[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16129]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                      Staff Sergeant Delmar White

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise because a son of Kentucky who 
joined the Kentucky National Guard has been lost in service to his 
country. SSG Delmar White of Wallins, KY, was tragically killed on 
September 2, 2007, when an improvised explosive device detonated near 
his vehicle while he was on patrol in Iraq. He was 37 years old.
  Staff Sergeant White had been stationed in Iraq for less than a week. 
For his valor in uniform, he received numerous medals, awards, and 
decorations, including the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.
  For anyone who wonders how those who loved Staff Sergeant White will 
remember him, the words of his wife, Michele, leave no doubt.
  ``He went out a hero,'' Michele says. ``He was a hero before he went 
to Iraq, in my book. . . . He was a fantastic person that everybody 
loved.''
  Born in Illinois, Delmar--or Dale, as his friends called him--was 
raised in Wallins, a small town in Harlan County, KY, in the 
southeastern corner of my State. He graduated from James A. Cawood High 
School there. He eventually moved to Lexington, KY, heart of the 
Bluegrass Country.
  In Lexington, Dale worked as a corrections officer for the Lexington-
Fayette Urban County Government. He also worked at the University of 
Kentucky, where he met Michele--the woman who would become his wife.
  There was an instant attraction between the two. Their first date was 
to a local carnival, where Dale showed off his athletic prowess for 
Michele by winning some stuffed animals. Or maybe he had his old 
training to thank--Dale was a former U.S. Marine of 4 years who had 
served in Desert Storm.
  Dale was proud of his service, and in 1998, he chose to enlist again, 
this time with the Kentucky National Guard. But he didn't do anything 
without first talking to Michele, by that time his wife. He was 
concerned she wouldn't want him to go. He shouldn't have been.
  ``You are military and always will be--do it,'' Michele told him in 
support.
  One Labor Day weekend, Dale was in Cincinnati with the Guard, working 
crowd control for a local event. Michele tells us that an older man 
walked up to him and asked, ``Why would you wear that uniform?''
  At that moment, a little boy approached Dale and stretched his hand 
up to him. The boy said, ``Mr. Soldier, can I shake your hand?''
  After Dale shook the boy's hand, he looked the man right in the eye 
and said, ``That's why.''
  Clearly, Dale was proud to serve his country, and confident in his 
mission. As Michele says, ``He was military 100 percent.''
  Of course, there was a lighter side to Dale. He loved the outdoors 
and the go-cart track, where he was so aggressive he was known as ``the 
Competitor.'' He liked a good video game, especially one that involved 
shooting at something and honing his target skills.
  Most of all, he was a devoted father to his two children, daughter 
Shelby and son Seth. He would plan special game nights for them and 
other children. Dale had previously served as a youth minister, and he 
told Michele that was something he was interested in doing again. He 
also hoped to serve with a fire department in the future.
  Dale was deployed to Iraq in August of 2007 with Battery B, 2nd 
Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, based out of Carlisle, KY. He left an 
impression on his commanding officer, CPT Robert S. Mattingly, among 
others. This is what Captain Mattingly had to say:
  There is a line that we are familiar with that says we will 
``cheerfully obey the orders.'' That was Delmar White for certain.
  Captain Mattingly said: he was an excellent [non-commissioned 
officer], who led by example and never asked anything of his soldiers 
he wasn't willing to do himself.
  Captain Mattingly added: Delmar White was loved by everyone in the 
battery and will be terribly missed by all.
  Dale talked to Michele and his children over the Internet the day 
before the bombing that took his life. Son Seth was so small all he 
could do was bang on the keyboard, but Dale would always write back, 
``hey buddy,'' so Seth knew he was there.
  During the funeral procession to Dale's burial in Camp Nelson, KY, 
Michele was overwhelmed at the people lining both sides of the street 
to pay their respects. Police cars and fire trucks stopped as police 
and firemen stood, solemnly saluting or with their hands on their 
hearts.
  At the service, bagpipes played ``Amazing Grace,'' and there was a 
21-gun salute. Three helicopters flew overhead as the American flag 
that had covered Dale's casket was folded and given to Michele.
  Mr. President our thoughts are with Staff Sergeant White's family 
after his tragic loss. We are thinking of his wife, Michele; his 
daughter, Shelby; his son, Seth; his brothers, Robert and Doug; his 
sister, Tressa Fisher; his mother, Hazel White Blincoe; and many other
beloved family members and friends. Dale was predeceased by his father, 
Perry White.
  Mr. President, this U.S. Senate rises as one today to salute Staff 
Sergeant White's service, and to honor his sacrifice. The legacy he has 
left for his family, friends, neighbors, and a little boy in 
Cincinnati--who only remembers him as ``Mr. Soldier''--will live on. 
And that is a legacy that his loved ones can cherish forever.

                          ____________________