[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Senate]
[Page 31964]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                            nathan good iron

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I wish to offer a brief statement in 
tribute to Nathan Good Iron.
  Nathan J. Good Iron was a high school basketball star, a college 
student, a new father. This young man of promise died in an enemy 
attack in Afghanistan a year ago while serving with a unit of the North 
Dakota National Guard, the 188th Air Defense Artillery. His family 
learned the terrible news on Thanksgiving Day of 2006.
  Nathan was a Hidatsa Indian, a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes 
of Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara of the Fort Berthold Reservation. For 
more than a thousand years, the Hidatsa people have lived in just a 
single place, along the banks of the Missouri River in North Dakota. 
Always a pastoral people, they resided in sizeable cities, cultivating 
extensive, lush gardens along the river, hunting buffalo and other game 
in the prairies around them. When white adventurers and traders began 
showing up, the Hidatsa were welcoming and friendly. Their villages, 
and those of their nearby allies--the Mandan and Arikara--were centers 
of trade and exploration.
  But when it was necessary, when enemies invaded their homeland, the 
Hidatsa proved themselves strong and valiant warriors, establishing a 
long, epic history of courage and valor on the battlefield.
  Such traits are not easily lost by a civilization. They persist 
through the generations. And the Hidatsa now have a new symbol of 
bravery, Nathan Good Iron.
  Nathan was recently honored by a 3-day powwow in his memory. Powwows, 
which have long and rich traditions, are always events of high 
pageantry and symbolism. Soldiers and veterans receive special 
recognition at these powerful exhibitions and so it is appropriate that 
Nathan was honored with this noteworthy memorial powwow.
  That powwow was an occasion for remembrance and joy for Nathan's 25 
years of life, a proud memorial for his youthful sacrifice, and 
recognition of his patriotism, his championship of democracy, and his 
courageous willingness to put himself in harm's way when America 
called.
  Please allow me, on behalf of the American people, to send my most 
respectful and admiring salute.

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