[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15377-15378]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1945
                 HONORING SERGEANT JAMES ``TRE'' PONDER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I fully believe that Americans do 
understand why we are fighting this war on terrorism, and I think that 
most men and women are like me, and they stand with our men and women 
in uniform, who know this Nation faces a terrible, evil, evil enemy. 
All of us realize that to lose is not an option in this war. This is a 
war that we must win.
  While we understand intellectually, while we know in our hearts the 
reason for this war, our hearts cannot help but ask, ``Why,'' each and 
every time that we lose a soldier. With each death, a family, a 
community and a country mourns, and there is nothing we can say or do 
to make our hearts understand why this has happened. We can only 
remember the reason that we fight and honor the cause these men and 
women fought and died for.
  Mr. Speaker, we fight for freedom.
  As the beneficiaries of these heroes' sacrifices, we have an awesome 
obligation. We have a responsibility to be sure that this country does 
not forget our military men and women, our veterans, or forget the 
cause that they have chosen to champion. That is why I come here 
tonight to take a few moments and ask America not to forget our heroes 
and not to forget the heroes in this war on terror.
  On June 28, my community in Tennessee lost a son when Sergeant James 
``Tre'' Ponder's MH-47D helicopter was shot down by enemy fire in 
eastern Afghanistan. Tre, his wife Leslie and their two daughters, 
Samantha and Elizabeth, live in Clarksville, near Fort Campbell, where 
Tre served at the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Airborne. 
Tre's parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Ponder, Junior, reside in 
Clarksville. And Leslie's parents, Mayor and Mrs. Tom Miller, reside in 
Franklin, Tennessee. They are all constituents of Tennessee's Seventh 
Congressional District.
  Mr. Speaker, a military family lives with the kind of stress most of 
us cannot comprehend, especially in times like these. Tre and Leslie 
and their families lived with this stress, and they did so with grace 
and courage. If you want to know why America is strong, you only have 
to know people like the Ponders and the Millers, and that is why we 
have to be sure that all of us stop and honor Tre's life and, in so 
doing, honor our men and women in uniform.
  I want to read a statement Leslie made about Tre. This is what she 
said, and I am quoting, ``Tre spent the majority of his Army career 
supporting a unit he loved. The 160th was like a second family to him. 
He believed firmly in the principles ingrained in him from an early 
age: Loyalty, perseverance, and an overwhelming sense of patriotism. 
Tre would want to be remembered as someone who died the way he lived, 
providing support for some of America's finest young men.''
  Mr. Speaker, in the midst of this agonizing loss, Leslie has issued a 
statement recognizing Tre's service and reminding us all that it was 
his dedication to America and our soldiers that gave him the courage 
and strength to do what he had to do, what he felt called to do.
  God bless our military families. They are absolutely incredible men 
and women. Mr. Speaker, medals and commendations alone cannot capture 
all that Tre meant to our community or what he did for America. The 
Nation has awarded him the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star medal. 
Medals and awards only tell us what we already know, that Tre Ponder 
was a brave and good man, one of the finest.
  To Tre's wife, Leslie, and his daughters, Samantha and Elizabeth, we 
offer our tears and our thanks. We are so sorry for their loss, and we 
are thankful for their service and sacrifice.

[[Page 15378]]



                          ____________________