[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 40 (Monday, March 10, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1787-S1788]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                      Corporal Gary Brent Coleman

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the life of a 
soldier who gave his life in defense of his country. CPL Gary Brent 
Coleman of Pikeville, KY, perished on November 21, 2003, in Balad, 
Iraq, when his vehicle overturned mid-chase during combat operations. 
He was 24 years old.
  The memorial service for Corporal Coleman was so large it filled the 
auditorium of his alma mater, Pikeville High School. Brent, as he was 
known, had been a local hero for his prowess on the football field. He 
became an even greater hero by stepping forward in a time of war.
  Friends, family members and fellow soldiers spoke, one after another, 
on the effect Brent had had in their lives. When it was over, Brent's 
father, Gary Keene Coleman, said, ``I was . . . proud that Brent had 
made that type of an impact on so many people. But I would rather for 
him to be here.''

[[Page S1788]]

  For his bravery in uniform, Corporal Coleman received many medals, 
awards and decorations, including the Army Achievement Medal, the Army 
Commendation Medal, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal.
  Brent was born in Pikeville, in eastern Kentucky, and spent the 
majority of his life in the area. From a young age he was not afraid to 
speak his mind. When Brent was about six or seven, he and his family 
went to the circus. They had lions there, and the lion tamer was 
directing them with his whip.
  But young Brent thought the lion tamer was using the whip on the 
lions--and that despite their sharp claws and teeth, they needed a 
small boy to come to their aid. ``Stop that right now!'' he yelled to 
the lion tamer. The whole circus audience laughed at Brent's display of 
compassion and bravery.
  Brent loved sports, and grew up playing T-Ball, baseball, and 
football. Once when Brent and his cousin Ben were both 12 years old, 
Brent showed Ben how to hold the football close to his chest. Ben took 
the ball and ran, Brent tackled him, and I guess Ben was holding the 
ball a little too tightly--it broke his shoulder and his rib.
  Gary took Brent and his brother, Jason, to the Super Bowl every year. 
Brent's favorite team was the Detroit Lions, and star running back 
Barry Sanders was his role model. Brent, Gary, and Jason would fly to 
wherever the big game was and stay for the weekend; they never missed a 
Super Bowl.
  Football was more than just a game to watch for Brent, it was his 
passion, and he excelled at it. At Pikeville High School, Brent was an 
all-county running back for the Pikeville Panthers. He was named 
offensive player of the year at the start of his senior year, in 1996, 
and he is still the leading rusher and scorer in the school's history.
  The Kentucky High School Athletic Association recognizes Brent for 
holding these records: 8th overall in career yards rushing, tenth 
overall in career touchdowns, and 11th overall in career points scored.
  ``Brent was idolized by the students and their parents,'' says Eddie 
Coleman, Brent's uncle. ``He was a local hero before he was the real 
hero.''
  With so much talent came an appropriate nickname. Brent's teammates 
called him ``Rocket,'' because he could find a hole and plow right 
through it.
  Footage from a local television station shows Brent earned yet 
another nickname--``Stumpy.'' ``I guess because I'm short and fat,'' a 
grinning Brent said to the TV reporter.
  ``He didn't lack for confidence,'' his father Gary tells us. ``Brent 
was someone with compassion, always trying to do good, always trying to 
do the right thing, and he had a competitive personality.''
  Everyone around him could see Brent was special, and that did not 
change when Brent joined the Army. After attending Marshall University 
in Huntington, WV, for 2 years, he enlisted on July 11, 2001, and 
underwent basic training at the U.S. Army Armor Center at Fort Knox, 
KY. He graduated Basic in the top five overall.
  Brent was then assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 68th Armor 
Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, based out of Fort Carson, CO. Upon 
graduating basic training, he told his family, ``I know I can make it 
on my own.''
  Brent saw service to his country as a way of life. ``He was going to 
make a career out of it, and I encouraged him to,'' says Gary. Brent 
held several positions on the M1A1 Abrams tank, including gunner and 
loader, and he eventually became a tank commander.
  Stationed in Colorado Springs, Brent met a special woman there, and 
Brent and Kirsten Sinley Coleman became husband and wife. They married 
in March, 3 weeks before Brent deployed to Iraq.
  The star running back and tank commander who had already acquired a 
few nicknames soon picked up another from his fellow soldiers: 
``Hollywood.'' I will let SSG Jason Gallegos, who served with Brent, 
explain why.
  Brent ``was about five-foot-five and weighed about 175 pounds,'' 
Staff Sergeant Gallegos says. ``His body was short in stature, but he 
was pure muscle with about maybe eight to nine percent body fat.''
  ``He looked like an action figure, a poster child of what a United 
States soldier looks like. . . . The reason behind the nickname was 
because Corporal Coleman worked out hard everyday here for two to three 
hours a day.
  ``Then whenever he got the opportunity, he would go outside our 
bunker into the sun in just his PT shorts, place mirrors around him, 
put on his shades and throw on some music and tan. It was like he was a 
movie star.''
  Brent was well liked by his fellow soldiers; and not just because of 
funny stories like these. He was liked and respected because he always 
gave his best, and encouraged others to do the same.
  ``He would always volunteer for the tough missions,'' Staff Sergeant 
Gallegos says. `` `Be smart and be aggressive,' he would say, because 
he felt if you're passive then you not only endanger yourself, but also 
your soldiers. . . . He was there for anybody, no matter what platoon, 
what day of the week, or what time of day.''
  At Brent's funeral, his sergeant told the Coleman family, ``Brent was 
24 and they get a lot of 18-year-olds. Brent would always volunteer to 
take the young ones' places to protect them.''
  ``He served his country. He never complained. He was made for the 
military, physically and mentally,'' Brent's father, Gary, says. ``He 
said he had a job to do.''
  Mr. President, I had the honor of meeting Gary Coleman in 2005, and I 
presented him with an American flag flown over this Capitol. Neither 
that flag nor the words we say here today can make up for what the 
Coleman family has lost. But they are the very least we can do to honor 
Brent's memory.
  We are thinking today of Brent's loved ones, including his wife 
Kirsten Sinley Coleman; his mother Janie Adkins Johnson; his father 
Gary Keene Coleman; his brother Jason Byron Coleman; his grandmother 
Ruby Coleman Damron; and many other family members and friends.
  Mr. President, today, March 10, is Brent's birthday. It is a day to 
celebrate Brent's life, and I thought an appropriate day for me to 
speak on how he lived, and what he lived for.
  To the Coleman family who have lost a husband, brother, and son, I 
want to say this: CPL Gary Brent Coleman left this world a hero. And on 
behalf of a grateful Nation, the U.S. Senate honors his life of 
sacrifice and service.

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