[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 10 (Friday, January 16, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                  Staff Sergeant Christopher G. Smith

  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, it is with a heavy heart that I rise 
today to honor the life and heroic service of SSG Christopher Smith. 
Staff Sergeant Smith, a member of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort 
Carson, died in Baghdad, Iraq, on December 24, 2008, from injuries 
sustained when his military vehicle overturned into a canal. He was 28 
years old.
  After spending 2 years at Kellogg Community College in Michigan 
studying for a career in sports medicine, Staff Sergeant Smith joined 
the Army in 2001. He served in Iraq from March 2005 to February 2006 in 
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and returned to the country for his 
second deployment in September of last year. As a cannon crewmember, 
Staff Sergeant Smith played an integral role operating high technology 
weapons systems. He distinguished himself as a strong leader within 
``Bulldog'' Company and would lead his unit in his captain's absence. 
His extraordinary bravery and talent earned him more than 11 awards and 
commendations during his service.
  Staff Sergeant Smith is remembered by those who knew him as a true 
patriot who always looked out for his fellow soldiers and believed 
strongly in his mission. He was deeply admired by his men, so much so 
that five members of his squadron incurred hypothermia in a dogged and 
heroic effort to rescue him from the canal. He was often hunting and 
fishing, rooting for the University of Michigan Wolverines, and 
grilling brisket and ribs for his friends. Most of all, he was a 
devoted husband and father.
  Mr. President, Teddy Roosevelt famously said, ``it is not the critic 
who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or 
where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs 
to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust 
and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short 
again and again, because there is no effort without error and 
shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows 
great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy 
cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high 
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while 
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and 
timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.''
  Staff Sergeant Smith sacrificed his life for this Nation as a man who 
knew that his country needed him to be ``in the arena,'' helping 
others. He accepted the risks of his job with extraordinary 
professionalism and served with honor and a dedication to duty that was 
second to none. We cannot repay our debt nor replace his loss.
  To Staff Sergeant Smith's mother Donna, his father Virgil, his wife 
Bobbi Jo, his son Adler, his brother Phillip, and all his friends and 
family, I know no words that can assuage the pain you must feel. I hope 
that in time your grief will give way to the pride you must feel for 
Chris for all he accomplished and for all the lives he touched. His 
country will always honor his legacy.

                          ____________________