[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 1, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S5389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                     Staff Sergeant Kenneth Locker

  Mr. HAGEL. Mr. President, I rise to express my sympathy over the loss 
of U.S. Army SSG Kenneth Locker of Burwell, NE. Sergeant Locker was 
killed on April 23 in Diyala province, Iraq. He was 28 years old.
  Sergeant Locker graduated from Burwell High School in 1997. He 
enlisted with the Army while he was still in high school. Bob Lee, his 
high school math teacher, said that after he enlisted, Sergeant Locker 
became a much more focused young man whose grades shot up.
  After high school, Sergeant Locker spent 3 years in the Army, 2 years 
with the National Guard, and eventually reenlisted with the Army. He 
had been in Iraq since August 2006 with the Army's historic 82nd 
Airborne Division.
  Sergeant Locker was previously injured in Iraq by a land mine. He was 
awarded a Purple Heart and lived with shrapnel in his neck. Thousands 
of brave men and women like Sergeant Locker are serving in Iraq.
  In addition to his life as a soldier, Sergeant Locker was father to 
three young sons and believed he was making a safer world for his 
children. He is also survived by his father Ken, two sisters, and a 
half sister and half brother. We are proud of his service to our 
country.
  I ask my colleagues to join me and all Americans in honoring SSG 
Kenneth Locker.


                     first lieutenant kevin gaspers

  I rise to express my sympathy over the loss of U.S. Army 1LT Kevin 
Gaspers of Hastings, NE. Lieutenant Gaspers was killed on Apri1 23 in 
Diya1a province, Iraq. He was 26 years old.
  Lieutenant Gaspers was a 2000 graduate of St. Cecilia High School in 
Hastings, where he wrestled and played football. After graduation, he 
attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and enrolled in the ROTC 
program. As a senior at UNL, Lieutenant Gaspers was selected to lead 
the ROTC cadet's battalion. His colleagues remember him as low-key and 
professional in his leadership style. He earned his Army officer's 
commission in 2005, along with a degree from UNL in accounting.
  Lieutenant Gaspers was a paratrooper with the Army's historic 82nd 
Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C. He had been serving in Iraq 
since August 2006.
  Lieutenant Gaspers is survived by his parents, John and Pam, and 
sisters Katie and Audrey. We are proud of his service to our country.
  I ask my colleagues to join me and all Americans in honoring 1LT 
Kevin Gaspers.

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