[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 5922-5923]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                A TRIBUTE TO SPECIALIST MARK W. MELCHER

  (Mr. MURPHY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MURPHY. Madam Speaker, I rise with a somber mood to recognize a 
citizen, a patriot, a soldier who gave his life for a cause he believed 
in serving his country as a soldier in Iraq.
  Mark Melcher lived in Pittsburgh his entire life. He grew up on the 
north side watching the Steelers, Pirates and

[[Page 5923]]

Penguins play, and graduated the from North Catholic High School in 
1989. Soon afterwards, he joined the Army. He served in Operation 
Desert Storm in Kuwait.
  Following the 1991 conflict to liberate Kuwait, Mark returned home to 
begin working at the Mellon Financial Corporation. He then served in 
the National Guard's lst Battalion, 103rd Armored Division located in 
Friedens, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
  Mark departed for military training on the morning of Sunday, 
February 5th. Sadly, on April 15, 2006, just a month after arriving in 
theater, Mark was killed when his tank he manned came under fire 
outside of Baghdad. He was 34 years old. He is survived by his parents, 
Kathy and John Melcher, Sr., of Ross, Pennsylvania. I commend the 
deepest sympathies of all Members of this House to the Melcher family.
  Also I offer the gratitude of every American. We should never forget 
his devotion of duty, his love of country. Today and every day let us 
give thanks to Mark Melcher, his family, and indeed all of our 
soldiers, sailors, airmen and the marines.
  John Melcher, Sr., Mark's father, said of Mark, my son believed in 
the cause, he loved his country, gave his life for his country. You 
don't get any better than that. Yes, sir, Mr. Melcher, you do not get 
any better than that.

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