[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11586]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             FALLEN HEROES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. MELVIN L. WATT

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 20, 2004

  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity to honor all 
those who have died in military service with a moment of silence. I am 
particularly reminded of the courage and sacrifice of our World War II 
soldiers as we celebrate the long-awaited opening of the monument to 
those who died in that war. As Americans we express our gratitude to 
them this year as we reflect on the fact that men and women are again 
fighting and dying for our country.
  Almost 800 American soldiers have died since the beginning of 
hostilities in Iraq. I would like to recognize four of these 
individuals, all reservists and residents of the 12th Congressional 
District of North Carolina, who died this past year. Specialist Mark A. 
Bibby, a twenty-five year old student at North Carolina A&T State 
University in Greensboro, NC, was killed on July 21, 2003 when a bomb 
exploded near his Humvee in Baghdad. Specialist Lunsford Brown, also a 
native North Carolinian and student at North Carolina A&T, died on 
September 20, 2003, in a mortar attack at the Abu Ghraib Prison in 
Baghdad. He was twenty-seven years old and the father of a three-month-
old baby girl, Amber.
  On April 23rd, 2004 the remains of Army Sergeant Elmer C. Krause, 
also a resident of Greensboro, North Carolina were identified. Sergeant 
Krause had been listed as missing on April 9th when his convoy came 
under attack. He was forty years old and had a nine-year-old son, 
Jonathan. Relatives said he wanted to go to Iraq ``so someone else 
could come back home.'' Most recently, on May 3rd, Sergeant Gregory L. 
Wahl, of Salisbury, North Carolina, died when his vehicle flipped into 
a canal in Balad, Iraq. He was thirty years old and the father of four-
year-old Alexis. I extend my condolences to the families, friends and 
communities in my congressional district who mourn the loss of these 
men.
  Today, I honor all our fallen heroes and sincerely hope that our 
soldiers in Iraq will soon come home safely and honorably.

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