[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 1224-1225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      EULOGY FOR CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 3 MITCHELL ``MITCH'' CARVER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES H. TAYLOR

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 8, 2006

  Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, many young men and women 
have been killed and wounded in the Iraqi conflict--more than 2,000 
killed and 17,000 wounded. I'd like today to reprint my eulogy given at 
the funeral of CWO3 Mitchell ``Mitch'' Carver as a tribute not only to 
him and his parents, but as a reminder to all citizens of our country 
that ``freedom is not free.''

     In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
     Between the crosses, row on row
     That mark our place, and in the sky
     The larks, still bravely singing, fly
     Scarce heard amid the guns below.

     We are the Dead! Short days ago
     We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
     Loved and were loved, and now we lie
     In Flanders' fields.

  John McCrae wrote those words before his own death on the battlefield 
nearly 90 years ago. We have learned to protect the lives of our 
soldiers better. In the war to end all wars, more died in single 
battles than America has lost in all wars since. America has learned to 
protect our soldiers better--but not well enough for we are here to pay 
homage to the life of Mitch Carver. We take pride in reducing our 
casualties, but the sacrifice of the family is not a small percent, it 
is not a small loss, it is not a small number. Their sacrifice is 
enormous, it is total, it is all.
  Mitch Carver took up ``The Torch'' for the country he loved. He knew 
who he was fighting. He was fighting the evil that plants a bomb that 
kills innocent women and children and families who harm no one. 
Murderers who kill, kidnap defenseless women and children for no reason 
but to show evil. He chose to do it. For it is not the press who 
protect our right

[[Page 1225]]

to free speech, it is men like Mitch Carver who choose to do it. It is 
riot the Congress, not the government bureaucrats, who protect us from 
those who would enslave us. It is men like Mitch Carver who choose to 
do it. For another time Mitch Carver rejoined his comrades in Iraq 
because he knew they needed him and he believed he could, with his 
advanced skill, keep them safer, and perhaps lessen their danger. And 
that he did. We may never know how many he saved by his advanced skill.
  In the 8 years I have been privileged to serve as representative on 
the board of our country's military academy at West Point, I have seen 
thousands of young men and women take the oath to protect us. Theirs is 
a simple pledge: ``Duty, Honor, Country.'' In this world of being told 
there is no black nor white, there is only gray political correctness 
and ``is'' has to be defined, I thank God we have young men and women 
who have no trouble defining ``Duty, Honor, Country.''
  The late T.B. Macaulay in his poem Horatius at the Bridge says, ``To 
every man upon this earth death cometh soon or late. And now how can 
man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers 
and the temples of his gods.'' Mitch Carver believed in and loved God. 
He knew the Bible. He could quote this verse better than I, ``For God 
so loved the Earth that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.'' Mitch 
Carver risked and gave his life to perform his duty, but as God 
promised, he did not perish but will remain in our hearts and memories 
until he meets his family in another life.

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