[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Senate]
[Pages 31526-31527]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                      Sergeant Matthew L. Deckard

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today because a son of Kentucky 
has fallen. I am speaking of SGT Matthew L. Deckard of Elizabethtown, 
KY. He was 29 years old.
  On September 16, 2005, Sergeant Deckard was driving an M1A1 Abrams 
tank during patrol operations in Baghdad when an improvised explosive 
device set by terrorists detonated near another tank in his patrol, 
killing two soldiers and wounding two others.
  Sergeant Deckard heroically left the shelter--left the shelter--of 
his M1A1 Abrams to help tend to his fallen and wounded comrades. 
Shortly after returning to his own tank, a second device exploded, this 
time tragically taking Sergeant Deckard's life.
  For his courage and bravery as a soldier, Sergeant Deckard received 
numerous medals and awards, including the Bronze Star Medal and two 
Purple Hearts. His family saw him laid to rest in Harlan, KY, with full 
military honors.
  Sergeant Deckard--Matt to his family and friends--was in that tank 
because he wanted to be there. More specifically, he wanted to follow 
in the footsteps of his stepfather, Glenn Gill, a retired U.S. Army 
staff sergeant and former tanker himself.
  Matt was ``learning about the M1 tank before he ever went into the 
Army,'' Mr. Gill says.
  When the M1 Abrams tank was still new in the early 1980s, Mr. Gill 
would receive the tank's training manuals. Young Matt often borrowed 
them to read. He borrowed them so often that when Mr. Gill couldn't 
find one of his manuals, he knew right where to look.
  Matt grew up in Elizabethtown, and he also spent several years of his 
childhood at Fort Knox, KY, where his stepfather was stationed. A 
``normal country boy,'' as his stepfather describes him, he grew up 
hunting, fishing and learning to work on cars.
  Matt graduated from Elizabethtown High School in 1994, and in 
December of

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that year married his high school sweetheart, Angela. Then in January 
1995, Matt fulfilled his lifelong goal and joined the U.S. Army.
  Matt took his training at Fort Knox, did a tour of duty in South 
Korea, and was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th 
Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, GA.
  Matt and Angela were blessed with three children, and Matt's family 
was the pride of his life. Daughter Makayla was his ``princess,'' elder 
son Matthew Noah his ``little man,'' and younger son Austin the baby of 
the family. Matt loved to take his kids fishing or to the beach.
  Family came first whenever Matt had time away from work. ``We had 
date nights, just me and him,'' says his wife, Angela. ``We had movie 
nights with the kids. When he came home for R&R, or just any time he 
came home from work, he would just jump for joy that they were right 
there with him. It made his night, every night.''
  Matt was deployed to Iraq twice. The first time, he was originally 
sent to Kuwait in November 2002, later moving into Iraq and staying 
there until August 2003. He was among the first American troops to 
enter Baghdad in the liberation of that country from dictatorship in 
2003.
  Matt's second Iraq deployment began in January 2005. An experienced 
soldier with 10 years of service, he spent his time where he had always 
wanted to--around tanks. He served as a driver, gunner, and loader.
  ``Matt was in the Army as a career soldier and to make a better life 
for his family,'' Mr. Gill says. ``Definitely, he loved it. . . . That 
was his ambition.''
  The family he left behind is in my thoughts and prayers today as I 
recount Matt's story. I wish to recognize his wife, Angela, his mother 
and stepfather, Cassie and Glenn Gill, his daughter, Makayla, his sons, 
Matthew Noah and Austin, his brother, Michael Deckard, his sister, 
Michelle Best, and other beloved family members and friends.
  Today, in the Elizabethtown Memorial Gardens cemetery in 
Elizabethtown, KY, there is a monument to Sergeant Deckard. His family 
designed it, had it built, and with help from friends, paid for it to 
be erected in tribute to their lost husband, son, brother, and father.
  Matt's family held a dedication ceremony for this monument on 
February 3 of this year. A color guard team from Fort Knox raised the 
flags, and the local American Legion post performed the wreath-laying 
ceremony.
  Flying underneath the American flag, Matt's stepfather, Glenn, has 
raised the Armed Forces Memorial Tribute flag, so we will never forget 
the brave men and women in uniform who have given their lives for this 
Nation.
  On the monument, Matt's face is boldly etched into a slab of black 
granite. Next to that perches a bronze eagle. Underneath the eagle are 
the words, ``Freedom is not free.''
  The loss of Sergeant Deckard proves that true. His family and friends 
all have paid a very heavy price.
  Nothing we can say here today can ease their terrible loss. But we 
can remind them that Matt lived to fulfill--in the words of his 
stepfather, whose career path he followed--his life's ambition.
  And we can reassure them that America will forever honor and remember 
SGT Matthew L. Deckard's sacrifice.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________