[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 3, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REMEMBERING STAFF SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER W. SWANSON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 3, 2017

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about a very special 
event taking place next week in my district.
  Maryland's Fifth District lost a number of brave and extraordinary 
military personnel since 2001 in Iraq and Afghanistan or in support of 
our operations there. One of them was U.S. Army Staff Sergeant 
Christopher W. Swanson of Rose Haven, in Anne Arundel County, who fell 
in action on July 22, 2006, in Iraq's Anbar Province. Staff Sergeant 
Swanson gave his life to save his fellow soldiers when insurgents 
ambushed their patrol. He had been serving there with the 2nd 
Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division.
  On Friday, May 12, family, friends, neighbors, and state and local 
officials will gather in Edgewater, Maryland, to rededicate the South 
River Bridge in Staff Sergeant Swanson's memory, a moving tribute to a 
young man from our area who lived by the highest ideals of our country 
and made the ultimate sacrifice under our nation's flag. His parents, 
Kelly and Gary Swanson, and his brother Kenny and his family, will be 
on hand to witness the renaming of the four-lane bridge, which connects 
southern Anne Arundel County with the state capital of Annapolis across 
the South River--a major thoroughfare serving commuters and commerce in 
the area. While so many in Rose Haven and its surrounding communities 
have known for years about what Staff Sergeant Swanson did for our 
country, now thousands of Marylanders will pass by the sign each day 
bearing his name and noting his extraordinary service and sacrifice. I 
hope they will take a moment each time to remember him and all those 
who were killed in action wearing our nation's uniform.
  Staff Sergeant Swanson was proud of his roots in Southern Maryland. 
He graduated from Southern High School in 1999, where he had been 
captain of its soccer team, and enlisted that summer in the U.S. Army. 
It just made sense to him to serve, particularly given that both of his 
parents worked in law enforcement. Throughout his youth, he had often 
volunteered with the First Baptist Church in Upper Marlboro to go on 
service missions to Florida, Ohio, and West Virginia to help 
communities in need. At school, he gave his time to help out in the 
administrative office, and his teachers and peers alike saw him as a 
natural leader. It surprised no one at all that Staff Sergeant Swanson 
was on his third tour of duty in Iraq when, after being injured by an 
improvised explosive device, he insisted on going back into combat with 
his fellow soldiers instead of taking medical leave. As soon as his 
wound was stitched and he was given permission, he was right back with 
his unit, on the front lines.
  It was less than two weeks later that Staff Sergeant Swanson was 
killed in action. He had served with distinction in Kosovo as an Army 
paratrooper and was later among those who participated in the initial 
stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Now, he rests among heroes in 
Arlington National Cemetery. His parents and brother launched a service 
organization in his memory, the SSG Christopher W. Swanson Support 
Charity for Veterans and their Families, which, among other projects, 
funds scholarships for the children of local fallen, wounded, or active 
duty soldiers to attend summer camp.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in remembering Staff Sergeant 
Christopher W. Swanson, in thanking his Gold Star family for their 
sacrifice and charity work in tribute to him, and in paying tribute to 
all those from Maryland and across the country who gave their lives in 
service to our nation.

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