[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6932-6933]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNITION OF THE DEMOCRATIC LEADER

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Democratic leader is 
recognized.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I welcome back the distinguished 
assistant Republican leader and the Presiding Officer.
  I come to the floor today to say a few words about what I believe is 
one of the most difficult issues to talk about in the ongoing conflict 
in Iraq. My remarks will not address whether I support our troops in 
Iraq, because I do. All Americans, I believe, are awed by the courage 
and sacrifice of our troops in Iraq. My remarks will not address 
whether I am concerned about the administration's failure to honor its 
commitment to our troops that they would be required to serve no more 
than 365 days ``boots on the ground,'' because I am. My remarks will 
not address whether I believe it is essential that we win the fight to 
bring democracy, stay the course in Iraq until we see Iraq on the road 
to democracy, because I do. Instead, I rise for the sole purpose of 
acknowledging the terrible, growing toll this war is taking on some of 
America's finest citizens and their families.
  More than 700 American troops have died in the war, and this month, 
as we all know, has been the deadliest month for U.S. soldiers in Iraq. 
More than 100 Americans soldiers have been killed in Iraq since April 
1. Twelve more brave soldiers lost their lives in Iraq this past 
weekend.
  I come to the floor to pay tribute to the sacrifice of these 
soldiers. They sacrificed everything because our Nation asked them to, 
and we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. I say to the grieving 
families of our fallen heroes: America is with you in sorrow, and we 
will not forget you or the loved ones you have lost.
  On Holy Thursday, April 8, on the western outskirts of Baghdad, on 
the road to Fallujah, Marine Lance Corporal Levi Angell died when the 
Humvee he was riding in was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. He was 
20 years old. After learning of his son's death, Levi Angell's father 
stood outside the family's home in St. Louis, MN, clutching an 8-by-10-
inch photo of his son close to his heart. ``This was my son,'' he told 
reporters. ``I am as proud as proud can be of that young man.'' He 
added, ``It's a sad, sad day. This is a sad, sad country right now.''
  This is a sad, sad day in South Dakota, too. Last night, we learned 
that one of the 12 American soldiers killed in Iraq this past weekend 
was a member of the South Dakota National Guard. Army Specialist Dennis 
Morgan was the sixth South Dakota soldier to die in Iraq and the first 
member of the South Dakota National Guard killed in this war. A 
military spokesman said he was helping clear mines and explosives 
Saturday when a roadside bomb went off. He was 22 years old, and 
married.
  He joined the Guard immediately after graduating from high school in 
Winner, SD, class of 2000. He had been in the Middle East for just 
under 2 months. Today, South Dakotans are mourning Specialist Morgan's 
death, and praying that his family can find some comfort for their 
sorrow. We also pray for the safety of the soldiers who remain in Iraq.
  I want to say a few words about some of the other fallen American 
heroes who lost their lives in Iraq this month.
  Marine Private First Class Dustin Sekula, of Edinburg, TX, was killed 
by enemy fire in Fallujah on April 1. Private First Class Dustin Sekula 
graduated from high school last year and gave up a full college 
scholarship to join the Marines. The father of a high school friend 
told his hometown newspaper, ``He was worth his weight in gold. He 
would try to conquer anything they would throw at him.''
  Twelve American soldiers died in Iraq on April 4, Palm Sunday. Eight 
of those soldiers died together in a battle with militia loyal to 
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Sadr City, a Shiite

[[Page 6933]]

slum on the outskirts of Baghdad. The soldiers were part of a quick 
response team that rushed to rescue a platoon pinned down by gunfire in 
Sadr City.
  Seven of the eight were members of the Army's 2nd Battalion, 5th 
Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. They had been in Iraq less than 
3 weeks. They were: Specialist Casey Sheehan, 24, from Vacaville, CA; 
Specialist Dustin Hiller, 25, of Opelika, AL; Specialist Ahmed Cason, 
24, of McCalla, AL; Corporal Forest Jostes, 22, of Albion, IL; Sergeant 
Yihjyn Chen, 31, from Saipan, Marianas Protectorate, who spoke five 
languages and became a U.S. citizen in the Army; and Private First 
Class Robert Arsiaga, and Specialist Israel Garza, two West Texans, 
both 25, both married, who became best friends at Fort Hood.
  At a memorial service in Baghdad for the fallen seven, their 
Battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gary Volesky, said, ``Uncommon 
valor was common that day.''
  The eighth soldier killed in the firefight in Sadr City, Sergeant 
Michael Mitchell, 25, of Porterville, CA, was with the Army's 1st 
Armored Division. He had been in Baghdad for 11 months and had re-
enlisted 3 months before he died. His father joined hundreds of other 
people marching in a peace rally in San Luis Obispo on the first 
anniversary of the war. Bill Mitchell told reporters, ``I said, `Bring 
my son home now.' I should have said, `Bring my son home alive.'''
  Seven American soldiers died in Iraq on Monday, April 5, Passover. 
Among them was Army Sergeant Lee Todacheene, of Farmington, New Mexico, 
a member of the Army's 1st Infantry medic unit. He was killed instantly 
when mortar fire hit his guard post in Balad.
  Sergeant Todacheene was the nephew of Navajo Nation Vice President 
Frank Dayish Jr., through Dayish's wife, Virginia. He is the third 
Native American soldier to die in Iraq. Army Specialist Lori Piestawa, 
a member of the Hopi tribe killed last March, was the first woman 
killed in combat in the war. Sheldon Hawk Eagle, a member of the 
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, died last November.
  Leaders of the Navajo Nation praised Todacheene as a ``Navajo 
warrior'' who ``went to war not to hurt, but to help.'' His younger 
brother, Rydell, said, ``He was proud to be in the U.S. Army and a 
medic. He was proud to be a Navajo. He believed he was doing some good 
in Iraq when everyone thought it was wrong. He was a quiet man. He was 
a strong man, a gentleman. He respected himself and everybody, He was 
generous and kind, and he loved his family above everything else.''
  Tuesday, April 6, was one of the deadliest days of fighting in Iraq 
since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Thirteen Americans died in 
Iraq that day. Among them were two 18-year-old Marines, both killed by 
hostile fire in Fallujah.
  Marine Lance Corporal Anthony Roberts, of Bear, DE, was a member of 
the Air Force ROTC in high school. In an interview with the 
Philadelphia Inquirer, his former ROTC instructor recalled Lance 
Corporal Roberts as ``the rare recruit who seemed not to care about the 
steady employment, decent pay and educational benefits that the 
military offers. `He only talked about serving his country.'''
  Marine Private First Class Ryan Jerback was from Oneida, WI. He was 
killed by hostile fire in Fallujah. His father told the Green Bay Press 
Gazette that his son told him, ``Dad, maybe I can go over there and 
make some change. Maybe I can do something with the people and show 
them that we're not animals here, you know?''
  ``He gave everything he had,'' his father said, ``and it cost him his 
life.''
  Six American soldiers died in Iraq on April 7. Among them was Army 
Staff Sergeant George Scott Rentschler, of Louisville, KY. He was 
checking on his platoon members, who were working at a checkpoint, when 
a rocket propelled grenade hit the side of a tank in which he was 
riding. Iraq was his second war. He had also served in Bosnia.
  His mother told the Louisville Gleaner, ``He always told me that the 
only way he would get hurt was if they took a rocket to the side of his 
tank. That's what happened.''
  Staff Sergeant Rentschler had been scheduled to leave Iraq today. He 
was 31 years old. He leaves a wife and two sons, ages 12 and 5.
  Eight Americans died in Iraq on April 8, Holy Thursday. Marine Staff 
Sergeant William Harrell, 30, Placentia, CA, was one of them. He was 
killed by hostile fire in Fallujah.
  His widow, Kelli, told the Associated Press that when she broke the 
news to her 7-year-old son, he asked her, ``If (Daddy) just got shot, 
can't they help him?'' She replied, ``Daddy can't be helped right now. 
Daddy's with God.''
  Thirteen American soldiers died on April 9, Good Friday. Among them 
was Army National Guard Specialist Michelle Witmer, of New Berlin, WI, 
who died when her Humvee was ambushed in Baghdad.
  Michelle's 24-year-old sister, Rachel, served in the same unit, the 
32nd Military Police Company. Her twin sister, Charity, was sent to 
Iraq last year as a medic. The sisters and the rest of the Witmer 
family is agonizing now about whether they should rejoin their units in 
Iraq. Michelle Witmer was one of at least two women, and four National 
Guard members, killed this month in Iraq.
  Eight American soldiers died in Iraq on Easter Sunday, April 11. Army 
Sergeant Major Michael Stack and Marine Lance Corporal Torrey Gray were 
among them. Sergeant Major Stack, a Special Forces soldier, was 48, a 
father of six and grandfather of three. Lance Corporal Gray was 19; he 
was on his second tour in Iraq. They both died from hostile fire, in 
separate incidents, in Fallujah. As word of Lance Corporal Gray's death 
spread through his hometown of Patoka, IL, a small town about 60 miles 
east of St. Louis, village officials put up the ``Avenue of Flags,'' an 
observance usually reserved for national holidays.
  Army Specialist Richard Trevithick, of Gaines, MI, was one of two 
U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq on April 14. The 20-year-old combat 
engineer died when an improvised explosive device exploded near his 
Humvee in the city of Balad. The explosion caused massive damage to his 
chest and killed him instantly. He had been in Iraq 2 months.
  His father told the Associated Press, ``You hear it, you process it, 
you understand the words, but the impact doesn't hit you. You wake up 
in the morning thinking it was a mad dream, then realize it was not.''
  As I said, I support our troops and what they are trying to 
accomplish in Iraq--under the most difficult of circumstances.
  The reality is that this war requires almost no sacrifice for the 
overwhelming number of Americans. Our lives are undisturbed. But the 
Americans I pay tribute to today sacrificed everything they had. They 
are heroes and an inspiration. May we never forget and may we always 
cherish their valor and their sacrifice.

                          ____________________