[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 16 (Thursday, January 31, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S507-S509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING OUT ARMED FORCES

   Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to pause for a 
moment so I may share with them the story of a soldier lost in battle. 
On January 5, 2007, MAJ Michael L. Mundell of Brandenburg, KY, and his 
unit were sent to secure a combat area in Fallujah, Iraq, after an 
American tank reported being struck by an improvised explosive device.
  En route to the scene, a second explosive device went off near Major 
Mundell's vehicle, tragically taking his life. He was 47 years old.
   Major Mundell served in the U.S. Army for over a decade before 
leaving active service to work as a civilian contractor to the armed 
forces. In November of 2005 he again volunteered for active duty. His 
wife Audrey tells us that Mike once told a friend ``he was going over 
there to fight them so they couldn't come over here and hurt his 
children.''
  For his bravery in service, Major Mundell received numerous medals 
and awards, including two Meritorious Service Medals, the Bronze Star 
Medal and the Purple Heart.
  Mr. President, Major Mundell was one of those who may have been born 
in one of the other 49 States but became Kentuckian by choice. Born in 
Pittsburgh, he grew up in Canonsburg, PA.
  As a child, Mike developed a passion for military service. He wanted 
to grow up and drive tanks. When he was three, he handed his father an 
encyclopedia and asked him to read it to him.
  His family says this began his lifelong love of reading. As an adult, 
he enjoyed Civil War history, and would often read more than a book a 
day. He also enjoyed mysteries and thrillers, and read through the 
Bible three times.
   In 1977, Mike graduated from Canon-McMillan High School, home of the 
Big Macs. His wife Audrey liked to tease him that his high-school 
mascot was named after a hamburger, but Mike made his school proud on 
the football field.

  Mike went on to graduate from Washington-Jefferson College in 1981 
where he majored in history, participated in ROTC and played soccer.
  After graduation, Mike realized his lifelong goal of becoming an Army 
officer when he received his commission as a second lieutenant. 
Assigned to Fort

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Knox, KY, for officer's basic training, Mike became a Kentuckian--that 
is, when he was not spending 3 years in Germany working as a tank 
officer.
  In 1984, while stationed at Fort Knox, Mike met Audrey, a student at 
Elizabethtown Community College, through a mutual friend. He was 
attracted to her red hair; she liked that he was handsome and 
intelligent. They were married in 1985 and had four children: daughter 
Erica and sons Ryan, Zach, and Dale. Mike had a special relationship 
with all of his children and made each one feel as if he or she was his 
favorite.
  Mike raised his family in Brandenburg and was a devoted fan of the 
Pittsburgh Steelers. He liked to watch historical documentaries, and 
his favorite movies were the war films ``Glory'' and ``Patton.'' As a 
soldier, ``strategy and tactics--that was his thing, and he was 
extremely good at it,'' says Audrey. ``He was so intelligent.''
  After over 11 years of service, Mike left active duty in 1992 and 
went on to become a private contractor to the Armed Forces working at 
Fort Knox. Then in November 2005, he volunteered to again don the 
uniform.
  ``Mike was offered the chance to go to Iraq and do administrative 
work, but he said he would refuse to go if they were going to simply 
stick him behind a desk,'' said Audrey.
  Assigned to the 1st Brigade, 108th Division, based out of 
Spartanburg, SC, Major Mundell was tasked with training the Iraqi Army. 
His tour of duty started on Father's Day of 2006.
  Mike wrote e-mails often to his friends and family, sometimes 
exhibiting his robust sense of humor. In an e-mail dated June 23, 2006, 
he tried to describe the Kuwaiti heat.
  This is what he said: ``Turn on a blow dryer, point it at yourself 
and stand there,'' he wrote. ``And stand there. And stand there. Throw 
some dust from the vacuum in the air every once in a while. Voila! You 
are experiencing Kuwait.''
  Other e-mails described tenser times. Take the one he wrote on July 
24, 2006, about one of the first times he found himself under fire. 
``All of the sudden . . . BOOM! . . . our radios were filled with 
shouts of `incoming!' '' he wrote. ``We took three mortars in close.''
  Later in that same e-mail, however, Major Mundell made clear that 
despite the danger, he was committed to his duty. He wrote:

       This is the most intense, most REAL thing I have ever done 
     in my life.

  My thoughts and prayers are with Major Mundell's loved ones today, 
including his wife, Audrey; his daughter, Erica; his sons Ryan, Zach 
and Dale; his sister and brother-in-law, Deanna and Ken Sofranko; his 
nephew, Kenny Sofranko; his niece, Taylor Sofranko; his grandmother-in-
law, Jesse Edge; his mother-in-law, Carolyn Cundiff; his brother-in-
law, Steve Cundiff; his sisters-in-law Angie Allen and Sandi Stout; and 
many other beloved family members and friends.
  Major Mundell's funeral service was held January 14, 2007, at the 
chapel in Fort Knox. The funeral procession was a mile and a half long, 
and the Mundell family was overwhelmed at the outpouring of support 
from the community for their lost husband, father, brother, and friend.
  Recalling a conversation with her youngest child, Audrey tells us 
what his son Dale said upon seeing the crowds. ``Dale asked me, `All of 
this for my dad?' '' Audrey says. ``And I told him, `Yes, all of this 
for your dad.' ''
  Mr. President, like the hundreds in Fort Knox that day, this Senate 
wishes to express its deepest gratitude to MAJ Michael L. Mundell for 
his service. This man, who his wife Audrey describes as ``a soldier 
through and through,'' gave everything he had to protect his family and 
his country. Our Nation will forever honor that sacrifice.


                     Staff Sergeant John E. Cooper

  Mr. President, I wish today to pause in memory of a fallen soldier, 
SSG John E. Cooper of Flemingsburg, KY. Staff Sergeant Cooper was lost 
on January 15, 2007, in Mosul, Iraq, when an improvised explosive 
device set by terrorists went off near his humvee. He was 29 years old.
  This was Staff Sergeant Cooper's second tour of duty in Iraq. For his 
bravery in uniform, he received numerous medals and awards, including 
the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Combat 
Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Purple Heart.
  Staff Sergeant Cooper, an Army veteran of over a decade, knew from an 
early age that he wanted to dedicate himself to serving his country. 
``He wanted to be a soldier from the third grade on,'' says his mother, 
Janice Botkin. ``And he was strong enough to pursue his dream of being 
in the military.''
  As a child, John had many interests. In middle school, he became 
fascinated with Native American culture and found it to be a part of 
his own family. ``He learned about the Trail of Tears and this sparked 
his interest in Native Americans,'' says his mother Janice, who is 
herself of Native American heritage. John later went to several family 
reunions at Serpent Mound, a Native American site in Adams County, OH.
  In high school, John was active in Future Farmers of America and the 
drama club. He enjoyed being outdoors. The youngest of four children, 
he loved to spend time with his brother Terrance and his sisters Sherri 
and Susie.
  Because he was the youngest, John got teased a lot, but as the baby 
of the family, his siblings also spoiled him quite a bit. For instance, 
every year the Cooper family would travel to Kings Island, an amusement 
park in nearby Cincinnati.
  John graduated from Fleming County High School in 1995, and that 
September at age 18, fulfilled his childhood aspirations by enlisting 
in the Army.
  ``I remember that he would go running along the country roads to 
build himself and be ready to pass his physical training when he went 
into basic,'' says his sister Sherri Springate. ``We're all so proud of 
him.''
  As a soldier, he could ``go places and do things he wouldn't be able 
to do if he stayed around here,'' says his mother Janice.
  A skilled marksman, John served in the Army for 11 years and 
dedicated himself to making it a career. ``He really liked being a 
military person,'' says Janice.
  Over those 11 years, Staff Sergeant Cooper was deployed to 
Afghanistan, Korea and the Sinai Peninsula. He had his first tour of 
duty in Iraq and went to London.
  By the time of his second deployment to Iraq, he was assigned to the 
2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st 
Cavalry Division based out of Fort Bliss, TX. John enhanced his 
leadership skills by attending the Primary Leadership Development 
Course and Air Assault School.
  Staff Sergeant Cooper's family is in my thoughts and prayers now as I 
share his story with the Senate. He will be forever loved and 
remembered by his mother, Janice Botkin; his father, Michael Cooper; 
his stepfather, Roger Botkin; his sisters, Sherri Springate and Susie 
West; his stepbrothers Roger Botkin, Jr., and Robert McMillan; his 
stepsisters Bonita Botkin and Sherry Hilterbrandt; his aunt, Teresa 
Gates; his grandparents James and Lillian Burke; and many other friends 
and family members.
  On January 28 of last year, Staff Sergeant Cooper's family held a 
memorial service for John at his alma mater, Fleming County High 
School. People came from as far away as Indiana, Ohio, and West 
Virginia to pay their respects to this fallen infantryman, and they 
lined the entrance to the school with American flags in hand.
  The example John set for the other soldiers was so remarkable that 
when the ``History Channel'' joined his unit to capture documentary 
footage, they selected John's story to follow out of 4,000 men and 
women. ``They were impressed with his leadership qualities and caring 
for the men that served under him,'' says his mother Janice.
  The ``History Channel'' is still working on the documentary, but they 
screened some of its footage at a memorial service for Staff Sergeant 
Cooper in Texas. I am glad they recognized and were able to capture on 
film the character and abilities of the soldier called ``Coop'' by his 
Army buddies.
  I am sure John's family feels the same way. They and everyone who was 
lucky enough to know John already realize he was a true hero who was 
dedicated to his country. Now his heroism

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has been documented and preserved for all to see.
  ``We're very proud of John, what he did, and who he was,'' says 
John's mother.
  I want her to know that this Senate expresses its deepest gratitude 
for SSG John E. Cooper's life of service. And we express our deepest 
gratitude for the Cooper family, for raising a soldier and patriot who 
answered the call in his country's time of need.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

                          ____________________