[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 21]
[Senate]
[Page 27949]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                    Staff Sergeant Justin M. Decrow

  Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor the 
life of SSG Justin M. Decrow. He was a member of the 16th Signal 
Company, 62nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion. Justin was only 32 years 
old when he was killed in the tragic November 5 shooting spree at Fort 
Hood, TX, that took the lives of 13 Americans and left 31 others 
wounded.
  Those who enlist in our Armed Forces make an extraordinary sacrifice, 
agreeing to routinely face life-threatening dangers abroad as they 
carry out missions on our behalf. The risks they endure to protect our 
freedom are never expected to follow them from the theater of war to 
the safety of American soil, making Justin's death all the more painful 
and troubling.
  Today, I join Justin's family and friends in mourning his untimely 
death. Justin will be remembered as a loving husband, father, son and 
friend to many. He is survived by his wife Marikay; his daugther Kylah; 
and his parents Rhonda Thompson and Daniel Decrow. Justin had returned 
over the summer from a year's deployment in South Korea before being 
stationed at Fort Hood.
  A native of Plymouth, IN, Justin enlisted in the Army immediately 
after graduating from high school. At the time of his passing, he was a 
resident of Evans, GA, where he lived with his high school sweetheart 
and 13-year-old daughter in a house he built just a few years ago. 
Justin was planning to become an Army contractor at nearby Fort Gordon, 
working within his specialty of satellite communications training. At 
Ford Hood, he had been training soldiers to help new veterans with 
paperwork. Justin is remembered by family and friends as a very loving 
man, who enjoyed working with his hands.
  While we struggle to express our sorrow over the loss of Justin, we 
can take pride in the example he set as a soldier, a husband, a father, 
and a son. Today and always, he will be remembered by family, friends 
and fellow Hoosiers as a true American hero, and we cherish the legacy 
of his service and his life.
  It is my sad duty to enter the name of Justin M. Decrow in the Record 
of the U.S. Senate for his service to this country and for his profound 
commitment to freedom, democracy and peace.
  I pray that the Decrow family, and the families of all the victims of 
this incomprehensible act, can find comfort in the words of the prophet 
Isaiah who said, ``He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord 
God will wipe away tears from off all faces.''

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