[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 176 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H7721-H7722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PFC CODY NORRIS--TEXAS SOLDIER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, halfway around the world, in the 
desert of the sun and the valley of the gun, the American warrior 
stands fighting the forces of the enemy.

[[Page H7722]]

  But one such soldier returns from battle to America with a flag-
draped coffin. He is Cody Norris, Army private first class, a machine 
gunner in the infantry, just 20 years old, barely an adult, but still 
an all-American man.
  For the Norris family in La Porte, Texas, Cody was a son and a little 
brother. He died in a gun battle last week in Afghanistan for our 
country. He was the 38th warrior in my area of Texas to give his life 
for his country.
  Cody grew up in La Porte. He graduated from La Porte High School just 
last year, but he quickly volunteered for the United States Army in 
October.
  In high school, Cody loved to restore old military trucks. He 
restored a 1952 Dodge M-37 Army truck and drove it to school. He was a 
member of the Junior ROTC Color Guard at La Porte High School. But this 
year, his former classmates and peers in the Color Guard honored his 
life.
  He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Heavy 
Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, 
before deploying to Afghanistan. It was his first deployment in 
Afghanistan.
  October 1 marked his 1-year anniversary in the United States Army. 
Cody was killed in Kandahar province last week on November 9 when the 
enemy forces attacked his unit with small-arms fire.
  Kandahar province in Afghanistan has been called the birthplace and 
fanatical home of the notorious Taliban. It is a dangerous part of the 
world. I've been to Afghanistan several times, and the sun is 
unbearable in the summer and the cold is brutally piercing in the 
winter. And our soldiers fight on, undeterred, tenaciously focused.
  They go to battle in a land seemingly cursed by God. Our military in 
Afghanistan go where others fear to tread and the timid are not found.
  When I spoke to Cody's mother, Teresa Denise Norris, she told me Cody 
marched to the beat of his own drum. He didn't care what others thought 
of him; he did what he thought was right.
  She said Cody was proud to be a solider and that their family 
believes in the red, white and blue; and they all love this country. 
That pride is carried through in Cody's older brother, Michael Norris. 
He's a cadet in his last year at the United States Military Academy at 
West Point.

                              {time}  1040

  The Norris family is a soldier's family. Cody's Facebook page is 
filled with heartfelt messages from his friends, classmates, and fellow 
soldiers. It is evident how much he made people laugh in his very young 
life.
  Cody wrote on his Facebook in the ``About Me'' section, ``I'm in the 
Army and I am an infantryman. I love what I do as my job and my dream 
in life, and no one can take that away from me. I am trained by the 
best, and I will be the best I can. Wanna do all I can for the ones I 
love and my country--to keep us all free, even if it means death, so 
that every American can live their dreams out as well.''
  Cody loved what he did. He loved his country. He was selfless, and he 
was an American patriot.
  For his service in the United States Army, Cody has been awarded the 
Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the 
Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two campaign stars, and the NATO Medal 
and the Combat Infantry Medal.
  Cody Norris was a part of the rare breed, the American breed--
soldiers who take care of the rest of us and watch for the evildoers 
who would bring us harm. They prove their commitment to America by 
giving their lives for this Nation.
  General George Patton said of the fallen soldiers, ``Let us not only 
mourn for the men who have died fighting, but let us be grateful to God 
that such men ever lived.''
  Mr. Speaker, we are grateful to Private First Class Cody Norris and 
that he lived. He was a Texan, a soldier, an American Warrior.
  And that's just the way it is.

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