[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8128-8129]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                       Sergeant Glen E. Martinez

  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the life of Marine 
Sgt Glen Martinez and to share my deep sadness at the loss of one of 
our Nation's finest young men. Sergeant Martinez was on his second tour 
in Iraq, working to restore peace and security to Al Anbar province, 
when a roadside bomb tore through his vehicle, killing him and three 
other marines. He was 31 years old.7
  Our thoughts and prayers are with Sergeant Martinez's wife Melissa, 
his parents Ron and Carol, his sister Lori, and her children Alexis and 
Spencer, his grandparents Isaac and Viola Martinez and Willard and 
Norma Martin, and all his friends and family. My heart also goes out to 
the community of Monte Vista, CO, a small town in the San Luis Valley 
not far from my family's ranch. The close-knit community, where 
everyone is a neighbor, has lost a favorite son.
  There was nothing, it seemed, that Glen Martinez couldn't do. In high 
school, he was a top student, a gifted musician, and a star athlete. He 
was the quarterback of the Monte Vista football team, competed for the 
State championship in wrestling, and led his baseball team. With 
college scholarship offers to choose from in all three sports, Glen 
accepted an academic and baseball scholarship at Ottawa University in 
Ottawa, KS. He graduated with a degree in mathematics in 2000, but 
continued his studies at Westwood College and then at the University of 
Colorado, in Boulder, where he took up a master's program in land 
surveying.
  At each step, Glen earned honors, awards, and the admiration of those 
he met. He is remembered for his contagious smile, boundless energy, 
and a heart committed to service. In 2004, while living in Boulder, 
Glen determined he had an obligation to serve his country, and that he 
could contribute most by enlisting in the Marines. By donning the 
uniform, he joined a proud family tradition of service and followed in 
the footsteps of both his grandfathers, who served in World War II, and 
his father Ron, who was in the Air Force during the Vietnam war.
  In the Marines, Glen quickly became a leader among those he served. 
He was a member of Combat Logistics Battalion-1, Combat Logistics 
Regiment-1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, out of Camp Pendleton. He rose 
rapidly to the rank of sergeant and, as with everything he did, earned 
recognition and awards for the quality of his service. He served with 
his wife Sgt Melissa Martinez, whom he met while training at Camp 
Pendleton. When Glen was killed, they were both in Al Anbar province, 
as part of an effort to keep the lid on the violence that once made the 
area among the most dangerous in Iraq.
  It is hard to measure all that inspired Sergeant Martinez's service. 
He had a deep-rooted pride for his country and his community. He sensed 
an obligation to offer his talents to a cause greater than his own. And 
he was determined to rise to every challenge presented.
  He shared what so many of our nation's great servicemembers and great 
leaders share--the sense, as President Woodrow Wilson described it, 
that ``the fortunes of a nation are confided to us.''
  As World War I raged in Europe, President Wilson told the 1916 class 
at Annapolis that meeting this ``special obligation'' is perilous and 
difficult, but it also carries the highest reward: the honor and 
affection of their fellow citizens.
  ``You are going to live your lives under the most stimulating 
compulsion that any man can feel,'' President Wilson told the 
graduates, ``the sense, not of private duty merely, but of public duty 
also. And then if you perform that duty, there is a reward awaiting you 
which is superior to any other reward in the world. That is the 
affectionate remembrance of your fellow men--their honor, their 
affection. No man could wish for more than that or find anything higher 
than that to strive for. . . . I wish you Godspeed, and remind you that 
yours is the honor of the United States.''
  Sergeant Martinez answered the call of his country with the dignity 
and honor President Woodrow Wilson extolled. Loved and respected by 
those with whom he served, his optimism and leadership could lift and 
inspire even in the most difficult circumstances. He was an 
irrepressible spirit and an extraordinary professional.
  Sgt Glen Martinez's achievements in life are matched only by the 
depth of his sacrifice--and the void he leaves behind. To Glen's family 
and friends, I know no words that can ease the pain you feel. I hope 
that in time you will find consolation in your pride in Glen's service 
and in the knowledge that his country and his community are eternally 
grateful for all that he gave. He has honored the United States, and 
the United States will always honor him.


                      Specialist Ronald J. Tucker

  Mr. President, I also rise today to honor the life and service of 
Army Specialist Ronald J. Tucker, of Fountain, CO. Specialist Tucker 
was killed in Baghdad last week, at the age of 21, when a bomb exploded 
near his patrol. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry 
Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, out of Fort Hood, TX.
  Specialist Tucker grew up in the Pikes Peak region of Colorado and 
was a graduate of Fountain-Fort Carson High School. He was a hard-
working, smart, good-humored young man with hopes of serving his 
country. In school, he devoted himself to his studies, but shared 
laughs and jokes with friends and teachers.
  Ronald joined the Army just a few days after his 2005 graduation from 
high school. He trained to be a mortarman and, in 2006, was assigned to 
Fort Hood. He deployed earlier this year and was serving as an indirect 
fire infantryman in a unit that was working to calm the violence that 
has escalated in Baghdad over the last several weeks. Specialist Tucker 
worked tirelessly, courageously, and professionally to help bring calm 
to streets teeming with ethnic violence and to allow the Iraqi people 
to hope again.
  Specialist Tucker followed in the footsteps of so many American 
soldiers who have honored their country with their service, and who 
General Douglas MacArthur regaled in a 1962 address to West Point 
soldiers for their selfless sacrifices and for their unflinching 
devotion to the protection of our Nation. ``Duty, honor, country,'' 
MacArthur told the young soldiers, ``Those three hallowed words 
reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will 
be.''
  These three words have been the creed of generation after generation 
of American soldiers. They help us understand the courage and fortitude 
of men like Ronald Tucker, who deployed thousands of miles from his 
family, lived in constant peril, and shouldered the responsibility for 
keeping other soldiers safe while securing a brighter future for Iraqi 
citizens.
  Duty, honor, country. ``The code which those words perpetuate,'' said 
General MacArthur, ``embraces the highest moral law and will stand the 
test of any ethics or philosophies ever promulgated for the things that 
are right and its restraints are from the things that are wrong. The 
soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act 
of religious training--sacrifice . . . However hard the incidents of 
war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his 
life for his country is the noblest development of mankind.''

[[Page 8129]]

  Specialist Ronald Tucker embodied this creed: He donned the soldier's 
uniform at his first opportunity, he bravely entered the battlefield, 
and he offered and gave his life in service to his country. His is a 
debt we cannot repay.
  To Ronald's mother Susan, his stepfather David, and to all his family 
and friends, I know no words that can ease the pain you are feeling. I 
hope that in time, however, the joy Ronald brought to all who knew him 
and your pride in his service will provide comfort and consolation. His 
country will always honor his sacrifice.

                          ____________________