th 2005.
       Ryan McCurdey, killed at age 20 by a sniper while dragging 
     a wounded Marine to safety on 5 Jan 2006.
       Nick Wilson, killed at age 25 by a secondary bomb while 
     dismantling another bomb on 12 Feb 2006. He had 4 days left 
     in the country.
       John Fry, killed at age 28 by a roadside bomb on 8 March 
     2006,8 days after I left the country, and 6 before he was 
     leaving.
       So, today, when you are barbequing or spending time 
     relaxing with your family, please take a minute and remember 
     these men who sacrificed so much, and remember their families 
     who are living without husbands, fathers, sons and brothers. 
     And if you see someone who doesn't take that time, remind 
     them of all that is done for them!
       I'm not much of a speaker, and I'm not sure if I did these 
     men justice, but when I was asked to speak I felt like it was 
     the least I could do to remind people that these men aren't 
     just numbers to follow on the news, but men with families and 
     lives that they gave up for you and me. I have no doubt that 
     I will see these men's faces in my sleep every night, and 
     think of them at least once a day for the rest of my life. 
     I'm just asking you to take a moment out of one day a year to 
     remember them and the many other Americans that died before 
     them.
       God Bless, and have a great Memorial Day!

                          ____________________