[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24699]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                  IN MEMORY OF ENSIGN ANDREW TRIPLETT

                                 ______
                                 

                   HON. CHARLES W. ``CHIP'' PICKERING

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 25, 2000

  Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, today I come before the House of 
Representatives to honor the life of an outstanding American, and 
member of the United States Navy, Ensign Andrew Triplett, originally of 
Shuqualak, Mississippi. Ensign Triplett was among the 17 brave sailors 
who gave their lives for our country in the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, 
on Thursday, October 12, 2000. This attack also injured 33 other 
sailors in the harbor of Aden, Yemen.
  Andrew Triplett, noted for his quiet, shy nature, grew up near Willow 
Grove in Shuqualak, Mississippi, where he attended Reed Elementary 
School and in 1987 graduated from Noxubee High School in Macon, 
Mississippi. Upon his graduation Andrew Triplett enlisted in the Navy, 
where while serving his country he met his wife, Lorrie, a Detroit 
native. Just seven years ago, they began their family with the birth of 
their first daughter, Andrea, and three years later their second child 
Savannah Renee was born. Andrew and Lorrie lived in Virginia Beach, 
Virginia and were members of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.
  Successfully moving up the ladder as an enlisted man, Andrew was 
accepted for Officers' Candidate School and received his commission as 
an officer in April, 1999. On the U.S.S. Cole, he was assigned to the 
engineering department, a job that he was said to love. Tragically, it 
was the engineering department that suffered the blast damage from the 
explosive in the harbor.
  For Ensign Andrew Triplett's thirteen years of service to the United 
States of America in the United States Navy, and for his life-long 
devotion as a son, husband, brother, father and citizen, I pay tribute. 
Ensign Triplett was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ree D. Triplett of 
Shuqualak, Mississippi. He is survived by his wife, Lorrie, and his two 
little girls, Andrea (age seven) and Savannah Renee (age four); his 
parents, Savannah and Ree Triplett of Shuqualak, Mississippi; and his 
two brothers, two former servicemen, Theotis Donald (Air Force) and 
Wayne (Marine Corps).
  Mr. Speaker, I ask our colleagues to join me in remembering this 
present day hero, Ensign Andrew Triplett. Our sincere prayers and 
thoughts are with the Triplett family at this difficult time, and the 
other families who lost loves ones on the U.S.S. Cole.

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