[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6123]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         PAYING TRIBUTE AND HONORING THE MEMORY OF TRAVIS BRUCE

  (Mr. GUTKNECHT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute and to honor the 
memory of Travis Bruce.
  Mr. Speaker, it is perhaps ironic that, as the family of Specialist 
Travis Bruce was learning the tragic news, I was at the military 
hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
  We all ask ourselves the questions that have haunted leaders from 
Washington to Grant to this very day: Are we doing the right thing? Is 
it worth the sacrifice?
  I can think of no better place to ask those questions than at that 
hospital. So I asked those young heroes, and I can honestly report that 
they answered ``yes.'' A few said ``absolutely.''
  For Specialist Bruce, the battle is now over. He now rests in the 
loving arms of the God of our fathers. He takes his place in that long 
line of patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice, that long line 
that has never failed us. It is now left for us to carry on.
  There are no words adequate to express our condolences. It is enough 
for us to say that on behalf of a grateful Nation, we will never 
forget. We will always be proud, so that we will always be free.

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