[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 17864]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                    STAFF SERGEANT THOMAS W. CLEMONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the life of a 
heroic soldier and a fellow Kentuckian, SSG Thomas W. Clemons. SSG 
Clemons, born in Leitchfield, KY, proudly served in the Kentucky Army 
National Guard from August 2000 until December 11, 2006, when he 
tragically lost his life while on his second tour of duty near 
Diwaniyah, Iraq. He was 37 years old.
  Staff Sergeant Clemons earned numerous awards and medals throughout 
his military career, including the Bronze Star Medal. A decorated 
soldier, he will be remembered by those who knew him as a loving son 
and brother, a caring husband, a devoted father, a loyal friend and an 
avid University of Kentucky Wildcats fan.
  A true family man, Thomas cherished time with his wife, Sheila, his 
sons Tony and Ryan and his step-daughters Brittany and Amber. He was 
known for saying that of all the blessings God had bestowed upon him, 
his family was the greatest.
  Like most soldiers, Thomas felt that being away from that family was 
the hardest part of serving his country. But rather than focus on 
himself, he sought to alleviate the loneliness of others. As a father 
to two teenage boys, Staff Sergeant Clemons recognized the difficulty 
that long periods away from home created for the youngest soldiers in 
particular.
  He ``tried to be a daddy to everyone over there, especially the young 
ones,'' says Thomas's mother, Patricia Frank. And along with the 
comfort and nurturing Staff Sergeant Clemons gave to his troops, he 
provided an equal amount of discipline and professionalism.
  Clemons's company commander, CPT Ronald Ballard, said, ``Thomas was 
the type of leader who delivered a one-two punch. First, he gave his 
guidance and standards, and then he led by example.''
  Captain Ballard went on to add that Thomas ``understood he would not 
always be here to lead his soldiers--that he had to get them ready to 
fill his boots.''
  On one particularly tortuous day in Iraq, Staff Sergeant Clemons 
phoned his parents in Kentucky. One of his men had just died. Like any 
mother would, Patricia gently reminded her son that family was what was 
important, and that his family was alive and well--to which Thomas 
replied, ``Over here, everyone is my family.''
  Thomas embraced his duties as a Guardsman without hesitation. Before 
his departure to Iraq, he told several friends and family members, ``a 
few lives for a million--that's worth it.''
  Staff Sergeant Clemons was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 123rd Armor 
Regiment in the Kentucky Guard. After serving his first year-long tour 
of duty, he volunteered for a second, and was redeployed to Iraq in 
March 2006.
  His friend and fellow soldier SP Joshua White said that when he asked 
Thomas why he offered to go back to Iraq, Thomas replied sincerely, ``I 
cannot sit back on my couch and watch one of my soldiers' names come 
across that screen and live with myself.''
  Thomas's unit provided force protection and ran security missions for 
the Army. ``He was honored to be a soldier,'' Patricia says. ``That's 
what he wanted, and that's what he was.''
  Staff Sergeant Clemons's funeral service was held in December 2006 in 
the small Kentucky town of Caneyville, close to Leitchfield in Grayson 
County. So many people came to pay their respects to Thomas and his 
family that the funeral home could not hold them all. Many of Thomas's 
friends told Patricia after the service that ``he helped me by just 
talking to me.''
  Staff Sergeant Clemons was a man people wanted to know, and he is 
mourned and missed by his beloved family and friends who had the honor 
to know him.
  He is loved and remembered by his wife, Sheila, his mother and step-
father, Patricia and Jimmie Frank, his sons, Tony and Ryan, his step-
daughters, Brittany and Amber, his brothers, Tim Clemons, Chad Clemons 
and Shannon Frank, his sisters, Julie Johnson, Michelle Mudd and Pamela 
Bowling, and many others.
  Staff Sergeant Clemons was the type of man who, when asked by a local 
volunteer group if they could send him anything while he was serving 
abroad, replied, ``pencils, for the little kids in Iraq.'' He was the 
type to volunteer his free time to serve as a youth basketball and 
baseball coach back home in Kentucky.
  He was the family man who cherished time with his children, the 
friend with a shoulder to lean on and the soldier who was willing to 
sacrifice his life ``to save a million,'' even a million people he had 
never met.
  And so although neither I nor my colleagues had the pleasure of 
meeting him, I stand here today to say this Senate honors and salutes 
SSG Thomas W. Clemons for his service. We will hold his family in our 
thoughts and prayers. And the citizens of Kentucky and this grateful 
nation will always remember his sacrifice.

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