[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 16 (Thursday, January 31, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S510-S511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         COLONEL D'ARCY GRISIER

  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I rise today with a truly heavy heart. At 
Arlington Cemetery, on January 17, 2008, I attended the funeral 
services of my friend, COL D'Arcy Grisier. Our thoughts and prayers are 
with his wife beloved Roberta, or, as we call her, Bert, and their 
three children Sean, Kelly, and Darcy.
  D, as he was called by his friends, was a caring father, loving 
husband, and a member of my extended family. A patriot in every sense 
of the word, D spent 26 years serving this Nation in the U.S. Marine 
Corps. Upon retiring from the Corps in 2003, D decided to continue 
serving this country in a different capacity.
  From 2003 until September of this past year, Colonel D was my 
military legislative assistant. In this capacity D advised me on all 
national security matters, all the while reminding me that once a 
Marine always a Marine and that the ``M'' in Marine is always 
capitalized.
  Those of us who were friends with D will remember him more for who he 
was than the lifetime of service he gave to this country. My staff and 
I will miss D always knowing exactly what the Redskins were doing 
wrong.
  We will miss him always saying ``keep your seats'' whenever he 
entered a room. We will miss him constantly singing Jimmy Buffet songs 
out loud, and losing at least two sleeves of golf balls every time he 
played. We will miss his laughter and his camaraderie. Most of all, we 
will miss his friendship.
  Mr. President, if D Grisier knew that I was making this statement 
about him, he would probably be upset. That was the type of individual 
he was.
  While he would not have wanted this attention, Americans deserve to 
know D's story and the caliber of person who spent a lifetime serving 
them.
  This past summer at our annual staff retreat Colonel D announced that 
he would be leaving the office to go and work in the Pentagon as the 
Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Budget and Appropriations. This 
was bittersweet for many of us.
  We were thrilled for D, of course, but sad to see him go. 
Unfortunately, he was never able to report to work for his new job, a 
challenging position that he looked forward to starting.
  During his tenure on Capitol Hill he had many accomplishments, which 
D referred to as ``doing the people's business.''
  These accomplishments included advising me in my role as chairman of 
the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management 
Support.
  In this capacity, he drafted legislation and amendments, wrote 
numerous floor statements, staffed me in high level meetings, advised 
me on billion-dollar spending bills, and, on occasion, voted my proxy, 
or what D would refer to his role as, the ``extremely junior Senator 
from Nevada.''
  He spent a great deal of time in Nevada at our military bases and 
meeting with veterans. D also took great care in helping the families 
of our State's fallen heroes. He moved mountains in order to relieve 
some of the stress and anxiety they face at such difficult times.
  After D announced to the office that he would be leaving for the 
Pentagon he told a short story. I believe this story reflects the type 
of individual that he truly was.
  D told us that the professional accomplishment he was most proud of 
was bringing a Junior ROTC program to Douglas High School.

[[Page S511]]

  The fact that D took pride in accomplishing those less glamorous 
tasks that directly impacted the lives of Nevadans is what made him the 
man he was, and made him the man all of us admired.
  President Ronald Reagan once said that ``Some individuals go through 
life wondering whether or not they've made a difference. Marines don't 
have that problem.''
  Mr. President, I am here to tell my colleagues that this could not be 
any truer than in the case of COL D'Arcy Grisier.
  America is a stronger Nation because of the lifetime of public 
service that Colonel D gave.
  I will truly miss my friend.
  His last saying that all of us used to kind of get a chuckle out of, 
when he was tired of talking, he used to say: ``My, my, look at the 
time.''
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.

                          ____________________