[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9507]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            A TRIBUTE TO COL. DAVID PERKINS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CHARLES F. BASS

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 9, 2003

  Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of the many 
brave U.S. soldiers selflessly participating in Operation Iraqi 
Freedom. Col. David Perkins of Keene, New Hampshire, a community I 
represent in Congress, is the commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team 
of the 3rd Infantry Division. Col. Perkins led what has been referred 
to as the opening maneuver of the amazingly swift push of coalition 
forces into Baghdad.
  On March 31, 2003, in a feint designed to draw the Iraqi Republican 
Guard away from Musayyib, where the division was to cross the Euphrates 
River, Col. Perkins focused attention on a bridge at Hindiyah, 50 miles 
south of Baghdad. The Granite Stater was reportedly ``unfazed by Iraqi 
soldiers shooting at him'' from the other side of the river as he told 
his men the bridge was not worth taking.
  Col. Perkins then led a contingent of his men to the town's abandoned 
Baath party headquarters, where they destroyed a large weapons cache. 
In an historic event, just 4 days later, Col. Perkins' combat team and 
other brigades rolled through the streets of Baghdad.
  Let the record show that I am enormously proud that a soldier from my 
District has played such a heroic and vital role in what will 
ultimately be the liberation of the people of Iraq from the brutal 
regime of Saddam Hussein. The world will be a much safer place because 
of the efforts of Col. Perkins and other fine men and women who risk 
their own lives on our behalf.

                          ____________________