[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 24005]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                         Sergeant Jan Argonish

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I wish to take a couple of moments to 
highlight the life of one of our brave fighting men who lost his life 
in Afghanistan. His name is Jan Argonish. He was a sergeant in the Army 
National Guard.
  On the last business day before our August recess was over, I was in 
a line in Peckville, PA, at his viewing where all of his family and his 
friends paid him last respects and prayed for him. Just to give a sense 
of the scene, the context of this scene, this was a viewing line that 
lasted hours and hours. I was in the line from about 6 o'clock to 8:30. 
So for all the reasons we celebrate the service and the sacrifice of 
our brave troops, I wish to highlight the life of SGT Jan Argonish, who 
passed away at the age of 26 when he was killed in action in an ambush 
in Kunar Province in Afghanistan.
  Jan Argonish was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, with nearly 10 
years of service in the Pennsylvania National Guard. He volunteered to 
help train soldiers of the Afghan National Army. For SGT Jan Argonish, 
this was his third deployment since September 11, 2001.
  He was born in Peckville, PA, and was a resident most recently in 
Scranton, my hometown. He was a 1999 graduate of Valley View High 
School, where he played football and was on the swim team. He went on 
from high school to enlist in the Army. He was a graduate of the Army's 
infantry and mortar schools and tanker school at Fort Knox, KY.
  He received numerous awards for his brave service--the Bronze Star, 
the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, and on and on, 
award after award. He was a member of the Sacred Heart Church in 
Peckville, PA, and VFW Post 5544 in Jessup, PA. Since February 2006, he 
was employed as a corrections officer at the U.S. Penitentiary Canaan 
in Waymart, PA.
  Sergeant Argonish leaves behind a family. One member of his family I 
will never forget, his 8-year-old son Jakub, who was in the viewing 
line to greet hundreds and hundreds of people. He was wearing a State 
trooper's hat which was, obviously, too large for an 8-year-old. But in 
so many ways, that image of that young boy, Jakub, is an image I will 
never forget, and in so many ways it is symbolic of and a metaphor of 
what so many families have lost when they have lost a loved one in 
Iraq, Afghanistan, or fighting around the world. Even someone who is 
old enough to understand it better than 8-year-old Jakub did--so many 
families are not ready for the horror and the trauma of that loss.
  So I am thinking of SGT Jan Argonish today. I am thinking of his 
service. We are remembering and praying for his family and, of course, 
all those who are doing the brave work our troops are doing in 
Afghanistan and, of course, in Iraq during this very profound week we 
are about to enter into, the week where we think about the victims of 
9/11 and we think about our troops.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
Wyoming, Mr. Barrasso, is recognized to speak in morning business for 
up to 30 minutes.
  The Senator from Wyoming.

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