[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E86-E87]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE LIFE AND DEDICATED SERVICE OF ARMY SERGEANT FIRST CLASS 
                          WILLIAM KELLY LACEY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JEFF MILLER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 16, 2014

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is with profound sadness and 
deepest sympathy

[[Page E87]]

that I rise to pay tribute to a fallen American hero. Army Sergeant 
First Class William Kelly Lacey of Niceville, Florida was killed on 
January 4, 2014, in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, while in support 
of Operation Enduring Freedom. SFC Lacey was assigned to the 201st 
Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry 
Division out of Fort Knox, Kentucky.
   SFC Lacey was a native Northwest Floridian who came from a family 
deeply committed to military service, with both his father and older 
brother serving in our Armed Forces. He was born at Eglin Air Force 
Base in Valparaiso, Florida and raised in Niceville, Florida, where he 
graduated from Niceville High School. SFC Lacey was proud of his 
family's service record, and in 2003, he continued this noble tradition 
by joining the Army with the goal of attaining the same rank as his 
father, which he achieved within the past months. During his time in 
the Army, he served as a paratrooper with the Army's 82nd Airborne 
Division and as a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the 1st Infantry 
Division. SFC Lacey served three tours in Iraq and was completing his 
second in Afghanistan when his life was taken.
   SFC Lacey was described by his friends and family as an easy-going 
and fun-loving individual, but on the battlefield, he was a fearless 
warrior who, according to one of his commanders, ``always ran towards 
the gun.'' He dedicated his life to military service to ensure those 
who would do our Nation harm were defeated and that our Constitutional 
rights were upheld. We will never forget his ultimate sacrifice toward 
that honorable end. To SFC Lacey's loving wife, Ashley; his daughter, 
Lily, and stepdaughters, Caiden, Trinity, and Brandy-Lynn; his mother, 
Pam; his father, John, and stepmother, Karla; and two older brothers; 
three younger stepbrothers; his extended family, and friends, my wife 
Vicki joins me in offering our most sincere condolences and prayers.
   Mr. Speaker, on behalf of a grateful United States Congress and 
Nation, I stand here today to honor Sergeant First Class William Kelly 
Lacey and all of the heroes we have lost. May God continue to bless 
them and the men and women of our United States Armed Forces.

                          ____________________