[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 87 (Thursday, June 10, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H4370-H4371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               UNITED STATES MARINE SERGEANT BRANDON BURY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride and a heavy 
heart that I speak today of a young marine from my district in Texas 
who gave his life while fighting the terrorists in Afghanistan.
  Marine Sergeant Brandon Bury was killed on Sunday, June 6 during 
combat operations in Kabul. This is a photograph of this marvelous 
marine. He leaves behind his wife, Heather, and his two young sons, 
Cole, who is 3-years-old, and Cade, who is 1.
  Brandon was on his third tour of duty. He previously served two 
deployments in Iraq, and he left for Afghanistan this April as part of 
a team training Afghan police.
  He was 26 years of age and a 2002 graduate of Kingwood High School in 
Texas. In his 26 short years, Brandon lived a lifetime of service to 
other people.
  I talked to Brandon's mom, Terri, this week. She told me that Brandon 
had just called her, and he had asked her to send him gifts for the 
local Afghanistan children in his next care package. Brandon, always 
thinking about ways to do something for somebody else.
  I have been to Afghanistan and, let me tell you something, Mr. 
Speaker, those Afghani kids love American warriors. They love our 
troops, and I have

[[Page H4371]]

seen how they react to those troops firsthand.
  Marines like Brandon are the reason why. They are the best 
ambassadors for liberty and freedom that there are in the world 
because, you see, Americans never go to conquer. They go to liberate. 
They go to lands they have never seen, and they fight for people they 
have never known.
  Brandon's mom and dad, Terri and Bryan Bury, now live in Dallas, 
Texas, with his two brothers. I met Brandon 2 years ago at a 4th of 
July celebration in Kingwood. He stood 6 foot 6 and he was all marine. 
He was an impressive individual, and his friends say even back in 
middle school Brandon knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a 
United States marine.
  He volunteered for the Marine Corps. He could have been an officer, 
but he wanted to be an enlisted man so he could be on the ground with 
other such marines.
  You know, Mr. Speaker, there is nothing like a U.S. marine. They go 
into the desert of the gun and the valley of the sun. They go where 
others fear to tread and the timid are not found.
  These young warriors make great sacrifices today in the heat and the 
dust and the deserts and the rough, rugged mountains of Afghanistan. 
They track down those terrorists wherever they try to hide.
  There have been 10 Texas warriors killed this year in Afghanistan, 
four from the Houston area. In our congressional district in Texas, 
there have been a total of 29 warriors killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  It has been said that wars may be fought by weapons, but they are won 
by warriors. Brandon Bury was an American warrior. He was a hero in the 
tradition of our great men and women who defend the flag and liberty. 
It is America's warriors who pay the price for our freedom.
  In America's first war fighting for freedom, Patrick Henry said, 
``The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, 
the active, and to the brave.'' We are fortunate that these words still 
ring true today and that Americans like Brandon carry those values into 
battle.
  While we mourn the loss of Brandon Bury, we should thank God that a 
man like him ever lived.
  Killed with Sergeant Bury were Lance Corporal Derek Hernandez, 20, of 
Edinburg, Texas, and Corporal Donald Marler, 22, from St. Louis, part 
of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division based at 
Camp Pendleton. These proud, young warriors were killed on the 66th 
anniversary of the D-day invasion of Europe.
  Shakespeare wrote about such men in Henry V, when he said, ``From 
this day to the ending of the world, we in it shall be remembered. We 
few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his 
blood with me shall be my brother.''
  Mr. Speaker, we shall always remember Brandon and his fellow marine 
brothers and the lives they gave for freedom. So today I extend my 
prayers and condolences to Brandon's wife and two young boys, and his 
parents, his relatives, and his friends in the Kingwood community.
  Mr. Speaker, when a warrior goes off to faraway lands, the family 
stands vigilant at home because they, too, have really gone off to war.
  Brandon was a marine. He was the poster boy for what is best about 
America.
  Where does America get such amazing breed, this rare breed like 
Brandon Bury? Mr. Speaker, there is nothing quite like a marine. It was 
said best by an Army general when he said there are only two groups 
that understand marines--marines and the enemy.
  So Semper Fi, Brandon Bury, Semper Fi.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________