[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 25291-25292]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING PFC. TYLER MacKENZIE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MARILYN N. MUSGRAVE

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, November 7, 2005

  Mrs. MUSGRAVE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a very heavy heart and 
I wish to ask the members in this chamber to join me in honoring a 
fallen soldier from Evans, Colorado. Last week, Private Tyler MacKenzie 
was killed in action while serving our Nation, in Iraq. He was a 
patriot that believed strongly in the freedoms we enjoy here in America 
and joined the Army to help defend the rights of citizens in Iraq.
  This is particularly poignant because today Private MacKenzie would 
have commemorated his life in another way, by celebrating his 21st 
birthday. However, because of his willingness to serve and place his 
life on the line for others, we honor him as a fallen soldier.
  Private MacKenzie comes from a family with a long military tradition. 
Both of his grandfathers, Emmett MacKenzie and Ron Borland, served in 
the Navy. Tyler's father, David, served in the Army during the first 
Gulf War and his Uncle Chuck was an Engineer in the Army. As a young 
child, Tyler lived in places like Louisiana and Germany as his dad's 
stations changed.
  For the most part, however, Tyler grew up in the small town of Evans. 
He attended Greeley West High School and played football. After he 
graduated in 2003, Tyler worked in the family-owned business, MacKenzie 
Manufacturing.
  He postponed joining the Army in order to train physically and 
recognized that he wanted to further mature. He did this because he

[[Page 25292]]

knew once he joined that he would strive for the top and train for the 
elite Army special forces.
  Once he joined, Tyler MacKenzie entered into the renowned 101st 
Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. He was in the 1st Battalion, 502nd 
Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and was stationed in Fort 
Campbell, Kentucky.
  Sadly, Private MacKenzie was in Iraq only a short time. On November 
2, 2005, after nearly three weeks in Iraq, he died in combat when a 
roadside bomb exploded near his armored Humvee in the southern part of 
Baghdad.
  His courage is admirable, and as the legislative body that votes to 
send our service members into battle, I want to stress this point: He 
knew what he needed to do, and that was to join our military for at 
least one tour of duty to help defend our Nation so the same freedoms 
we have in America could soon be enjoyed by individuals throughout 
Iraq.
  I spoke with his family, and they are heartbroken about their loss, 
undoubtedly. However, they are to be admired for their courage and 
continued dedication to America's military forces who are fighting 
terrorists in the Middle East. They continue to support the President 
and ask that America's leaders not give up this fight.
  See, last November was the first time Tyler MacKenzie could vote in 
Federal elections, and he voted to support President Bush because he 
knew the President was the one he wanted to be Commander in Chief.
  As a mother of a sailor, my heart goes out to Tyler's parents David 
and Julie MacKenzie and his sister Nicole.
  Mr. Speaker, we are so fortunate to live in this great country where 
freedom is something that we rarely have to think about and often take 
for granted. It is simply a way of life for us, and we are truly 
blessed to live in a country that honors citizens for their spirit, 
their ideas, their individuality, and their courage. We can maintain 
the blessings of our freedoms only because we have citizens like Tyler 
who are willing to fight to defend them for us.

                          ____________________