[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 151 (Thursday, November 18, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H7579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise for a sad occasion, but an appropriate 
occasion. I rise to pay tribute to two proud natives of Maryland who 
lost their lives in Afghanistan this fall, Navy Lieutenant Brendan 
Looney of Owings and Marine Lance Corporal Terry Honeycutt of Waldorf. 
I attended both of their burials at Arlington Cemetery. As I say, it 
was a mixture of deep sadness to lose these two young, extraordinarily 
capable, patriotic Americans, to be with their families, to learn what 
committed young men they were. At the same time, to be filled with 
pride that America has people like these two brave souls, willing to 
give their lives in the defense of freedom and justice and democracy 
and the safety and security of our people. I know that the grief their 
family feels is still fresh and that nothing can replace the loss they 
have suffered. But I want them to know the honor and awe in which we 
hold their sons' sacrifices.
  Now it is our responsibility to keep their names, their memories, and 
their examples alive. Lieutenant Looney, a 29-year-old Navy SEAL, died 
with nine other American servicemembers in a helicopter crash in 
southern Afghanistan. Most of you read about that incident. He was a 
star lacrosse player at the Naval Academy and then chose to complete 
the grueling training required to become a Navy SEAL. Lieutenant Looney 
was recognized as the Honor Man, or top member of his SEAL class. And 
just 48 hours after marrying his wife, Amy, he deployed to Iraq. He 
served four deployments, four deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and 
tragically died just 2 weeks before he was to return home from that 
fourth deployment. He is buried next to his Naval Academy roommate and 
best friend, First Lieutenant Travis Manion, who died in Iraq in 2007.
  Lance Corporal Honeycutt, the other young man to whom I referred, 
died at the age of 19 in the blast of an improvised explosive device in 
Helmand province, Afghanistan. As long as his parents could remember, 
their son wanted to be a marine. He stood out for his commitment in his 
high school Junior ROTC program, and on graduating, he met his goal. 
Sadly, his life was cut far too short. But all those who remember Lance 
Corporal Honeycutt speak of a man who lived to serve his country and 
who embodied the marines' deepest ideals of service, sacrifice, and 
inner strength.

                              {time}  1430

  In the words of his mother Christine, whom I talked to Monday this 
week, ``We have so much honor and pride and joy, knowing that he was 
the person that he was, and I can't describe,'' she went on, ``how 
proud we are of him. We knew him as the type of person that was ready, 
willing, and waiting to do anything for anybody.''
  He did that for his country, for all of us who serve in this Chamber, 
for every one of our fellow citizens.
  These two irreplaceable lives are among the latest costs of a war 
that has lasted more than 9 years. This is not the time or place to 
speak about that war's future or its end.
  But I ask my colleagues only this: We must remember that its costs 
are measured in lives like Brendan's and Terry's, and treat every 
debate and every decision about this war with a gravity that honors 
those two souls and the souls who have also been lost and who currently 
serve.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to offer my deep sympathy for the 
families who have lost so much: To Lieutenant Looney's wife, Amy; to 
his parents, Kevin and Maureen; to his brothers, Billy and Steve; and 
to his sisters, Erin, Kellie and Briget; and to Lance Corporal 
Honeycutt's parents, Terry and Christine; his sister, Dawn; and to his 
sister's husband, who currently serves as a member of the United States 
Marines; and to all the grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and 
uncles whom we join in mourning the loss of these two brave, patriotic, 
extraordinary Americans. May God rest their souls and give strength and 
peace to their families.

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