[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11581]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             FALLEN HEROES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. DAVE WELDON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 20, 2004

  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the life 
and service of Michael R. Creighton Weldon, a Private with the United 
States Army, who lost his life as a result of a suicide bombing attack 
near the city of Najaf in Iraq on March 27, 2004.
  Weldon had just completed his first year of uniformed service to his 
country. He was a member of 3rd Infantry Division assigned to Company A 
and had been in country since January, 2004. He was one of four 
soldiers killed in the terrorist attack. He gave his life defending and 
protecting the United States from terrorism and bringing freedom and 
democracy to the people of Iraq who have only known tyranny.
  Private Weldon choose to follow in the footsteps of another American 
hero, his mother, Jean Weldon who is a retired Army Sergeant Major.
  This 20-year-old soldier was striving to be the best soldier he could 
be. In his sacrifice of service to his country, he succeeded in 
bringing honor to his family, his unit and his nation.
  President Lincoln once wrote that as a nation we should `` . . . have 
faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, 
dare to do our duty.'' Michael dared to do his duty and in so doing he 
gave the ultimate sacrifice for our continued freedom. We owe him a 
debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

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