[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8364-8366]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      A NEW WAVE OF FALLEN HEROES

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay my respects to 
four more Californians who have died in combat in Iraq, as well as to 
nine other Americans who were stationed in California and have made the 
ultimate sacrifice in our efforts to liberate the Iraqi people. Most of 
these men have left family in California.
  So far, of the 44 Americans who have died, 10 were from California, 
while another 9 were stationed there. This accounts for around 45 
percent of all those killed in action.
  But first, I would like to take a moment to remind my colleagues 
about the two servicemen killed and another wounded late last week in 
Geresk, Afghanistan, when they were ambushed by Taliban forces while on 
a reconnaissance patrol.
  As America focuses almost exclusively on the conflict in Iraq, we 
must not forget the bravery and sacrifice of men such as SGT Orlando 
Morales, SSG Jacob Frazier, and others in America's larger, global war 
on terror.
  Of the four Californians I would like to recognize today, two of 
them, members of the 1st Tank Battalion of 29 Palms, were killed when 
their tank plunged off a bridge near Nasiriyah, during a heavy 
sandstorm. Both of them were still legal residents.
  LCpl Patrick T. O'Day: One of these was 20-year-old Patrick O'Day, 
who was born in Scotland and came to the United States when he was just 
3. He learned to read around the same time and quickly impressed his 
family and surprised his kindergarten teacher.
  He was captain of the wrestling team at Santa Rosa Middle School and 
a 2001 graduate of Santa Rosa High School, where he met his future wife 
Shauna. They were married in October of last year, and they are 
expecting their first child in September.
  His younger brother, Thomas, said that Patrick was ``always someone 
that could make anyone in the room laugh. When he came into a room, 
everyone knew he was there. He could change the atmosphere very 
quickly. . . . He was just so much fun to be around.''
  PVT Francisco A. Martinez Flores: Francisco Martinez Flores was also 
in the tank that plunged in the Euphrates River. He was born in 
Guadalajara, Mexico, and settled in Duarte, CA, when only a little boy.
  He attended Maxwell Elementary School and graduated from Duarte High 
School in 2000, where he was a popular and outgoing football player 
with a passion for fixing up old cars.
  He had expressed a desire to be ``a great soldier'' ever since he was 
a young boy. ``[The Marines] returned to me a true man,'' said his 
mother, Martha, who had gone back to Mexico to bury her father when her 
son was deployed to the gulf. She never had the opportunity to say 
goodbye.
  Francisco Martinez Flores was to become a U.S. citizen in 2 weeks. 
But the 21-year-old marine was killed before he could take an oath of 
allegiance to the country he died fighting for.
  LCpl Jesus Suarez del Solar: Just 20, Cpl Suarez had already served 
in Afghanistan, and was ready to return to combat, this time in Iraq. 
This past December, he had married his longtime girlfriend Sayne. They 
had a baby boy, Erik.
  ``I'm very proud of Jesus,'' said his father, Fernando. ``I want 
Americans to know that immigrants that came to the United States, we 
did not come to take their jobs. We came here to give them our blood, 
so they can have freedom and they can have a world free of terrorism. 
That's why my son died.''
  Known as something of a charmer and even a bit of a flirt, he 
graduated in 2001 from Valley High School, in Escondido, a town about 
30 miles north of San Diego. His principal, Janice Boedeker, said that 
``Jesus wanted to become a marine from the time I met him, as a junior 
in high school. He was just a wonderful kid with maturity beyond his 
years.''
  ``He was so excited about being a part of the infantry and the Marine 
Corps,'' Boedeker said. ``I always ask kids about their goals what they 
want to do. There was never a question with him. I remember he wrote in 
big, capital letters: MARINES.''
  One of his teachers, Tom Gabriella, remembered how Jesus ``felt he 
could build a solid life around the Marine Corps. . . . Once, he gave a 
presentation to a class. He always had a big smile on his face.''
  GySgt Joseph Menusa: Born in the Philippines, Joseph Menusa came to 
the United States when he was 10 and grew up in San Jose. A veteran of 
the first gulf war, he was killed in battle on Thursday, March 27. He 
was a graduate of Silver Creek High, Class of '89.
  He was working his way up the ranks and was in the process of gaining 
his U.S. citizenship when he received his deployment orders to the 
gulf.
  On the eve of his deployment, Sgt Menusa told his wife Stacy why he 
had to go. ``He said he was in charge of these young kids and he was 
the only one who had ever seen combat. He needed to be their guide.''
  Capt Tuan Pham, who was born in Vietnam and worked with Sgt Menusa as 
a Marine recruitment officer in San Francisco, had this to say about 
his friend: ``We are both naturalized Americans and believe in the 
ideals of what this country represents. He paid the ultimate price for 
something we all believe in--freedom.''
  Of those Americans stationed in California, most were from the 1st 
Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, in San Diego 
County. While from all across the country, these men were so much a 
part of the local community, where the mood is somber, yellow ribbons 
are everywhere, and the flags at half mast.

[[Page 8365]]

  I would also like to commend the local newspaper, the San Diego Union 
Tribune, for doing an impressive job of providing much of the 
information on those stationed at Camp Pendleton.
  2Lt Therrel S. Childers, Harrison County, MS: While most youngsters 
pick a new career more often than they outgrow their sneakers, Lt 
Therrel Childers, the son of a Navy Seabee, first decided he wanted to 
be a marine when only 5 years old.
  He joined the Marines a month after he graduated from high school; 
they sent him to college and promoted him. 25 years after he first 
glimpsed his future, Second Lieutenant Childers was fatally injured on 
a battlefield in Iraq.
  ``We're proud of him,'' his mother said from her Powell, WY, home. 
``He died doing what he believed in.'' He approached his life with a 
unique intensity that made him successful both in his career and in the 
classroom.
  His professors at The Citadel, in Charleston, SC, saw the dedication 
that made him a good marine. ``When he decided to study French, he 
wanted to speak French perfectly,'' said one of his professors, Guy 
Toubiana. ``It really bothered him if he was making a couple of 
mistakes.''
  His intensity sometimes made him the butt of jokes, but somehow he 
remained a likable guy, perhaps because he maintained his sense of 
humor. And despite his military surroundings, he still had a sensitive 
side. ``He was very warm,'' Toubiana said.
  The 30-year-old spent his limited free time climbing mountains, 
running road races, and mountain biking. Perhaps he would be most proud 
that marine friends remember him as someone they could count on.
  John Bacon, who met Childers at The Citadel, said Childers would 
always show up to help lift a heavy sofa on moving day. ``He was a type 
of person that would never let you down,'' Bacon said. ``The world lost 
a great man.''
  Marine Cpt Ryan Anthony Beaupre, St. Anne, IL: Cpt Ryan Beaupre, who 
was single, abandoned an accounting career to join the Marines in 1996. 
``He always wanted to fly, but his parents wanted him to get a college 
degree first,'' said Bob Themer, a friend of the family's.
  Beaupre, who was from St. Anne, IL, and graduated from Illinois 
Wesleyan University, and worked in accounting for a year. ``Then he 
came home and told them he could do more as a marine,'' Themer said.
  Beaupre lived in an Encinitas apartment overlooking the sea, where he 
often surfed, said neighbor Ron Holdsworth. He remembers a comment the 
marine made after military helicopters flew by their building one day.
  ``At the time, we were in Afghanistan fighting, and he said, `The 
thing about being a marine is you know when your brother marines are 
fighting, you can't sit still. You want to go help them.'''
  Navy Hospital Corpsman Michael Vann Johnson, Jr., Little Rock, AR: 
Navy corpsman Michael Vann Johnson, Jr., was killed Tuesday while 
tending to a marine wounded in battle in Iraq. He was hit in the head 
by shrapnel from a grenade and fatally injured, his sister, Janisa 
Hooks, told the Associated Press in Little Rock, AR, where Johnson was 
born and raised.
  Only 25 years old, Johnson was a hospital corpsman who had been 
assigned to travel with Camp Pendleton-based marines in Iraq.
  ``He provided medical care right up to the time he was killed,'' said 
Doug Sayers, spokesman for the San Diego Naval Medical Center, where 
Johnson had been stationed.
  Johnson had worked at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot since June 2001, 
helping oversee the health care of thousands of recruits, Sayers said. 
``A big hole has been ripped in the soul of the clinic down there,'' 
Sayers said.
  Johnson's mother Jana Norfleet said she had recently received a 
letter from her son saying that he was going to be all right. She said 
he wrote that ``God had twisted a guardian angel around him.''
  Marine Cpl Brian Matthew Kennedy, Houston, TX: ``He gave his life in 
an effort to contribute to the freedom of the Iraqi people,'' Mark 
Kennedy of Houston wrote in a statement about his 25-year-old son, 
Brian. ``We are so very proud of him and his service to his country.''
  But sitting at home, staring at a photograph of his handsome, 
athletic son in his marine dress uniform, reminiscing about Brian's 
love of football and lacrosse, patriotism and pride seems overwhelmed 
by a father's pain. ``We just miss him terribly already,'' the father 
said. ``He was a wonderful man.''
  Sgt Michael V. Lalush, 23, Troutville, VA: Sgt Michael Lalush--
pronounced LAW'-lish--was always busy trying to fix things, said Linda 
McMillan, a family friend who knew the sergeant from birth. He always 
had his hands in equipment, tinkering with lawnmowers and cars. As a 
teenager, he dragged home a pink 1965 Volkswagen Beetle, rebuilt and 
repainted it, and in no time was driving it around the neighborhood.
  Lalush moved to Virginia with his family in 1994 from Sunnyvale, CA, 
settling in a quiet house on a hilltop overlooking farmland about 20 
miles north of Roanoke.
  A tall, gangly boy who eventually sprouted several inches above his 
parents, Lalush was anything but the stereotypically domineering 
military man, McMillan said. He was quieter, more sensitive, she said. 
He loved his sister Danielle and depended on his family.
  More than anything, Lalush wanted to be a pilot and he wanted to be a 
marine. After graduating from Lord Botetourt High School, Lalush left 
for boot camp at Parris Island in South Carolina. He was transferred to 
Camp Lejeune, NC, and then to Camp Pendleton.
  SSgt Donald C. May, Jr. Richmond, VA: SSgt Donald May, Jr., followed 
both parents into the Marine Corps and, just like his dad, became a 
tank commander. He disappeared in Iraq nearly a week ago and his mother 
learned Monday he had been killed.
  May and his crew were in the 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 
based at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, 
CA.
  He joined the Marine Corps the year he graduated from high school and 
spent 4 years in the military police, serving in the Middle East for 
the last few months of the first gulf war in 1991. He left for 2 years, 
serving in the Reserves, then ``got back in as a tank commander, just 
like his dad,'' his mother said.
  May's wife Deborah is 7\1/2\ months pregnant with a boy, due May 16. 
She went into premature labor Friday after learning that her husband 
was missing, but doctors were able to halt the delivery.
  Maj Kevin Nave, White Lake Township, MI: A veteran of the 1991 
Persian Gulf war, Maj Kevin Nave is the first Michigan native reported 
killed in the war with Iraq. He was from White Lake Township, about 20 
miles north of Detroit, where he used to fish in the river behind his 
house.
  He and his wife Carrie lived at Camp Pendleton with their son 
Anthony, 6, and daughter, Maeve, who turned 5 Thursday.
  Nave graduated in 1985 from Waterford Kettering High School where he 
was on the school's varsity football and wrestling teams.
  He was a very positive type personality, a school leader and a good 
citizen,'' said Ronald Zeeman, dean of students and a math teacher 
during Nave's years there. ``The whole Waterford Kettering staff was 
proud of him. To have something like this happen, it really hits 
home.''
  After high school, Nave went to the University of Michigan on a 
Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship. He graduated in 1989 with a 
degree in political science and attended marine officer's school 
immediately after college, said T.J. McCullough, a high school 
classmate and ex-marine.
  According to T.J. McCullough, a high school classmate and ex-marine, 
``He was motivated, focused and driven, but one of the nicest, most 
easygoing guys you'd ever want to meet,'' said McCullough. ``I know he 
followed his dream. He was a career marine.''
  Marine LCpl William W. White, NY: A shy and quiet 24-year-old with a 
sweet and charming smile, Marine LCpl William W. White had grand plans 
for his return from Iraq.

[[Page 8366]]

  He had tested to become a New York City firefighter, a job that would 
take him home to his native Brooklyn. White and his wife Mychaele, 23, 
wanted to begin a family when they moved back east.
  Instead, the Camp Pendleton marine, whose father fought with the Army 
in the 1991 Persian Gulf war, was killed when his Humvee overturned 
into a canal and he drowned.
  Along with his wife, White leaves behind two younger brothers and his 
parents in Brooklyn. According to his mother-in-law, Debra Gentry, ``He 
was one of the sweetest, kindest guys. He always put himself last.''
  SSgt Kendall Damon Waters-Bey, Baltimore, MD: A specialist in 
helicopter maintenance, Sgt Kendall Damon Waters-Bey was assigned to 
the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-268, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
  Waters-Bey was among four United States Marines and eight British 
soldiers killed when a CH-46 helicopter crashed Thursday in Kuwait, 
about 9 miles from the Iraqi border.
  He grew up in the rowhouse working-class neighborhood of northeast 
Baltimore, graduating from Northern High School where he excelled in 
swimming and track. At home, his sisters recalled, he excelled in jokes 
and cooking. ``He was always making faces, making people laugh,'' said 
his sister Michelle.
  The oldest of five children, 29-year-old Waters-Bey had been living 
in California with his wife of 11 months, Angela, who serves in the 
Navy. He also leaves behind a 10-year-old son from a previous marriage.
  Maj Jay Thomas Aubin, Waterville, ME: An 18-year marine veteran, 36-
year-old Maj Thomas Aubin was an instructor with Marine Aviation 
Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 in Yuma, AZ, before deploying for war 
with the Camp Pendleton force.
  Aubin's hometown was Waterville, ME, where he was the first of 30 
grandchildren in a family that has been in that State for generations.
  ``He was a very determined little boy,'' said his aunt, Kim Willette 
of Winslow, ME. ``He had big dreams. He always wanted to fly planes and 
knew he was going to, just like his dad--a private pilot. Jay would 
fall asleep in the back of the Cessna.''
  ``There's no way to soften the blow, his aunt said. ``He prepared us 
for this all the time,'' she said. ``But that doesn't make it any 
easier.''
  He is survived by his wife Rhonda and children Alicia, 10, and 
Nathan, 7.
  SSgt James Cawley, Layton, UT: SSgt James Cawley, was a marine 
reservist and Salt Lake City police detective, was killed in a fire 
fight in Iraq Saturday.
  ``He could have been anything but he chose to be a soldier and an 
officer because of his strong beliefs,'' his family wrote in a prepared 
statement distributed by the police department Sunday.
  Cawley leaves behind a wife, Miyuki, an 8-year-old son, Cecil, and a 
6-year-old daughter, Keiko. He served for 12 years in the Marines, 
traveling around the world. He met his wife Miyuki in Okinawa, Japan, 
while serving there.
  He also served a proselytizing mission with the Mormon Church in 
Fukuoka, Japan. ``He knew that his life was not the end and that we 
will all be together again in a far greater place,'' the letter said.
  Detective Mark Schuman, Cawley's partner on the Salt Lake City force 
for 18 months and one of his closest friends, had just received a 
letter from Cawley a few days ago. At the time of his writing, Cawley 
was in Kuwait, awaiting further instructions.
  ``He was a loyal and trusting friend, and he was an outstanding 
officer,'' Schuman said. ``He was a very patriotic man, and he loved 
the Marine Corps, and he felt it was his duty to protect us and protect 
America.''
  As our troops move rapidly towards Baghdad, I continue to hope for a 
quick resolution to this conflict. I hope that the repressive regime of 
Saddam Hussein will soon collapse and the Iraqi people will be 
liberated. And I hope all of this can be done with as few casualties as 
possible, Iraqi, American and allied, civilian and military.
  To those that have already fallen, we must never forget their 
sacrifice. They have given their future for that of our Nation--and we 
as a nation owe them and the others that have fallen our eternal 
gratitude.

                          ____________________