[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 74 (Monday, May 7, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                ON THE DEATH OF SERGEANT MICHAEL VAUGHAN

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                          HON. DARLENE HOOLEY

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 7, 2007

  Ms. HOOLEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the sacrifice 
and honor the loss of SGT Michael Vaughan. Answering the call of 
service, Michael enlisted in the U.S. Army while still completing 
studies at Taft High School. Unlike his peers, he spent his post-
graduation summer learning the profession of arms. After boot camp and 
advanced training, Michael Vaughan worked hard to live up to the 
standards of the paratroopers.
  Just a few weeks ago, Sergeant Vaughan and eight other paratroopers 
with the famed 82nd Airborne were killed when a suicide bomber attacked 
their compound in Sadah, Iraq. These brave paratroopers were preparing 
for another patrol to keep the civilians in that small town safe from 
the emerging violence.
  Today, the community of Otis and all of Lincoln County, Oregon mourns 
the passing of Michael. He was a good-natured young man that people 
knew and loved, the kind of son parents looked to as an example of 
sincerity, earnestness, and mostly--of service. Though he longed for 
the days when his uniform would hang in the closet, Sergeant Vaughan 
wanted to serve his country before beginning the rest of his life. Like 
his father and grandfather before him, he knew that freedom is fragile 
and that someone, somewhere, must stand the post on the frontier. 
Sergeant Michael Vaughan is an example for us all. In his all too brief 
twenty years upon this planet, he established a legacy that cannot--and 
must not--be forgotten.
  As Memorial Day nears, I ask each of us to remember the life and 
purpose of those that have given their last full measure so that we 
could bask in the warmth of life and liberty. I ask each of us to look 
inside ourselves and to ask if we are doing everything we can do to 
help these brave men and women. And I ask each of us to personally 
commit to seeking the best answers for the problems we face and to 
approach these challenges with the same dedication to duty, the same 
selflessness that Michael Vaughan and his comrades in arms exemplified. 
Let us begin anew.

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