[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18977]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE LIFE OF SPECIALIST DAVID WILKEY, JR., OF ELKHART, INDIANA

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                           HON. JOE DONNELLY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 12, 2007

  Mr. DONNELLY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and remember the 
life of U.S. Army Specialist David Wilkey, Jr., of Elkhart, Indiana, 
who died on June 18, 2007 while serving in Baghdad, Iraq. Just two 
weeks shy of his 23rd birthday, David lived a life worthy of admiration 
and respect, a life that we mourn today as cut tragically short.
  Growing up in the wilderness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, David 
loved the outdoors. As his step-mother Margaret put it, ``His passion 
was nature. If he had to pick where he was going to live, he would've 
picked a cabin in the middle of the woods with a pond nearby.'' The 
pond, of course, was for fishing, for David loved to both hunt and 
fish. His uncle, Wayne McDonald, frequently went hunting with David, 
and considering his future absence on these trips Wayne could only say 
``It's going to be real hard this fall.''
  Those trips with his uncle combined two of David's most cherished 
loves. For as much as David loved the woods, he loved his family more. 
From his niece Victoria, whose eyes got big and thought ``Yay!'' 
whenever he arrived, to his Aunt Diane, who will miss his smile and 
wink most of all, family was the heart of David's life. He loved his 
family dearly. According to his wife, Melinda, ``He wanted a big family 
and he was a very close family man.''
  In marrying Melinda in December of 2005, his dream of a big family 
found a great partner. He loved Melinda deeply, and that love showed 
immediately. It showed in the way he treated his stepson Christian as 
his own. It showed in the birth of his son Blayke. It shows in their 
third child that Melinda is pregnant with right now.
  David was truly a remarkable man, a remarkable American. In his love 
of nature and family, he displayed this. He also displayed it in his 
sense of duty. Having been laid off just as he married Melinda, he 
could have simply collected unemployment and looked for other work. But 
his sense of duty to provide for his family as well as his plans to 
attend college and build a more secure future led David to choose 
service in the Army. Where so many are content to let others provide 
for them, this was not enough for David. His sense of duty, his ready 
courage, his sense of duty to his family--these qualities are the 
simple and small touches of everyday nobility that make America great, 
and made David Wilkey, Jr. great.
  David was an avid fisherman and hunter, a devoted father and husband, 
and a magnetic and fun person who made a lasting impression on those 
around him. His father, David Wilkey, Sr., stated ``He had a big heart, 
and he's a son that any father could be proud of.'' Today I honor David 
Wilkey, Jr. as a son who not only his father is proud of, but our 
entire Nation is proud of. As I register a Nation's pride, it is my 
regretful duty to also note our grief. Our thoughts and prayers are 
with his family and his friends. We join with his wife Melinda, his 
father David, and his mother Cindy to mourn his loss. While we struggle 
to come to terms with the sorrow over this loss, we can take pride in 
his example and joy in the memory of his life. May God Bless David and 
all those he loved.

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