[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 151 (Friday, October 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN MEMORY OF CPL GRAHAM McMAHON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DARLENE HOOLEY

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 4, 2007

  Ms. HOOLEY. Madam Speaker, these moments are important.
  Let us remember and honor the life and sacrifice of Graham McMahon.
  At times like these, I think long and hard about what matters most. 
Today, I took a moment to consider the meaning of his generosity--of 
his service.
  Corporal McMahon spent a lot of time living in the valley between the 
forests. And yet today, it is we--I all of us--that stand in the shadow 
of his life.
  Men like Graham are uncommon. Heroes--that's the term we use to 
describe men like him--but it is an incomplete term.
  Graham understood the stakes; he was all too human and it is 
precisely because of his humanity--of his heart, his soul--that we are 
here tonight, grieving his loss.
  Scripture tells us that, ``Greater love has no one than this, that 
one lay down his life for his friends.''
  The lessons of the Gospel of John are just as true now, as they were 
then.
  Corporal Graham McMahon woke up every day; put on his uniform and did 
what was needed. He did this out of love; he did this in an act of 
faith.
  Graham had faith in us; he had faith that his country knew what it 
was doing when it sent him to serve across the seas. And he had faith 
in us to ensure that his sacrifice--and the sacrifice of his brothers 
and sisters in arms were remembered.
  My friends, we live in challenging times; but we live free because of 
men, because of citizens--like Graham.
  It is important for us all to remember that when Graham left for 
Iraq, he knew that he might not come home alive. But that did not stop 
him from performing his duty.
  We must honor that memory by ensuring that we do ours. It is our duty 
to care for the military and the ones loved by them. It is our duty to 
ensure that we take good care of not merely the fallen, but the wounded 
struggling to return to the life they knew. And it is our duty to 
commit ourselves here, tonight, to making America the kind of place 
worthy of men such as CPL Graham McMahon.
  His life casts a long shadow--a shadow that will endure through the 
years. Let us renew ourselves to celebrating that life and sustaining 
the community he loved.

                          ____________________