[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 120 (Tuesday, August 10, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1555-E1556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LANCE CORPORAL SHANE MARTIN MARINE

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 10, 2010

  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, it is with great pride and a heavy 
heart that I pay tribute to an American warrior from the 2nd District 
of Texas today: United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Shane Martin.
  Shane was killed during combat operations on July 29 while conducting 
a mounted patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
  He is the 35th in an honored, sacred roll of American warriors from 
my district who have given their lives fighting the coward terrorists 
who attacked America on September 11th.
  Shane was 23 years old. He had already served a tour of duty in Iraq 
with the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion based out of Camp 
Pendleton.
  Shane so loved liberty and freedom and this great melting pot called 
America.
  Born in South Africa, Shane lived his early years there and in Kenya 
before moving to a ranch in Burton, Texas at age 12. When he was 16 
years old, Shane moved with his family to Spring, Texas.
  After he graduated from Klein Collins High School, Shane married his 
high school sweetheart, Lauren. Shane proudly joined the United States 
Marine Corps defending the country he so loved.
  While serving America on the battlefields of Iraq, Shane proudly 
earned his American citizenship.

[[Page E1556]]

  All of his fellow soldiers gave some, Madam Speaker, but Shane Martin 
gave all in his defense of freedom. We are honored and humbled by his 
service and sacrifice for America.
  Our brave Marines go to war defending freedom and liberty in faraway 
lands. In the dark, cold desert night and the parched, insufferable 
desert heat, these brave warriors pay with their blood and sacrifice 
for freedom and liberty and for America.
  They sanctify with their blood lands they have never seen, and they 
fight for people they do not know.
  President Ronald Reagan once said, ``Some people spend an entire 
lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the 
Marines don't have that problem.''
  Shane was a Marine. He gave all to others during his short 23 years 
to family and friends and his fellow Marines. He was the poster boy for 
what is best about America.
  Shane Martin 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.''
  These words still ring true today as men like Shane carry those 
values into battle. Today we mourn the loss of Shane Martin, but we 
should thank God that a man like him ever lived.
  Madam Speaker, we shall always remember Shane and the precious life 
gave for our freedom.
  As early American poet Joseph Drake once said, ``And they who for 
their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the 
soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.''
  Today we are humbled and in awe of the man who gave so much in his 
young life so that others might be free.
  I extend my prayers and condolences to Shane's wife Lauren and his 
mother and father Debora and Kevin Wallace, his brother Kyle, his 
beloved little sister Diane, his grandmother Pammy, his fellow Marines 
and friends in the Spring community.
  When a warrior goes off to faraway lands, the family stands vigilant 
at home because they, too, have really gone off to war.
  Today we honor the life of Marine Lance Corporal Shane Martin.
  Semper Fi, Shane Martin, Semper Fi.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________