[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 8803-8804]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         COMMENDING ARMY RESERVE'S 319TH TRANSPORTATION COMPANY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Speaker, our Nation is at war. Thousands of the 
fighting men and women of our Armed Forces are serving on the 
battlefields of Iraq, defending freedom, liberating the Iraqi people, 
and making our world a safer place to live. Today I rise to recognize 
and commend all of these courageous service personnel, but wish to pay 
particular tribute to the brave soldiers serving in the 319th 
Transportation Company. The 319th, part of the larger 375th 
Transportation Group out of Mobile, Alabama, is an Army Reserve unit 
based in my hometown of Augusta, Georgia.
  The 319th has a proud history. During the Vietnam War, the 319th 
Transportation Company logged over a million miles, delivered over 
92,000 tons to the

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battlefield, and was ambushed by the enemy on seven separate occasions.
  Today, for the Reservists serving in the 319th, the voyage from 
Wrightsboro Road Reserve Center in Augusta to the war zone of Iraq 
began this past January with a short trip to nearby Ft. Stewart for 
specialized training. Then in mid-February, the 319th Transportation 
Company, along with the unit commander, Captain Mohandas Martin, 
deployed to northern Kuwait where they received their assignment, to 
support the more than 50,000 Marines in the 1st Marine Expeditionary 
Force.
  When Saddam Hussein thumbed his nose for the last time and the war 
began in Iraq roughly 3 weeks ago now, the 319th began the next phase 
of their voyage, going into the deserts of Iraq, delivering by truck 
the critically important fuel to the Marines advancing to Baghdad and 
Saddam Hussein's final day of reckoning.
  Their mission is an unheralded one; but as we have all realized on 
the round-the-clock cable news broadcasts, it is the success of the 
supply units traveling the roads of Iraq, like the 319th, that have 
been vital in the early success of our coalition forces and will ensure 
our ultimate victory.
  As I said, Mr. Speaker, theirs is an unheralded mission, but also one 
that puts the members of the 319th at great risk and peril. In their 
first week operating in Iraq, the 319th headed out from their base of 
Camp Viper in Iraq for a multiday mission to deliver fuel near the 
front lines. According to the reports, while on their journey, vehicles 
of the company came under heavy enemy fire more than once in their 
ambush attempts. Thanks in large part to the efforts of the Marines, 
the 319th continues to supply, the attacks were thwarted, and all 
members of the 319th Transportation Company returned safely to regroup 
and prepare for the next mission and the next journey to the front 
lines of war.
  Mr. Speaker, to the people of the Ninth Congressional District of 
Georgia, my constituents, the soldiers of the 319th Transportation 
Company represent different things: a good neighbor who lives down the 
street, a close relative or spouse that is sorely missed at home, or 
even a mother or father to a child that misses a parent and needs them 
back. It is true the soldiers of the 319th Transportation Company are 
all different, but they are all the same in one simple and very 
important way, they are all heroes.
  Because of them, these same Marines moved closer to finally ending 
Saddam Hussein's horrific reign of terror and ability to aid and assist 
terrorists around the globe. Because of them and others serving in the 
war today, loyalty, duty, honor, and personal courage are not words 
relegated to the history books, but instead living and shining examples 
for all of us on the battlefields of Iraq.
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, it is because of them that the battle cry in our 
Nation's war against terrorism is particularly meaningful today in the 
deserts of Iraq. So finally I say to the 319th, keep up the good work 
and ``Let's roll.''

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