[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17901-17902]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING CORPORAL DAVID GARDNER WEIMORTZ

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 12, 2006

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
memory of a true American Hero. On August 26, 2006, Corporal David 
Gardner Weimortz died fighting for our country in Iraq. Following the 
tragic events of September 11, 2001, David Weimortz enlisted in the 
United States Marine Corps. In the Corps, Corporal Weimortz proudly 
served America and ultimately made the greatest sacrifice.
  Corporal Weimortz is survived by his mother, Fran A. Fellers of Irmo; 
father, Joseph T. Weimortz of Crestview, Fla.; sister, Kelly A. 
Weimortz of Columbia; grandmother, Helen F. Asbill of Aiken; aunt and 
uncle, Pam and Clint Parker of Greenville; and great-aunt, Alice Lee 
Foster of Aiken.
  Corporal Weimortz was lovingly eulogized in the September 7, 2006, 
issue of The New Irma News by Deloris Mungo. The text of her article 
follows:

       ``This world is a better place for each of us today thanks 
     to the life of Corporal David Gardner Weimortz of Irmo, South 
     Carolina. David was a fearless Marine, but he was first a son 
     to Mrs. Fran Fellers and Mr. Terry Weimortz, a brother to 
     Miss Kelly Weimortz and a friend to what seems like everyone 
     he ever came into contact with.
       ``This particular remembrance of David is dedicated to his 
     Mother, Fran Weimortz Fellers, my dear friend. These past few 
     weeks have been the worst of times for any mother but the 
     outpouring of love from her friends and family have held her 
     up and let her loved ones know what a legacy of life David 
     left. David was certainly a man's man but he was definitely a 
     Mother's son. The choices were clearly his own and he was 
     very proud of them and of what a difference he was making in 
     this world by helping secure freedom for the Iraqis. David, 
     by all accounts, always did it his way, no matter what age he 
     was or what he was doing. Serving his third deployment to 
     Iraq, he died in a roadside bomb attack on August 26th in the 
     3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment Division at Camp Lejeune, 
     N.C. He was a corporal, even though he was a college 
     graduate. He wanted to jump right in and not take the time to 
     go to Officer's Candidate School--he felt that he was needed 
     right then. Trappings and titles were not important to him, 
     but making a difference was. Once his frustrated mother asked 
     him why he was so intent on being a Marine when there were so 
     many people in our own country that just don't care that 
     these soldiers are out there for them--why wouldn't he please 
     just stay home? David replied `Mom, I'm out there for the 
     GOOD people too, and that also means that I am out there for 
     YOU.' David felt like the hope in Iraq is in the children. He 
     said `The kids are really what make it worthwhile. It is our 
     goal, our desire, they come in as well adjusted, well 
     educated persons and want to have a democratic society. 
     Hopefully, that will be infectious and spread.' David was 
     proud to say `I

[[Page 17902]]

     got everything I wanted out of the Marine Corps. I have no 
     regrets.' Very sadly, David's candle of life was extinguished 
     far too soon; but the light that he shined on the people he 
     loved in his path will always burn brightly.
       ``David was always playing sports as a child, and his first 
     word was `ball.' David was a graduate of Dutch Fork High 
     School, and graduated as a golf standout. He then went to the 
     University of South Carolina where he graduated as a history 
     major in 2000. After college, he worked for a publisher in 
     Raleigh and modeled products at NASCAR races before 
     enlisting. He joined the Marines in March 2003 and graduated 
     from boot camp at Parris Island. His next step was to enter 
     Law School when he returned from military duty.
       ``Out of the hundreds of people who have shared thoughts 
     and memories of David, the one constant was his sense of 
     humor and ability to entertain people and make them laugh! 
     This was the core of his personality. No one was untouched by 
     his wit and charm, and his ability to make people smile and 
     laugh was the ONE thing that EVERYONE remembered. There was 
     never a room that he did not fill with his contagious 
     personality when he entered, and never a person who did not 
     leave with laughter after being round him for any time at 
     all. His exterior was huge, 6'5 and 225 pounds of all man and 
     muscle and mass--but his interior was always thinking of the 
     other person and what he could do to make him or her smile or 
     make their life better. This gentle warrior of a man visited 
     two sisters (friends of his in California) for a few days; 
     and after he left, he had written thank you notes to each of 
     them including one to Simon the Cat thanking him for sharing 
     his bed (aka the floor!). All of his local teachers have 
     shared that their classrooms would not have been nearly as 
     `exciting' without the wit, charm and amazing harmless but 
     funny antics of this brilliant young man.
       ``The Marines have lost an unbelievable soldier, Todd 
     Gayle, Jason Flynn, and Miles Solomon have lost their best 
     friend, Fran has lost her most precious son, Kelly has lost 
     her beloved brother who had promised to walk her down the 
     aisle and give her away whenever she found the right man 
     (`Muff' and `Bubby' as they referred to themselves were as 
     close as brother and sister could be), Helen Asbill of Aiken 
     has lost her grandson and Pam and Clint Parker of Greenville, 
     SC, have lost their treasured nephew. The people of our 
     community have lost one of the finest young men ever placed 
     on the earth. What we have gained is the discovery of this 
     very wonderful young man will always be with us. He has 
     permeated out hearts and souls and we have learned so very 
     much from him. There are already in the works many well 
     deserved memorials being made in his name with USC, National 
     Bank of SC and Project Pet. If we could all be as lucky as to 
     know ourselves as well as David knew himself, and to set an 
     example of quality for life and love as he did. His passion 
     for his mother and his sister were unsurpassed, and he wanted 
     to `take care of them' . . . always.
       ``We can only take so much sadness; so dance, sing, laugh--
     celebrate the life that was before the death and what it gave 
     you and what it will continue to give you because you will 
     always have him in your heart. `So it's the laughter we will 
     remember--the way he was.' David, you will be forever in our 
     lives and hearts.''

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