[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 149 (Thursday, October 15, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S10467]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR FALLEN HEROES

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. President, I rise today to mourn the 
untimely deaths and celebrate the lives of two New Mexico heroes. One 
died just last week from injuries he sustained while serving his 
country in Afghanistan. The other was killed this past June in a 
helicopter crash after rescuing a stranded hiker lost on the Santa Fe 
Baldy Mountain.
  Both men served their countries with distinction and honor. Both were 
raised in families with a strong tradition of public service. Both said 
``Choose me'' when they were needed the most. Both paid the ultimate 
sacrifice. They are Army SFC Kenneth Westbrook and New Mexico State 
police sergeant Andrew Tingwall. I would like to tell you about them 
today.
  Sergeant Westbrook's career in the military began more than 20 years 
ago after he graduated from Shiprock High School in northwest New 
Mexico. He married his childhood sweetheart, Charlene. Along the way, 
they had three children--Zachary, Joshua, and Joseph.
  He served in the Persian Gulf war and did numerous other stints 
overseas in places such as Korea and Germany. He was a proud member of 
the Navajo Nation. He loved to hunt and fish, build model military 
vehicles, and was an expert chef and grill master.
  His brother says Kenneth was looking forward to retiring from the 
military and spending more time with his family when he got the call 
for one more tour of duty--this time to Afghanistan. As much as he 
cherished the idea of spending more time with his family, Kenneth knew 
what he had to do: Of course, I will go, he said. Kenneth believed in 
the work being done in Afghanistan, his brother said. And if the Army 
needed him to complete that work, there was no question he would be 
there.
  Kenneth was gravely wounded on September 8 when his unit was attacked 
by insurgents in Afghanistan. He was quickly flown to Walter Reed Army 
Medical Center for treatment. That is where I met his wife Charlene and 
other members of his family. That is where Sergeant Westbrook died from 
his injuries last week.

  Military families are a special group of people. Every day they face 
sacrifices and challenges the average person can't imagine. They do it 
with grace and strength and an unwavering belief in the country they 
call home. That is what I saw the day I visited Charlene and Sergeant 
Westbrook's three boys. I saw a strength made even more striking when 
you realize this tragedy wasn't their first.
  Four years earlier, almost to the day, another Sergeant Westbrook 
died. His older brother--SGT Marshall Alan Westbrook--was killed in 
Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated near his humvee in 
Baghdad.
  The Westbrooks have given more than most families. Their tight-knit 
family has paid the ultimate sacrifice, and for the Westbrooks, it 
happened not once but twice. As Americans, we often take for granted 
our freedoms, but we should never forget those whose sacrifice makes 
those freedoms possible.
  Sergeant Westbrook will be laid to rest on Friday in Farmington, but 
he will forever live in the memory of New Mexicans.
  This story of New Mexican heroism doesn't end there. I would also 
like to talk about New Mexico State Police SGT Andrew Tingwall, who was 
killed last June in a helicopter accident after rescuing a stranded, 
lost hiker. Sergeant Tingwall is being honored on Friday with a 
posthumous induction into the New Mexican Military Institute Alumni 
Association Hall of Fame, which I helped nominate him for. His honor is 
for Eminence in a Chosen Field. Similar to Sergeant Westbrook, Andy 
Tingwall's chosen field was service--service to his community, service 
to his State, and service to his country.
  Known as ``Ting'' to his friends, Sergeant Tingwall graduated from 
the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell in 1991 and joined the 
U.S. Marine Corps shortly after. During his military career, he became 
a jump-qualified reconnaissance marine and served with Delta Company's 
Fourth Reconnaissance Battalion. He continued his distinguished career 
as a New Mexico reservist from 1993 to 1995, when he joined the New 
Mexico State Police.
  Eventually, he became lead instructor for the Training and Recruiting 
Division of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy before joining the 
New Mexico State Police aircraft section, where he became a pilot. 
Sergeant Tingwall proved his merit there, serving as chief pilot of the 
unit--the youngest man to ever have that title.
  Sergeant Tingwall was known by his colleagues, friends, and family 
for his heroism and love of the sky, saving many lives in his time with 
the State police. In 2008, he was celebrated as Officer of the Year by 
the New Mexico Sheriffs and Police Association and would have received 
a Medal of Valor in June, but for Sergeant Tingwall, that day would 
never come.
  Sergeant Tingwall was in the middle of saving the life of a stranded 
hiker on June 9 when tragedy struck. He and his spotter, Officer Wesley 
Cox, had located the stranded hiker and Sergeant Tingwall was 
transporting her to safety when the helicopter struck a mountainside 
and crashed.
  After the crash, as he had throughout his career, Sergeant Tingwall 
put the safety of others before his own. Despite being severely 
injured, he managed to pull the hiker from the wreckage before they 
both died from their injuries. Sergeant Tingwall was just 36 years old.
  Duty, honor, country--three words you hear often when talking about 
those who commit themselves to a life of public service. Sergeants 
Westbrook and Tingwall personified those words, both in the way they 
lived their lives and in the way those lives ultimately ended.
  New Mexico is proud to honor these true American heroes. To their 
families, we say thank you and ask them to accept the thanks of a 
grateful State and a grateful nation.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. McCaskill). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Illinois is recognized.
  Mr. DURBIN. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Durbin pertaining to the introduction of S. 1789 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')

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