[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 52 (Thursday, April 3, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2424-S2425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                 sergeant first class lance s. cornett

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to speak for a soldier 
from Kentucky who has fallen in the war on terror. SFC Lance S. Cornett 
of London, KY, was killed while engaging the enemy in a firefight near 
Ramadi, Iraq, on February 3, 2006. He was 33 years old.
  As a special operations soldier, Sergeant First Class Cornett was 
among the most elite of the men and women who make up our fighting 
forces. A veteran of nearly 15 years, he received many awards, medals, 
and decorations throughout his career, including nine Army Achievement 
Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, the Joint Service Commendation 
Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Purple Heart, and 
three Bronze Star Medals for Valor.
  As a highly trained member of a special operations team, Sergeant 
First Class Cornett also earned the prestigious Ranger and Sapper tabs.
  ``He was a very dedicated soldier, loving husband, and devoted father 
and grandfather,'' says Lance's wife, Sandra. ``Lance lived by and died 
by the words `Don't Ever Give Up.' He taught us all to do the same.''
  Lance's 10-year-old daughter, Cheyenne, adds simply, ``I hope to 
follow in my dad's footsteps one day, and it was truly an honor to be 
his daughter. He was a true American soldier.''
  Lance's father, Rhudell Cornett, served as a Marine for 22 years, 
rising to the rank of master gunnery sergeant. But having a Marine 
sergeant for a father did not stop young Lance from sometimes getting 
into trouble. I'll let his mother, Karen McMullen, explain.
  ``While Lance's father was in the Marines, when Lance was three and 
his sister was four, and we were temporarily assigned to a base in 
Albany, GA, Lance decided to use the neighbor's golf cart and take his 
sister for a ride,'' she says. ``They went through the side of a 
trailer.''
  Growing up, young Lance loved to camp, fish, ski, and go caving. He 
enjoyed outdoor sports. He collected dragon figurines. ``Eye of the 
Tiger,'' from the movie ``Rocky III,'' was his favorite song.
  Lance's sister, Cristal Chesnut, has fond memories of her brother. 
``He was my best friend,'' Cristal says. ``We went to school together. 
We worked together at McDonald's and we did everything together.''
  Lance went on to graduate from London's Laurel County High School. 
Following in the footsteps of his father and other veteran relatives, 
Lance enlisted in the U.S. Army as an infantryman in August 1991.
  He made the Army his career and sought to advance as far as he could, 
eventually becoming a special operations soldier. Special operations 
soldiers serve as the tip of the spear in our country's war on 
terrorism. Sergeant First Class Cornett had to endure rigorous military 
training to earn that position.
  That training included successful completion of the air assault 
course, the basic airborne course, the sniper

[[Page S2425]]

course, the special forces diving supervisor course, and the military 
freefall jumpmaster course.
  I mentioned earlier that Sergeant First Class Cornett also earned his 
Ranger and Sapper tabs. That meant he had successfully completed combat 
leadership training at the Army's Ranger school and in a Sapper leader 
course.
  Lance was eventually assigned to the HHC Company, U.S. Army Special 
Operations Command, based in Fort Bragg, NC. His father, Rhudell, 
bought Lance a huge sword with a skull and crossbones on it that became 
his unit's official team logo.
  Even while remaining the consummate soldier, Lance never lost sight 
of the simple pleasures of helping others. His wife, Sandra, tells us 
one story that illustrates this.
  ``We were in London one winter and it was really cold outside and 
snowing,'' Sandra recalls. ``We passed a homeless man. Lance went down 
the street and went back until he found [him and] he gave him the coat 
off of his back and all of the money he had. He was that type of 
person.''
  His mother, Karen, tells another story that reveals the same sense of 
caring and compassion in the man everyone else called ``Lance,'' but 
she called ``Lanny.''
  ``Lance came home on leave before he was married,'' she says. ``His 
uncle Rayne Smith wanted to build a brick firepit in his back yard. He 
asked Lanny to help him. They went to buy the bricks and then Rayne 
said, `I don't know how many to get.'
  ``Lanny said, `Let's put it together here in the parking lot and then 
we'll know for sure.' They built the entire firepit in the parking lot 
before bringing the bricks home.''
  Lance got married on February 10, 1996, to Sandra S. Cornett at the 
Laurel County Courthouse. Together they raised three wonderful 
children, Brandy Hart Rudy, Christopher Hart, and Breanna Cheyenne 
Cornett.
  When Lance was home with his family, he would enjoy their company, 
and get down on the floor to play with his children. One time his 
mother asked him, ``How do you do what you do?''
  Lance said to her, ``I turn my baseball cap the right way when I'm 
home and backwards when I'm not. I separate my work from my life.'' But 
whether at home or at work, Lance excelled at and was loved in both.
  Lance was buried in Manchester, KY, and his uncle Rayne delivered the 
eulogy at the funeral. In London, England, they also held a memorial 
service. This was because Lance's special operations unit had once 
served alongside a British unit, and Lance earned so much respect from 
these men that they created a memorial to him and just this last 
November 11, Veterans Day, placed a wreath there to honor his life.
  Recently, Lance's family received a visit from a soldier who was with 
Lance the day he died. This soldier stayed with Lance for 45 minutes 
after he had been shot, covering him and sheltering him in a ditch 
until he could be recovered.
  He received the Silver Star for his heroic efforts. ``He is a 
wonderful man,'' Lance's mother Karen said about the warrior who became 
like a brother to her son on his last day on this Earth.
  Mr. President, my prayers are with the Cornett family after the 
tragic loss of their husband, father, brother and son. We are thinking 
today of his wife, Sandra S. Cornett; his daughter, Breanna Cheyenne 
Cornett; his stepchildren, Christopher Hart and Brandy Hart Rudy and 
her husband, Benjamin Rudy; his mother, Karen McMullen; his sister, 
Cristal Chesnut and her husband, Jimmy, and their son, Jesse; his step-
grandchildren, Logan and Taylor Rudy; his grandmother, Mary Lou Egan 
his uncle Rayne Smith, along with his wife Pam and their family; his 
uncle Warren ``Jopo'' Egan, along with his wife Patti and their family; 
and many other beloved family members and friends. Since Lance's 
passing, his father, Rhudel Cornett, has also sadly left us.
  I have tried to describe Lance Cornett as best I can, Mr. President, 
but his mother, Karen, knows and understands her son more than I could 
ever hope to. So I will let her have the closing words.
  ``He was and is the finest man I've ever known, and it was an honor 
to be his mom,'' she says.
  It is also an honor for this U.S. Senate to pay tribute to SFC Lance 
S. Cornett's lifetime of service. He gave his life in the performance 
of that service. Our Nation is richer today for the sacrifice he made 
on behalf of freedom's cause.

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