[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15533]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                      Sergeant Martin Anthony Lugo

  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, I would like to take a moment today to 
recognize an extraordinary soldier and son of Arizona who made the 
ultimate sacrifice in the service of our Nation. SGT Martin Anthony 
Lugo selflessly gave his life on the battlefield in Afghanistan on 
August 19, 2010, while serving his sixth, yes his sixth, deployment in 
the war on terror. Sergeant Lugo was killed while leading his Rangers 
in a fierce firefight that also claimed the lives of over a dozen 
Taliban fighters.
  Sergeant Lugo's service to his country began after his graduation 
from high school in Tucson, AZ. He soon found himself in the Army 
recruiter's office and enlisted as an infantryman in September 2004. 
After distinguishing himself throughout basic training and the basic 
airborne course, he was assigned to the Ranger Selection and Training 
Program at Fort Benning, GA. Upon graduation in April 2005, he was 
assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Over the 
next 5 years, he would serve as an ammunition handler, automatic 
rifleman, team leader, and squad leader. During this time, he would 
deploy twice to Iraq and four times to Afghanistan.
  In addition to graduating from the U.S. Army Ranger course and 
earning his Ranger Tab, Sergeant Lugo was also a graduate of the 
warrior leader course and the reconnaissance and surveillance leader 
course. He has been honored with the Army Commendation Medal and the 
Army Good Conduct Medal, in addition to various unit and campaign 
awards. Sadly, he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Meritorious 
Service Medal, and Purple Heart.
  ``Rangers Lead the Way!'' has long been the motto of the Army 
Rangers, and Sergeant Lugo clearly took this to heart. The fact that 
this exceptional Ranger spent his best years constantly deployed to a 
combat zone should serve as an example to all Americans of the 
selflessness and dedication of our young men and women in uniform. 
Words can do little to recognize the true sacrifice required of a young 
man in his prime to answer the call when asked to deploy six times in 6 
years.
  I am truly saddened that the lives of men like Martin Lugo are too 
often honored only in their deaths. Nonetheless, it is a far greater 
sin to fail to recognize them at all. I call on my colleagues to join 
me today in honoring the life and service of Sergeant Lugo, and in 
expressing my sincerest condolences to his mother Maria Marin; his 
father Martin Lugo; his stepfather Esteban Oropeza; his sister Leslie 
Bencic; and his brother-in-law Christopher Bencic.

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