[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2039-2040]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO GARY L. LEMONDS

 Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, today I wish to honor in the 
Record of the Senate SSG Gary Lemonds, a lifelong citizen of Walton 
County, real estate broker, and decorated Vietnam veteran who passed 
away on January 8, 2009.
  Gary Lemonds served with Company F, 75th Ranger Regiment in Cu Chi, 
Vietnam, and was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame on August 25, 
1994, at a ceremony in Fort Benning, GA. His induction was based on his 
involvement in a conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic 
of Vietnam. Staff Sergeant Lemonds served as a team leader during an 
ambush patrol maneuver on April 9 and April 10, 1969. When an enemy 
force launched a massive attack, Sergeant Lemonds led his men in an 
assault on the enemy emplacements. He single-handedly charged a bunker 
and destroyed it with

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grenades, then, sighting another fortification, he crawled through 
fierce enemy fire and silenced it with his rifle. After eliminating the 
hostile entrenchment system, he continued his patrol mission. On April 
10, 1969, his patrol was attacked a second time. From his patrol 
position in a bomb crater, he called in artillery and air support on 
the large enemy element. When withdrawing his troops to a nearby 
landing zone for evacuation, he came under sniper fire from two North 
Vietnamese soldiers, whom he quickly eliminated with a grenade. Intense 
enemy fire thwarted the extraction aircraft's first landing attempt, so 
he directed a gun ship on the enemy location and effected a successful 
extraction.
  His extraordinary heroism earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, 
a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, three Purple Hearts as well as 
numerous other awards and medals. He also continued to honor other 
service men and women well after his tour in Vietnam through his 
involvement with the Patriot Guard Riders.
  Gary is survived by two daughters and a son-in-law, Kimberly Lemonds 
and Jennifer and Jason Needham; his mother Dorothy Lemonds; sister and 
brother-in-law Glenda and Tom Lewis; grandchildren Jessica Lemonds, 
John Cwiek, and Pressley Needham, and a niece and nephew. Along with 
Gary, I would like to recognize his family today and thank them for 
sharing their beloved family member with our proud Nation.

                          ____________________