[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6964]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO TECHNICAL SERGEANT ANTHONY CAPRA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I quote: ``Somehow or other their faces 
seemed different from those of ordinary men.''
  Winston Churchill wrote those words about volunteers who risked their 
lives defusing bombs in wartime. I imagine that he saw in their faces 
the constant strain of knowing that their smallest movements over the 
bomb could mean the difference between life and death. I imagine that 
he saw in the lines and creases the evidence of the burden they carried 
for their comrades; and, deeper still, some indefinable quality that 
made them willing to take that burden on again and again.
  Mr. Speaker, I never met Technical Sergeant Tony Capra. But 
underneath all the marks of strain and stress, I am sure I could have 
seen there his love for his family: His wife, Angie; his five children, 
Mark, Victoria, Jared, Shawn, and Adrianna; his 11 brothers and 
sisters; his mother and his father.
  Last week I had the opportunity to talk to his father about the loss 
of his son in Iraq as he disabled an IED and it exploded. Obviously, he 
saved scores of others, and paid the ultimate price. His dad, as one 
would imagine, was extraordinarily sad, but also exceptionally proud of 
the duty his son had performed.
  I am sure I could have seen in his devotion to our Armed Forces an 
absolute commitment to their mission, to his duty, to his country.
  Sergeant Tony Capra, 31 years of age, died on April 9th in Iraq. He 
was an Air Force Ordnance Technician based in Indian Head City, 
Maryland, in my district, an expert diffuser of improvised explosive 
devices. Quoting from the report about him, his ``keen eye for details, 
astounding memory, and courage without measure,'' in the words of his 
commanding officer, as I have said, saved countless lives.
  But in the middle of an Iraqi road, not far from Balad Air Force 
Base, an explosion took his life. Sergeant Capra was on his fourth tour 
in Iraq. When he could have rested at home, he volunteered to return to 
work, to work against explosive devices designed to maim and kill his 
fellow soldiers, as well as innocent Iraqi men and women, and, yes, too 
many children. He placed his body in harm's way. He laid his life down 
for others. He died in our country's service and was posthumously 
awarded a second Bronze Star.
  But this great Nation owes him a debt far beyond its power to repay. 
It is because of the bravery and sacrifice of American patriots like 
Tony Capra that a dangerous dictator no longer menaces his own people 
and the world, and that 25 million human beings who were oppressed for 
a quarter of a century are currently struggling to establish a 
democratic government that answers to its own people, that stands for 
freedom, and respects the rule of law. That was Tony Capra's vision. 
That is why he served his country so well.
  I hope, in time, that Tony's unwavering patriotism and courage gives 
some comfort to his family. I know it does. But, today, there is so 
little we can say to soften this blow. As his young brother James said 
shortly after his death, ``It's like a puzzle. Our family is not 
complete without all the pieces together.''
  Memories of Tony are all that can be put in his place, and I know how 
insufficient they must seem right now. But my sincere hope for you, the 
family and friends of Sergeant Capra, is that those memories will turn 
in time from a source of grief to a well of comfort; that you will be 
consoled by the loving and devoted way he lived, and the fearless way 
he died in the service of others.
  Let me end with this thought. We often speak in abstractions in this 
Chamber. We use words like ``supplemental,'' ``counterinsurgency,'' 
``redeployment.'' But behind each of these words is a young life like 
Sergeant Capra's. More than 4,000 Americans, like Tony Capra, have paid 
the ultimate price, have given the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation in 
Iraq and Afghanistan. They bear the burden of the decisions we make 
here almost every day. And we have a responsibility, indeed, we have a 
moral obligation, to never forget the Tony Capras and the 4,000 others 
whom we have lost.
  Mr. Speaker, may God bless Tony Capra, a man of courage, patriotism, 
valor and commitment, and may He console and strengthen those who 
grieve his loss.

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