[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 155 (Monday, October 15, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H11534-H11535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CORPORAL DONALD E. VALENTINE III--U.S. ARMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, ``The soldier is the Army, and wars may be 
fought with weapons, but they are won by men. While we mourn those men 
who die, we should thank God such men ever lived.'' These are the words 
of General George Patton in World War II.
  Mr. Speaker, one of those soldiers was Corporal Donald E. Valentine 
III of the United States Army. He was born in Houston, Texas, on March 
5, 1986. Donald Valentine joined the United States Army because of the 
9/11 attack on this country.
  His mother Anna said, ``My husband and I were behind Donald 100 
percent. I was so proud of him no matter what he ever did. He made me 
very proud to be his mother.'' Words from another of America's Gold 
Star Mothers.
  I met Anna Valentine and many members of the Valentine family 
recently at Veterans National Cemetery in Houston, where mothers like 
Anna who had children killed in Iraq and Afghanistan were being 
honored. We call those noble women Gold Star Mothers. Anna Valentine's 
son is buried on that hallowed ground of the fallen in Houston, Texas.
  Corporal Valentine was killed along with two other soldiers on 
September 18 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, when an IED, an improvised explosive 
device, detonated near him.
  Mr. Speaker, you understand the use of an IED by America's enemy is a 
coward's way of fighting the war. These enemies rant and rave and 
preach hate in the name of religion, but they cover their faces with 
masks and hide in caves and dark, dusty ditches. They are afraid to 
come out in the open and face the American soldier, so our enemy 
detonates remote-controlled bombs.
  Corporal Donald Valentine III comes from a military family. His 
father, Donald II, is a Navy veteran. His brother Daniel wanted to 
enlist to be with his brother Donald in Iraq, and Daniel, 19, still 
intends to join the military. Mr. Speaker, America owes much to 
families like the Valentines.
  Donald was married 1 year to Lucia, who said Donald had all the 
qualities any girl would want. She had talked to Donald on their first 
anniversary, 3 days before his death in Iraq. Corporal Valentine told 
his family that, if he did not survive the war, they should stay 
strong. He is the 91st fallen servicemember with ties to the Houston 
area to have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
  Corporal Donald Valentine was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd 
Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division of the Stryker 
Brigade Combat Team from Fort Lewis, Washington.
  Being from a military family, he moved around a lot as a child. He 
lived in Florida most of his life and in Idaho, but wanted to be buried 
in ``Big H,'' as he called Houston, Texas, because of many reasons. One 
of those reasons was because he spent so much time growing up with his 
grandparents who live in Houston. Mr. Speaker, Donald's grandparents, 
Thomas and Lupe Cortez, and his other grandmother Geneva Fernandez, 
survive their grandson.
  As a grandfather of five with two more grandkids on the way, I think 
it would be a most difficult task to bury a grandson in the vigor of 
their youth.
  In the official statement on Donald's death, the family said, 
``Donald touched the lives of so many with his big heart. We will 
cherish the beautiful memories we shared with you. You made us so very 
proud. Now heaven has another hero. And, continue to watch over us as 
an angel in heaven.''
  On September 28, 2007, taps played for the last time as 21 guns 
saluted this American soldier. This is a photograph of Donald Valentine 
III.
  A statement has been credited to one of Rome's centurions when he 
told his

[[Page H11535]]

troops, ``How you yet live will echo throughout eternity.'' Corporal 
Valentine lived a short but faithful life to the things that were 
important to him: family and country. He was 21 when he was killed.
  Mr. Speaker, General George Patton was right about such warriors. We 
should thank God that such men as Corporal Donald Valentine III died 
and lived.
  And that's just the way it is.

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