[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19372-19373]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, recent developments in Iraq have given 
Americans cause for renewed confidence in our efforts there, as our 
soldiers systematically track down, capture, or eliminate the remaining 
fugitives on the most-wanted list. The cowardly hit-and-run attacks and 
ambushes on our troops have claimed American lives, but they have not 
deterred our troops from their task of ridding Iraq of every vestige of 
the brutal regime that ruled for so long.
  I rise today to pay tribute to those service members who have fallen 
in this noble effort. As a nation, we must always keep in mind that our 
military successes come at a high cost in the loss of promising young 
human lives. My State of Indiana has paid a very high price indeed. As 
of this date, 13 Indiana families have suffered the loss of a loved one 
taking part in Operation Iraqi freedom. Seven of our losses were the 
result of combat action. Four Indiana soldiers have died from injuries 
not related to combat, and two have died of illnesses. I pray that 
there will be no more, but I know the danger still exists.
  Army Specialist Chad L. Keith of Batesville, IN, died on July 7 in 
Baghdad when his motorized patrol was ambushed. He was riding in the 
lead vehicle when it was struck by the detonation of a mine hidden 
along the roadway.
  Specialist Keith was 21 years old. He had joined the Army immediately 
after graduating from Batesville High School in 2000. He went through 
paratrooper training and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at 
Fort Bragg, NC. A week before he died, he talked to his mother by 
telephone from Baghdad and spoke enthusiastically about wanting to get 
the job done in Iraq.
  Chad Keith was an outstanding soldier. He will be missed.
  Army Private Robert L. McKinley of Peru, IN, died on July 8 in a 
hospital in Homburg, Germany, where he had been taken for treatment of 
severe heat injuries suffered in the Iraqi desert. Private McKinley was 
23 years old. He had enlisted just 8 months ago and was very proud to 
be serving with the fabled 101st Airborne Division.
  Private McKinley, a 1998 graduate of Peru High school, was raised by 
his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Feller, who loved him as if he 
were their own son. At his funeral, Private McKinley was posthumously 
awarded the Bronze Star Medal.
  Robert McKinley was an outstanding soldier. He will be missed.
  Sergeant First Class Craig A. Boling of Elkhart, IN, died on July 8 
at Camp Wolf in Kuwait after being stricken by a sudden illness. 
Sergeant Boling was a member of the 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry, one 
of two Indiana National Guard battalions mobilized to provide robust 
force protection to key bases and supply lines in Kuwait and Iraq. 
These units have done an extraordinary job.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I have come to the Senate floor several 
times this year to eulogize our young men and women who have died 
during the war in Iraq, as well those who have been killed during the 
postwar period.
  Today, I want to honor and remember three additional Americans who 
were from California or were based in California who have died since 
the war officially ended.
  Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class David J. Moreno, age 26, of Gering, NE, 
was killed July 17 in Iraq. David was assigned to the Naval Medical 
Center, Fourth Marine Division Detachment, San Diego, CA.

[[Page 19373]]

  Marine LCpl Jason Andrew Tetrault, age 20, of Moreno Valley, CA, was 
killed in Kuwait on July 9 in a vehicle accident. He was assigned to 
the 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Twentynine Palms, CA. He 
was the quarterback for the Moreno Valley High School football team. He 
loved the outdoors, and told his family that he was looking forward to 
returning to California's beaches and seeing the Pacific Ocean again.
  Marine LCpl Cory Ryan Geurin, age 18, of Santee, CA, was killed in 
Iraq on July 15. He graduated from West Hills High School in suburban 
San Diego and was the captain of the school's wrestling team his senior 
year. Cory was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st 
Marine Division, Twentynine Palms, CA.
  Mr. President, 58 individuals who were from California or based in 
California have died while serving our country in Iraq. The people of 
California, as well as all Americans, mourn their loss. I continue to 
pray for the safety of all of our troops and hope that they will soon 
be reunited with their families. I also continue my call for burden 
sharing in postwar Iraq so that American soldiers will not be singled 
out.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise today in tribute to a brave 
volunteer of the North Dakota National Guard who this week made the 
ultimate sacrifice for his Nation. Specialist Jon Fettig was a proud 
and patriotic American killed in action in Iraq on Monday. He was many 
times over a volunteer, from when he made his commitment to America's 
Armed Forces by enlisting and re-enlisting in the National Guard, to 
when he stepped forward to serve in Iraq despite the fact that his own 
unit had not been activated.
  Jon Fettig is the first North Dakota National Guardsman killed in 
combat since the Korean war. Even before he volunteered to deploy to 
Iraq as a combat engineer with the 957th Multi-role Bridge Company he 
had already served 11 years in the Guard. His fellow soldiers admired 
him and valued his service. Those still at home in North Dakota 
gathered yesterday to celebrate his memory and mourn his passing.
  SP Fettig lived his life in a way that is surely familiar to many of 
my distinguished colleagues here in the Senate. As Senators we are 
blessed with the opportunity to meet countless fine young Americans who 
serve our Nation in the military. Like so many National Guardsmen, SP 
Fettig was a good soldier, a good civilian employee, a good citizen and 
a good spouse. That he carried all those burdens at once is a tribute 
to him.
  In this difficult time, our thoughts are with his father Larry, his 
mother Shirley, and his wife Cody. SP Fettig's sacrifice is a tragedy, 
but we all must take comfort from the fact that, as his father has 
said, he died doing what he loved, a hero serving his country to the 
best of his ability.
  Specialist Brandon Erickson of Bismarck was another casualty of 
Monday's attack on the 957th, bringing to three the number of North 
Dakota soldiers wounded in combat in Iraq. Though SP Erickson has had 
part of his arm amputated, his condition is now improving. We are 
grateful for his service and that of the medics and doctors who treated 
him, and thankful that he will soon be returning home.
  Our Nation asks so much of our Guard and Reserve, and they are coming 
through with flying colors. The tremendous contribution of North 
Dakotan active-duty personnel is matched by a truly remarkable 
commitment by North Dakota's reservists. Per capita, no State has more 
citizens in the National Guard, and today no State has more Guard 
personnel mobilized. According to the Associated Press, 36 of every 
10,000 North Dakotans age 18 or older served on active duty with the 
Guard or Reserve during this conflict. Eight hundred members of the 
North Dakota Army National Guard are still deployed in Iraq.
  Nearly every city and town in my State has felt the impact of an Army 
National Guard unit activation, including Fargo, Lisbon, Bismarck, 
Grand Forks, Edgeley, Grafton, Devils Lake, Rugby, Bottineau, Wishek, 
Cando, Carrington, Mayville, Oakes, and Wahpeton. And the loss of SP 
Fettig, whose family lives in Dickinson, brings home the fact that many 
volunteers from units in other communities stepped forward to fill 
vacancies in units deploying overseas. Now some of these communities 
are further scarred by their losses.
  Today, millions of people across Iraq and America are hearing the 
news of the death of the two brutal sons of Saddam Hussein, fully 
complicit in the crimes of his regime. Hopefully this victory will help 
us along the road to true peace and stability in Iraq. But there are 
surely still many tough days ahead. The success of this difficult work 
depends on the commitment and sacrifice of thousands of individuals 
like SP Fettig, men and women willing to give their all for the good of 
their Nation and their world. To all those who serve, I offer my 
heartfelt thanks. To the friends and family of Jon Fettig and all those 
whose service extends to the ultimate sacrifice, I can only offer the 
condolences, thanks, and prayers of a grateful Nation.

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