[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 27815-27816]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO SERGEANT BILL MEEUWSEN

  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, the three words from the official seal of the 
United States Army states: ``This we'll defend.'' Sergeant Bill 
Meeuwsen was a member of the Army and he died carrying out this motto, 
defending the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Sergeant Bill Meeuwsen. 
He was truly a remarkable person. Bill was born in Mount Vernon, 
Washington, on February 10, 1981, and when he was 10 years old, he and 
his family found their way to southeast Texas and moved to Kingwood, 
Texas. He attended King-
wood High School, one of the finest high schools in this country, and 
he graduated in 1999.
  He went on to Texas A&M University, and he and some of his friends 
enlisted in the United States Army as a result of the attacks of 
September 11, 2001. His father Mike said ``Bill strongly believed that 
we all share a responsibility to serve on behalf of God and country, to 
protect freedoms we all cherish so deeply.'' It was that sense of 
patriotism that led him to enter the United States Army.
  Bill was initially deployed with the renowned Band of Brothers to 
Camp Giant, near the Korean demilitarized zone in March of 2003. A year 
later, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion 502nd Infantry Regiment, 
2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division of Fort 
Campbell, Kentucky. It was there he married his wife, Lauren Lynn, on 
August 18, this year, 2005. She was the daughter of a Colonel who was 
also serving in Iraq.
  Bill was then deployed to Iraq just 3 months later, in October of 
2005. Two months after that, on the day before Thanksgiving this year, 
Sergeant Bill Meeuwsen was one of two soldiers killed in action when 
his unit came under direct fire near Baghdad. He was the 186th Texan 
killed in Iraq since the war began. One out of every ten people

[[Page 27816]]

serving in the United States military today is from the State of Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, Bill is remembered as a person who loved his friends and 
family. He enjoyed playing basketball with his buddies, and he had 
compassion for animals. When he was growing up, he used to hide animals 
in his home. His friends and family will never forget his friendly and 
ever-present smile.

                              {time}  1615

  He had a great sense of humor and a way of making anyone around him 
feel comfortable. His father, Mike, spoke of his sense of adventure and 
interest in exploring other countries and cultures, which he was doing 
by fulfilling his Army experience.
  While in Iraq, Bill spoke with his wife, Lauren, and parents, Mike 
and Thresa frequently. In one of his most recent conversations, he was 
upbeat and excited about his unit's recent success in the field in 
Iraq. He felt strongly they were accomplishing their mission and goal, 
making a difference in Iraq for those people. A week before he died, he 
sent home this photograph of him taking a break in Iraq enjoying tea in 
the Iraqi custom.
  Mr. Speaker, here is a photograph of Bill shortly before he was 
killed in active duty in Iraq. It shows this big man, this big son of 
America, taking a break while on duty in Iraq for his country and for 
the people of Iraq.
  During another conversation with his mother Thresa, she was crying 
when she spoke with her son because Bill's platoon had recently 
suffered four casualties, and she was worried how he was handling this. 
But Bill was very clear in his response to his mother. He told his 
mother, ``Mom, you do not need to cry for the soldiers who were killed. 
They are all in heaven. They were good men. They died doing what they 
wanted to do. Cry for their families.'' Wise words from one of 
America's sons.
  His clear and matter-of-fact responses have been a tremendous source 
of comfort to his wife and to his parents since his death.
  While Bill was stationed in Korea before he went to Iraq, he met a 
man named Ahn. Ahn was a sergeant in the South Korean Army. He and Bill 
made quick friends. They made an odd pair since Ahn was relatively 
short and Bill was 6 foot 4 inches tall. On numerous weekends the two 
of them would catch the train to Seoul, South Korea, where they 
explored the city, and Ahn helped Bill learn the customs of the Korean 
people. Bill even got to go to Ahn's parents' home.
  After he learned of Bill's passage, Ahn sent a heartfelt letter in 
broken English to the Meeuwsen family in Texas. It reads in part: 
``There is an old Korean saying that `too nice and good person tends to 
be taken by God earlier than usual.' I strongly sure that Holy Father 
have special plan to brighten the heaven with Mr. Meeuwsen.''
  Mr. Speaker, I am sure that heaven is already brighter with Bill up 
there, and I would like to extend my prayers and our condolences to his 
parents, Mike and Thresa, to his relatives, his friends, the community 
of Kingwood, Texas, his wife, Laura Lynn. Sergeant Meeuwsen touched so 
many lives in his 24 years. He was a freedom fighter, he was an Aggie, 
a son of proud parents, a member of the band of brothers, an American 
warrior, and an inspiration to all patriots. His patriotism and heroism 
and his life will not be forgotten. He paid for freedom with his life. 
He paid for our safety with his blood, and he paid for our future years 
with his youth.
  When I talked to Sergeant Meeuwsen's father, Mike, about what his son 
believed in and his reasons for his personal involvement in Iraq, he 
said this: ``I am here for God, country, and freedom.''
  Mr. Speaker, that says it all.
  God bless Bill and God bless our troops and God bless America. That 
is just the way it is.

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