[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1359]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                      Corporal Duncan C. Crookston

  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the memory of CPL 
Duncan Crookston, who died recently at Brook Army Medial Center in 
Texas from wounds he sustained when a roadside blast tore through his 
humvee on September 4, 2007. The attack killed three other soldiers in 
his vehicle. When he died on January 25, Duncan was 1 day shy of his 
20th birthday.
  Corporal Crookston's friends and family gathered at Fort Logan 
National Cemetery in Denver on Saturday to share their memories of a 
young man of extraordinary energy and talent who chose to devote 
himself to the service of his country. His fellow soldiers say he chose 
the Army knowing the dangers and accepting the possibility of losing 
his life. He did his job and ``he met his calling,'' one soldier said.
  Duncan joined the Army shortly after graduating from Denver West High 
School. With his standardized test scores, any university in the 
country would have been lucky to have him, but he was committed to 
doing right by his Nation and by those with whom he served. In the 
Army, it became immediately clear that he had a mind for engineering 
and electronics, so he became the radio-tech operator in his unit. He 
could fix almost anything, and in the toughest conditions.
  For almost 5 months after the Baghdad blast, Corporal Crookston hung 
on. His wife Meaghun and his mother Lee stayed by his side at Brook 
Army Medical Center, helping him in his fight for recovery. His wounds, 
though, were simply too grave. He had burns over 50 percent of his 
body, lost both of his legs, his right arm, and his left hand.
  There was no limit, it seems, to Corporal Crookston's courage. On a 
mission, he always wanted to be out front. In the hospital, he fought 
the odds to the end.
  Corporal Crookston's courage is all the more admirable for the fact 
that he applied it in service to his country, fulfilling his duty with 
honor. ``You will never do anything in this world without courage,'' 
the Greek philosopher Aristotle once wrote. ``It is the greatest 
quality of the mind next to honor.''
  It is hard to imagine a more powerful example of courage than that 
which Duncan Crookston and his family demonstrated over the last few 
months of his life. There are no words that can capture the pain or 
grief they must have endured as they battled for his life.
  To his wife Meaghun, to his father Christopher, to his mother Lee, 
and to his five brothers, our thoughts and prayers are with you. You 
have made a sacrifice that a grateful Nation can never repay. I hope 
that one day your sorrow will salved by your pride in knowing that 
Duncan served the Nation with overwhelming honor, courage, and dignity. 
He will never be forgotten.

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