[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11533]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                       specialist travis anderson

  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to take a moment to remember 
one of our fallen heroes, a young man from my home State and my native 
San Luis Valley, SPC Travis Anderson.
  Specialist Anderson was killed in Iraq on May 13, 2005. He was 28 
years old and a native of Hooper, CO, a small town of 123 not much 
different from where I grew up in the San Luis Valley.
  A terrorist car bomb struck his HumVee, killing him and wounding 
several fellow soldiers in the vehicle with him. All of us were 
fortunate to be blessed by his life and we are all saddened by his 
loss. He exemplified courage, discipline and patriotism, some of the 
finest qualities that we prize in Colorado and across this Nation.
  Specialist Anderson--``Loopie'' to his family and friends and 
``Cowboy'' to his fellow soldiers in Bravo Company, 3rd Infantry 
Division--was the kind of man that makes all of Colorado proud.
  His family and friends remember that Travis was a rambunctious 
youngster. He went on to work as a farmer and ranch hand in Montana and 
Nevada. He worked hard to earn his high school diploma and even 
defeated the hantavirus, which at one point reduced him to a mere 100 
pounds.
  But after those horrible hours on 9/11, Specialist Anderson heard a 
higher calling, one above his own self interest, and he enlisted in the 
Army at 26. In the Army, he flourished into a man of discipline and 
initiative.
  He had the admiration and respect of his fellow soldiers and 
superiors. ``Sometimes I wish we had a whole platoon of him,'' said SSG 
Jeremy Schultz, who served with Specialist Anderson in Iraq. Don't we 
all; don't we all.
  Specialist Anderson of the Army's 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry 
Regiment, 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division was training with the 
Special Forces when he was killed earlier this month. He was awarded 
the Bronze Star posthumously. He came from humble beginnings and 
aspired to quiet greatness with an even greater heart.
  President John F. Kennedy once said, ``Every area of trouble gives 
out a ray of hope, and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing 
is certain or unchangeable.'' SPC Travis Anderson exemplified this in 
his mission of service to his nation. He will be missed by all those 
around him and he and his family will remain in our prayers. And to his 
family and friends, I say, on behalf of a grateful nation: thank you 
for sharing Travis with us.

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