[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 108 (Friday, July 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   TRIBUTE TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARK E. STRATTON, UNITED STATES AIR 
                      FORCE, OF STAFFORD, VIRGINIA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT J. WITTMAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 17, 2009

  Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Lieutenant Colonel 
Mark E. Stratton, United States Air Force, of Stafford, Virginia, for 
his service and supreme sacrifice for our nation.
  Lieutenant Colonel Stratton graduated from Foley High School in 
Foley, Alabama, and then went on to attend Texas A&M University. There, 
he served as a member of the Corps of Cadets and graduated with a 
degree in Political Science. Following graduation, he was commissioned 
as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.
  Throughout his remarkable career, Lieutenant Colonel Stratton served 
with honor and distinction as a communications officer, pilot, senior 
navigator, and staff officer. Some of Lieutenant Colonel Stratton's 
duty assignments include executive assistant to the 55th Wing commander 
in Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, student at the Joint Advanced 
Warfighting School, Taiwan desk officer on the Joint Staff, and 
executive assistant to the deputy director for Asia. In addition to his 
professional military career, Lieutenant Colonel Stratton was an active 
member of Stafford Baptist Church in Stafford Virginia, where he served 
as a beloved Sunday school teacher.
  Tragically, on May 26, 2009, Lieutenant Colonel Stratton made the 
ultimate sacrifice for this great nation while serving as the 
Commanding Officer of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team in 
Afghanistan. Just as many of America's heroes have taken up arms when 
the nation needed them, Lieutenant Colonel Stratton dedicated himself 
to the cause of our values, freedoms, and way of life. His valor and 
determination cost him his life, but his sacrifice will endure forever 
among the many dedicated heroes the United States has sent abroad to 
preserve liberty and freedom.
  Lieutenant Colonel Stratton is remembered by his friends and family 
as a man of unquestionable character and loyalty. He was excited about 
the initiative he was leading in Afghanistan. In an e-mail to a friend 
he described the work of building roads, schools, canals and clinics as 
the best job of his Air Force career. It is easy to see why his friends 
describe him as someone who loved God, his family, his friends, and his 
country fervently. This is the caliber of a man that truly leads our 
nation's men and women in uniform with passion and purpose.
  Lieutenant Colonel Stratton is survived by his wife, Jennifer 
Stratton and his children, Delaney, Jake and A.J. My condolences and 
prayers go out to Mark's family, and I offer them my deepest sympathies 
and most heartfelt thanks for the service, sacrifice, and example of 
their hero, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Stratton.

                          ____________________