[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 189 (Monday, December 14, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S13188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                     Staff Sergeant Stephen Murphy

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, today I wish to express my sincerest 
condolences and deepest sympathies to the family of SSG Stephen F. 
Murphy, who died in Al Asad, Iraq, on November 8. Staff Sergeant 
Murphy, a native of Troy, NH, served his country for 16 years as a 
member of the U.S. Marine Corps. The American people will forever be 
grateful for his service.
  Staff Sergeant Murphy exemplified the best in America's long 
tradition of duty, sacrifice and service. Despite being turned away 
from a Marine recruiting station as a teenager for being too small and 
still lacking a high school diploma, Stephen was determined to enlist 
and rededicated himself to his studies and weight training until he 
could join the Corps. The selfless determination he displayed is what 
makes our Armed Forces the best in the world.
  When he formally established Veterans Day in 1954, President 
Eisenhower described the importance of a national day of remembrance: 
``On that day let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who 
fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to 
preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to 
the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not 
have been in vain.''
  In the town of Troy this past Veterans Day, those words undoubtedly 
took on a new poignancy as the community came together to honor the 
sacrifice of one of its own. Our nation can never fully repay this 
sacrifice, nor fully assuage the loss to Stephen's family. Through his 
years of service, he helped preserve the safety and security of the 
American people. It now falls to all of us to honor his memory by 
supporting our veterans and their families and ensuring America's 
continued security.
  I ask my colleagues to join me and all Americans in honoring the life 
of SSG Stephen Murphy.

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