[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 109 (Thursday, September 7, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9072-S9073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                           CPL Phillip Baucus

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, west of Baghdad in Iraq's Al Anbar 
Province, the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion of the 1st 
Marine Division rested for the night. On Saturday, June 29, a suicide 
bomber crashed his vehicle into a barrack. The structure collapsed. 
Four marines died. Among them was a 28-year-old corporal named Phillip 
Baucus. He is my nephew.
  When I first took my wife Wanda to the family ranch many years ago, 
about 23, young Phillip, 5 or 6 years old, received Wanda. He walked up 
to Wanda and said: Wanda, welcome to the ranch. He had a wildflower in 
his hand and he gave it to Wanda. That is how he was.
  Wanda and I had the sad duty at Dover Air Force Base to receive 
Phillip's casket. When we asked, they said, no, we could not touch his 
casket, but they reconsidered--the colonel did--and said, yes, it was 
all right for Wanda and let Wanda touch Phillip's casket. Beneath the 
flag that draped the casket, Wanda slipped a wildflower. That is how 
she is. North of Helena, in Montana's Lewis and Clark County, Phillip 
came to his final rest. On the afternoon of Sunday, August 6, more than 
500 Montanans gathered under the willow trees of the family ranch to 
remember Phillip.
  A Chinook helicopter flew overhead, a massive American flag draped 
below it. White doves were released into the sky. A bagpipe played 
``Amazing Grace,'' and the ``Marine Corps Hymn.'' Bugles played 
``Taps.'' The funeral ended with a family tradition, a tradition that 
Phillip loved. We packed 2 pounds of black gunpowder, fired an anvil 
weighing about 60 pounds several hundred feet into the air. It fell to 
the ground with a heavy thud.
  Marines folded the flag that had covered Phillip's casket into a 
triangle and handed it to his widow Katherine. Phillip and Katherine 
had been married at that very same place less than a year before. 
Phillip's Marine colleague, Sergeant Raymond Rios, spoke to Phillip 
saying: ``Baucus, you will always be here with every shadow, the sun 
shining and the trees blowing.''
  My brother John and I planted two trees there a few weeks ago on the 
ranch in memory of Phillip. They will blow in the winds and grow in the 
sun there in his memory. It was at that ranch where he was laid to rest 
on the same mountain where my father lies.
  In the days since, I have been moved by the hundreds of handwritten 
notes I have received from Montanans, friends, and colleagues. I have 
been moved by these many tributes. In the Native American culture there 
is no greater honor than dying for your community, being a warrior. 
American Indians have answered this country's call to service in 
numbers far greater than their fair share of the population. When 
injured or killed in war, Native American service men and women are 
honored as fallen warriors. Their praises are sung before every powwow 
and special occasion.
  I visited several Indian tribes last August. Time after time, I was 
honored when the tribal leaders honored Phillip as a fallen warrior. 
Following one tribal council meeting, an elderly grandmother asked if 
she could honor Phillip. She told me she had two grandsons in Iraq. She 
wanted to express her condolences to my family. She had made a quilt 
with the American flags interspersed throughout the quilt for the 
fallen warrior. She asked me to turn around. And reaching on her 
tiptoes, she draped the quilt around my shoulders. Then she embraced 
me.

  (The remarks of Mr. Baucus pertaining to the introduction of S. 3865 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. BAUCUS. I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The minority leader.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, coincidentally, coming to the floor this 
morning, I signed two letters of condolences to families, one in 
northern Nevada--Silver Springs, NV--and one in Las Vegas, NV, to 
parents who lost young men in Iraq during the last week or so. I have 
signed lots of these letters for Nevadans, but signing one of these 
letters in the future will never be the same after listening to my 
friend from Montana.
  When I first learned of Phillip's death, I said on the Senate floor: 
Max Baucus has a son. I know him, a wonderful young man. But this 
nephew of Senator Baucus was like his second son. So in the future, 
when I sign these letters, I will think of Max Baucus because it is 
easy, it is human nature, to

[[Page S9073]]

feel sorrow when we sign these letters and see these names--approaching 
2,700--but when you have actually experienced the loss, I know, having 
witnessed the distress my friend has gone through, I repeat, signing 
that letter to one of these families will never be the same.
  So I say to Senator Baucus, who is part of the Senate family, one of 
the senior Members of the Senate, the thoughts of every Senator go out 
to you, Max. And you did today what your heart said you should do. I 
wish we could convey to everyone in America, through you, what is going 
on in our country and what sacrifices families are making. We have to 
make their sacrifices stand for something.
  Again, it is wonderful to have Max Baucus as our friend. And more 
especially to me, on a personal note, it is important he is my friend.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I thank my very good friend from Nevada. I 
thank you very much. And I thank all my colleagues very much. We are 
one big family here in the Senate and in the country, and we are a 
great country. We will see our way through all this.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, we have just heard a very powerful and 
moving statement from the senior Senator from Montana, and we all 
understand he has suffered a deep and personal loss. I heard about the 
very close relationship Senator Baucus had with the nephew he lost, and 
he should know that his friends and his colleagues share that loss, 
that we grieve with him and we grieve with the family, that we 
especially appreciate the very moving statement he made.
  It is our obligation--it is our obligation--to make certain these 
losses mean something and that, in the end, our country is successful 
against this threat.
  I think every Member of this Chamber recognizes there is a real 
threat to our Nation and that we owe a deep debt of gratitude to those 
who answer the country's call, who come forward and serve when they are 
asked. This Nation owes much to those who have sacrificed, and we 
should never forget it.
  Senator Baucus, you should know that your friends and your 
colleagues--this is a family--mourn with you and grieve with you and 
your family.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the time 
for morning business allotted to the minority has expired. The majority 
controls 15 minutes.
  Who seeks time?
  The Senator from Kentucky.

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