[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2421]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING LANCE CORPORAL FRED LEE MACIEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of a young American 
marine from my southeast Texas district, Marine Lance Corporal Fred Lee 
Maciel who died valiantly serving our Nation in Iraq. He was assigned 
to the Third Marine Division. Lance Corporal Maciel in his 20 years had 
already exhibited a lifetime of sacrifice and selflessness. In the 
deadliest event for American forces in Iraq since the start of the 
operations in March of 2003, he and 30 other servicemen were killed in 
combat when the helicopter in which they were traveling crashed in Al 
Anbar Province in Iraq.
  Lance Corporal Maciel and all his brethren aboard this helicopter, 
including six other U.S. marines from Texas, were on their way to begin 
security preparations for the ultimately successful and historic Iraqi 
elections that I personally had the honor to witness several days 
later. Lance Corporal Maciel died so that freedom could live in the 
birth of this new democracy that we call Iraq.
  This lance corporal was a native of Spring, Texas. He graduated from 
Spring High School in 2003 and joined the United States Marine Corps 
that September. He is remembered as an athlete, a leader in the 
school's Naval Junior ROTC, and a role model for other students. Gloria 
Marshall, the principal of Spring High School, recalls Fred's 
participation in basketball and football as well as his rise through 
the ranks of the ROTC program to become a leader and an officer. She 
said, ``Fred is greatly mourned at our school. The teachers and the 
students all mourn him. He was truly a fine, fine young man.'' Lance 
Corporal Maciel was scheduled to return home following the January 30 
elections in Iraq and had plans to marry his fiancee, Jamie Hommel.
  Last week when I spoke to Fred's mother, Mrs. Patsy Maciel, she told 
me that her son went to Iraq to protect Texans and Americans from 
terrorists. Under extremely grueling circumstances, Lance Corporal 
Maciel contributed to that very cause. He inspired his follow marines 
with his courage, commitment, his character.
  Fred's father, Fred Copenhaver, told me that his son had marveled at 
the thought of becoming a State trooper upon his eventual discharge 
from the United States Marine Corps. Now Fred pays tribute to his son 
with a freestanding wall proudly featuring photographs, notes and 
ribbons in honor of his son.
  To date in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, our United States 
Marine Corps alone has lost 48 Texans, 3 from the Houston area in 
combat-related casualties.
  And while our military cannot replace individuals of unique character 
like Lance Corporal Fred Maciel, I believe that his service will 
provide a stirring example for the men and women who carry forward his 
unbendable fight against tyranny, terror, and treachery.
  Country western singer Billy Ray Cyrus sang, following the first gulf 
war, about America's valiant youth who readily insert themselves 
between us and international villains. He said, ``All gave some and 
some gave all. And some stood tall for the red, white and blue, and 
some had to fall.''
  At his memorial service, Pastor Robert Hogan reminded Fred's family 
and friends and the hundreds of other people at the funeral that he had 
paid the price for freedom and thus had not died in vain. Pointing to 
the fruitful elections in Iraq that Sunday, Pastor Hogan said Fred was 
so loving and willing to give his life for his country and for causes 
he believed in.
  Lance Corporal Maciel died in helping establish democracy in a land 
far, far away. You know, some causes are worth dying for. And liberty 
is one of those causes. Fred's brother Carlos echoed his brother's life 
was not wasted when he said he died for what he believed in.
  We live in a culture sometimes where people do not believe in 
anything. And so I believe that if today we could hear from Lance 
Corporal Maciel himself, a member of the once and always United States 
Marine Corps, as a member of the few and the proud, he would resonate 
the remainder of the refrain from Billy Ray Cyrus's Some Gave All: 
``And if you ever think of me, think of all your liberties and recall, 
yes recall some gave all.''
  Lance Corporal Maciel we will remember, we will forever remember your 
fight against these international outlaws.
  Mr. Speaker, as we extend our prayers and our condolences to his 
parents, his relatives, his fellow students at Spring High School in 
Texas and his fiance, may this American hero's devotion to his country 
continue to kindle our dreams and ambitions of a free people.
  So Semper Fi, Lance Corporal Maciel, Semper Fi.

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