[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 7, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E163-E164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE LIFE OF MISSISSIPPI ARMY NATIONAL GUARD SERGEANT (SGT) 
                            ROBERT A. McNAIL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TRENT KELLY

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 7, 2017

  Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in memory of Army 
Sergeant Robert A. McNail who died while defending our great nation on 
February 11, 2005, when his Humvee struck another military vehicle in 
Iskandariyah, Iraq. SGT McNail was the sixth Mississippi National Guard 
soldier to give his life in Iraq and the second to die that year.
  SGT McNail was a member of Detachment 1, Company B, 150th Engineer 
Battalion, out of Quitman, Mississippi. His unit was attached to the 
155th Brigade Combat Team. In 2005, I was deployed as a Major to Iraq 
with the 155th Brigade as the Operations Officer of the 150th Engineer 
Battalion. It was an honor and a privilege to serve with SGT McNail.
  SGT McNail was studying to be a nurse and was a civilian employee at 
the Naval Air Station in Meridian before he was deployed. His mother, 
Linda McNail, said her son was engaged to be married at the time of his 
death. She says he enjoyed fishing and camping.
  SGT McNail's father, Marvin McNail, said his son followed in the 
footsteps of 16 family members who served in the military. He was the 
only member of his family to die in military service. At his funeral, 
family and friends remembered him for his faith in our Heavenly Father 
and his willingness to give his life to keep America safe.

[[Page E164]]

  SGT McNail, a Meridian resident, was awarded the Bronze Star and the 
Mississippi Medal of Valor by Major General Harold A. Cross, the 
state's Adjutant General.
  SGT McNail is survived by his parents Robert and Linda McNail and son 
Edward.

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