[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 90 (Thursday, May 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING LANCE CORPORAL THOMAS RIVERS, JR.

  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, for many of our heroes, the desire to 
serve began at an early age. That is the case of LCpl Thomas Rivers, 
Jr., of Hoover, AL. His parents and Thomas knew as a child that he 
wanted to be a marine, his lifelong dream. This desire only grew 
throughout his life, and he was motivated in everything that he did by 
this thought of becoming a marine.
  He struggled, at first, in high school until a military recruiter 
told him he would need a high school diploma to enlist. Low grades were 
never a problem after that conversation. This was evidenced in an 
English essay he wrote entitled ``Why I Want to Go Into the Marines.'' 
In the essay, he wrote in part:

       I don't think I would be afraid of combat and would be 
     proud to fight for my country.

  He went on to say:

       I believe that joining the Marines would be a great 
     experience for me because it will teach me to rely on God to 
     make it through.

  Thomas joined the Marines as soon as he graduated from Briarwood 
Christian School in 2007. After completing training at Camp Lejeune, he 
deployed to Iraq and then to Afghanistan. His faith never wavered, 
despite the intense conditions of combat he was in almost daily.
  He and one of his friends, one night, began a Bible study while 
deployed, leaning on passages of the Bible for comfort.
  Corporal Rivers was killed by an IED explosion at the age of 22. His 
mother Charon spoke about how she never really got to know the fine 
young man she raised as he grew to be an adult.
  Between deployments, he was unable to spend much time at home. 
Despite the devastating loss, Charon and her husband Tom find comfort 
in their faith and the belief that lives were changed through their 
son's story.
  After Thomas's passing, Charon began a nonprofit that sent care 
packages to soldiers on the front lines of battle because she 
remembered how much Thomas loved receiving things from home. Through 
her efforts, she was able to send more than 5,000 care packages to 
soldiers overseas over an 8-year span.
  Charon's reminder to us is that, for families like hers, Memorial Day 
isn't a happy holiday or just another day at the pool or cooking out. 
It is a day to remember heroes like her son Thomas, who answered the 
call to serve and courageously laid down his life for ours.
  You know, President Franklin Roosevelt once said:

       Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy 
     forget in time that men have died to win them.

  May we as Americans be a Nation that remembers the sacrifices made 
for the many freedoms that we all enjoy--not just on Memorial Day, but 
every day of the year.
  May we never forget those like Johnnie Laurie or Thomas Rivers who 
didn't allow freedom to die on their watch, and may we hold their 
families near to our hearts as we go into this Memorial Day weekend.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.

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