[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8818-8819]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                      Specialist Michael R. Hayes

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, our Nation owes a debt of gratitude 
to the brave men and women who fight to preserve it, a debt so great 
that a tribute befitting their sacrifice may well lie beyond our power 
to express it. Nevertheless, I ask the Senate to pause today in loving 
memory of SPC Michael R. Hayes of Morgantown, KY. He was 29 years old.
  Specialist Hayes of the Kentucky National Guard died in support of 
Operation Iraqi Freedom on June 14, 2005, when a rocket-propelled 
grenade struck his humvee while he was securing a roadside bomb site in 
Baghdad.
  Earlier that year, he had served valiantly in a brutal 30-minute 
firefight in which 10 guardsmen fought off dozens of Iraqi attackers, 
killing 26 anti-American fighters.
  For his actions as a guardsman, Specialist Hayes earned several 
medals and awards, including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
  It is certainly sad but perhaps fitting that Mike would be taken from 
us while helping his fellow soldiers. Helping others was one of the 
defining features of Michael Hayes' life.
  When Mike wasn't yet 5 years old, he was joined by his little 
brother, Jamie. Soon after returning home from the hospital, his 
mother, Barkley Hayes, heard newborn Jamie crying in his crib.
  Before she could get to him, however, Mike met her in the hallway, 
Jamie in his arms, saying, ``Mommy, help him to stop crying!''
  Mike continued to look after Jamie and younger sister Melissa when 
all three served in the Guard's 617th Military Police Company and were 
stationed in Iraq at the same time. His loving relationship with his 
family was something Mike cherished.
  Mike was also part of another family, his soccer family. David 
Hocker, a friend that Mike was close to, described Mike's love for the 
game succinctly: ``I have never in my life met anyone who loved soccer 
more than that man.''
  Mike was a member of the inaugural soccer team during his sophomore 
year at Greenwood High School in Bowling Green, KY, where he was born 
and raised. A leader on and off the field, he helped solidify the 
fledgling program.
  He wasn't a bad player, either. Mike earned All-Region and Player of 
the Year honors at Greenwood, and to this day remains the first and 
only member of the school's Athletics Hall of Fame.
  According to his coach, Todd Tolbert, Mike was the kind of player 
that made a coach's job easier. Coach Tolbert wanted his other players 
to watch and emulate his dedication, effort and sportsmanship. In the 
words of Coach Tolbert, Mike ``reached as far as he could reach, and 
got there. ``
  His determination and leadership, Coach Tolbert recalls, helped 
establish Greenwood soccer's reputation among the students and 
throughout the region.
  After graduation, Mike stayed with the soccer program as an assistant 
coach. Not only did he serve as a role model for the younger players, 
he also gained valuable coaching experience that could help him reach 
his goal of becoming a college soccer coach.
  Mike did all of that on top of attending Western Kentucky University 
and graduating with a degree from the Kentucky Advanced Technology 
Institute.
  During this time, Mike learned that nearby Butler County High School 
was preparing to start a girls' soccer program. Mike jumped at the 
opportunity to become their first ever head coach.
  The impact that Mike had on the players at Butler County High, and 
that they had on him, is hard to overstate. One of his players, a young 
lady named Tina Laverack, described him this way:
  ``He never gave up on any of us,'' she said. ``He thought we all had 
potential in anything. . . I think everyone should have had the chance 
to meet him; they would have loved him.''
  Mike's friend David Hocker recalled that ``If a girl wanted to work 
extra, he'd come in early or stay late. He spent his own money, buying 
food for the team or taking them someplace for team building.''
  Mike's brother Jamie told the Butler County players at Mike's 
funeral, ``He talked about you guys in his down time more than you guys 
will ever know.''

[[Page 8819]]

  Mike's commitment to his players knew no bounds. On what would be his 
last trip home, he spent 12 of his 15 days playing soccer with them.
  And Mike's influence in his players' lives extended far beyond the 
soccer field. On more than one occasion, he intervened to help a player 
be removed from a troubled home or beat an addiction problem.
  The night before leaving for Iraq, Mike sat down with his players, 
addressing them as his ``ladies,'' like always. He told them he was 
going to Iraq because he wanted his players to be able to walk out onto 
the soccer field and not be afraid.
  Specialist Hayes joined the Guard in 2002 and completed more than 135 
missions, including over 30 actions with the enemy, during his service. 
MG Donald Storm, Kentucky's adjutant general, said he ``epitomized what 
it means to be a citizen-soldier.''
  CPT Todd Lindner, commander of the 617th Military Police Company, 
called Specialist Hayes ``the consummate soldier, always in the right 
place doing the right thing.''
  When the battles were over, Mike enjoyed playing soccer and baseball 
with Iraqi children during his down time. He would bring them Cokes, 
chips and candy. It has even been suggested that with time, he might 
have started a soccer program for Iraqi children.
  Soon before he left Kentucky for Iraq for the last time, a friend 
asked Mike in confidence if he thought we really ought to be involved 
over there. Mike told his friend of the women he saw wearing colorful 
clothes and no veil, smiling as they walked down the street.
  He recounted watching young children running to school with pencils 
and paper and big smiles. ``Yes,'' he told his friend unequivocally. 
``We're doing good there.''
  Although Specialist Hayes can no longer be with us, or his beloved 
family, he is loved and remembered by his mother Barkley, his brother 
Jamie, his sister Melissa Stewart, his nieces Charlotte Stewart and 
Jocelyn Hayes, and other beloved family members.
  I want to thank his mother Barkley for sharing her memories of 
Michael with us, and for traveling to the Capitol to meet with me 
today.
  Specialist Hayes struck everyone he met with his selflessness, 
dedication, and devotion to helping others.
  Although he is gone, the example he set for others won't be 
forgotten. Not by his family. Not by his fellow soldiers. And not by 
the young children he taught to play his favorite game, whether in the 
rural bluegrass of Kentucky or the desert sands of Iraq.
  I ask my colleagues to keep the family of SPC Michael R. Hayes in 
their thoughts and prayers. I know they will be in mine.

                          ____________________