[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 11230]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                        sergeant david k. cooper

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the Nation and the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky are poorer today for the loss of SGT David K. Cooper of 
Williamsburg. On August 27, 2008, Sergeant Cooper was tragically killed 
when his dismounted patrol came under small-arms fire in Iraq. He was 
25 years old.
  Sergeant Cooper was in his third tour in Iraq. For his bravery in 
uniform, he received several medals, awards and decorations, including 
the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star 
Medal.
  Sergeant Cooper was laid to rest at Bowlin Cemetery in Jellico, TN, 
about 10 miles south of Williamsburg. Ed Bailey, a friend who watched 
him grow up, said of Sergeant Cooper, ``I don't know where our country 
keeps getting these heroes.''
  Ronald and Judy Cooper, David's parents, could tell you. They fondly 
remember David, who was born in Whitley County and raised in 
Williamsburg, as a fun-loving kid who enjoyed football, track and 
playing in the school band.
  ``David seemed to go straight from being a little boy at 11 to being 
a man at 12, full facial hair and all,'' says his mother, Judy. ``David 
played junior-high football. The coach had David and one other player 
like him. Coach had to carry a copy of these two players' birth 
certificates to prove they were not over age for junior-high 
football.''
  David went on to play defensive end and tight end on his highschool 
football team, the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets. One friend who played 
with him, Steven Moses, still remembers David as ``hard as heck to 
block.''
  David had many friends, who called him by the nickname ``Coop.'' As 
for David's friends, they all seemed to have the same first name--``My 
Buddy.''
  In a eulogy she wrote with David's sisters, Veronica and Vanessa, and 
graciously shared with me, Judy recalls what David would call his 
friends: ``My Buddy Matt, My Buddy Chapman, My Buddy Black.''
  Once when David went out with his friends to cut down their own 
Christmas tree, he demonstrated that he barely knew his own strength. 
The group borrowed a parent's truck, went out and cut down a big 
beautiful cedar.
  ``David was always a big, strong man, even in high school,'' says 
Judy. ``As they were loading the tree, one of the branches got stuck on 
the tailgate. David and one of his friends got up into the truck, gave 
a mighty heave, and pulled the tree up into the bed of the truck and 
straight through the back window.''
  David graduated from Williamsburg High School in 2001 and attended 
Eastern Kentucky University. In May 2004, he enlisted in the Army.
  Roddy Harrison, the mayor of Williamsburg and David's former teacher 
and high school football coach, remembers seeing David soon after he 
enlisted and telling him how proud he was of him. ``He was a smart 
kid,'' Mayor Harrison recalls. ``A good student, very likable. He had a 
great sense of humor. . . . We are going to miss him.''
  David attended basic training at Fort Sill, OK, and advanced 
individual training at Fort Sill and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. By 
2005, he was assigned to Golf Forward Support Company, 4th Battalion, 
42nd Field Artillery, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, 
based out of Fort Hood, TX. He was soon deployed to Iraq and served as 
a radar repair mechanic.
  David's commanding officer in Iraq, CPT Christopher M. Guillory, 
wrote to Judy about her son. ``I usually called him Coop; [he] called 
me `sir' or `Captain G,' '' he wrote. ``Whether it was at Chapman's 
house while they were working on trucks, the drag strip, or at the 
monster truck shows, he was always respectful to me while we had a 
great time. David was a great young man, who had shown a great deal of 
maturity in the time I knew him.''
  In Iraq, David served as a command team driver and company armorer. 
He was selected to serve on his command sergeant major's personal 
security detail for his tactical knowledge and record of performance.
  When home on leave, David would tell his childhood friend Matt 
Mountjoy about the excitement of serving in the Army. He knew the 
dangers but was unafraid to face them. ``He really was a brave 
person,'' Matt says. ``I never, never heard him say he was ever 
scared.''
  His mother Judy remembers that after David's death, a group of his 
friends came to visit her and share stories about her son. The stories 
mostly began, ``You remember that time when me and you and Coop . . . 
'' Judy says. ``They were all funny, most of them dangerous. . . . Were 
they funny at the time? No. Where do you think I got all of these gray 
hairs and wrinkles? But time does give us perspective.''
  David's many friends and family members are in our thoughts as we 
remember him today. We are thinking of his wife, Amanda Fuston Cooper; 
his parents, Ronald Cooper and Judy Parrot Cooper; his sisters, 
Veronica Cooper and Vanessa Cooper, and Vanessa's finance Dave Seeger; 
his grandparents, Wanda and E.L. Cooper; his aunts, Jenny Begluitti, 
Janice Rutherford, and Joyce Dippel, and Joyce's husband Marty; his 
uncles, Steve Cooper and John Parrot, and John's wife Sonya; and many 
other beloved friends and family members.
  All of those who knew him will remember a man of many fine qualities, 
including honesty. His mother Judy says no one ever had to guess where 
they stood with David. ``David and I had a very close relationship,'' 
she says. ``He always said, `Mom, I know there isn't any sense in me 
trying to lie to you. I know you're just going to find out the truth 
anyway.' ''
  What is the truth now is that our Nation must never forget SGT David 
K. Cooper's service, nor can we ever forget the loss and pain caused to 
his family by his enormous sacrifice. I hope they will remember that 
this Senate is proud to honor SGT David K. Cooper for his bravery, his 
patriotism, and his love of country.
  Madam President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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