[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7215]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING CORPORAL BRIAN M. CONNELLY

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Corporal 
Brian M. Connelly, who was killed in Iraq on February 26 when his 
vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. Corporal Connelly was a combat 
engineer and was in the vehicle's gunning position at the time of the 
attack.
  He lived in Union Beach, New Jersey, where he had recently married 
Kara Connelly. His job in Iraq as an engineer involved protecting the 
way for other soldiers. He lost his life essentially helping his 
comrades in arms.
  His family and friends remember him as a man who had a great sense of 
humor and loved fishing and boating and being out on the water.
  I attended the memorial service of Corporal Connelly in Keyport this 
past weekend to pay my respects to the corporal and his family and 
friends.
  Too often we are tragically reminded of the human costs this war has 
placed on our country's citizens. His family kept a ``Bring Our Troops 
Home'' banner above their home, reinforcing their hopes that Brian 
would return home safely as soon as possible.
  Corporal Connelly was an American hero. He was my constituent, and I 
am proud to pay tribute to him in our Capitol today.

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