[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2800-2801]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 TRIBUTE TO SERVICE MEMBERS LOST IN PLANE CRASH OF SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 
                                  2001

  (Mr. PUTNAM asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to three members 
of Detachment 1, First Battalion, 171st Aviation Unit, Florida Army 
National Guard: Chief Warrant Officer John Duce; Chief Warrant Officer 
Eric Larson; Staff Sergeant Robert Ward, Jr. and to 18 members of the 
Virginia Air National Guard's 203rd Red Horse Flight who were lost in a 
tragic airplane crash on Saturday, March 3. The 171st Aviation is based 
at the Florida Air National Guard base at Lakeland-Linder Regional 
Airport in my district, and Staff Sergeant Ward and his family are 
constituents of mine. I am sure I speak for all in this Chamber when I 
say that we join these 21 families in grieving for the loss of their 
loved ones.
  As members of the National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer Duce, Chief 
Warrant Officer Larson and Staff Sergeant Ward were citizen-soldiers 
and part of a great American military tradition that began at Lexington 
and Concord and

[[Page 2801]]

continues to be a central part of our Armed Forces. They were not 
deployed on a distant shore. They were not facing a foreign foe. But 
they were still defending our freedoms, our families and our homes. We 
must never forget what risks our defenders assume each and every day.
  For their service to our country, we honor the sacrifice of Chief 
Warrant Officer John Duce, Chief Warrant Officer Eric Larson, Staff 
Sergeant Robert Ward, Jr., and the 18 members of the 203rd Red Horse 
Flight who were lost last Saturday, and we offer such comfort as we may 
to their families. May God bless them and may God bless the great 
Nation they served.

                          ____________________