[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 22118-22119]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING EMILY J.T. PEREZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ALBERT RUSSELL WYNN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 15, 2006

  Mr. WYNN. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, September 23, I attended the 
funeral services for Army Second Lieutenant Emily J.T. Perez, an 
outstanding young officer who gave her life in service to her country 
while patrolling near Najaf, in southern Iraq, on September 12th of 
this year.
  Emily J.T. Perez was a 23-year-young woman of great determination and 
distinction from Prince George's County, Maryland, who rose to the top 
of her class at Oxon Hill High School. Seeing her tremendous potential, 
I had the honor of nominating her for an appointment to the United 
States Military Academy at West Point. Emily rose to the top of her 
class to become the first minority female Command Sergeant in West 
Point's history.
  With sadness I acknowledge her for another distinction; she is the 
first female graduate of West Point to die in Iraq. Lieutenant Perez, a

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platoon leader assigned to the 20th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th 
Infantry Division, perished when an improvised roadside device exploded 
underneath her Humvee.
  Emily Perez was a young woman of many talents, with a passion to 
serve others. Born in Heidelberg, Germany to a military family, she 
decided early on that she wanted to be a soldier. Her family moved to 
Fort Washington, Maryland, and Emily enrolled at Oxon Hill High School 
and became Wing Commander of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training 
Corps. At Peace Baptist Church in the District of Columbia, she started 
an HIV-AIDS ministry to educate young people on the dangers of the 
life-threatening disease. She also volunteered with the Red Cross at an 
HIV-AIDS peer education center where she shared stories of those living 
with depression and the stigma of AIDS.
  Emily was a sprinter. She ran the third leg for the Army's 400-meter 
relay team and ``She was the cream of the crop,'' according to her 
former high school track coach Nathaniel Laney. Emily had a wonderful 
voice and performed in the Military Academy's gospel choir, acting 
again as a shining example to her fellow women cadets.
  ``She was resilient. Her spirit was calm. She was resolute. She 
believed . . . the real tragedy is not to live while you are alive,'' 
said her godfather, Reverend Michael Bell, pastor of the Peace Baptist 
Church.
  Mr. Speaker, today I honor the spirit of an outstanding young 
American patriot taken from us much too soon, United States Army Second 
Lieutenant Emily J.T. Perez.

                          ____________________