[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17540]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING LANCE CORPORAL NICKOLAS DANIELS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, today I rise with a heavy heart to honor 
and recognize Marine Lance Corporal Nickolas Daniels. Lance Corporal 
Daniels of Elmwood Park, Illinois, was tragically killed November 5 at 
the age of 25 while on patrol in the Helmand province of Afghanistan.
  I want to pass on my deepest condolences to Nick's family and those 
who knew him and share with them the thanks of a grateful Nation.
  Nick attended Elmwood Elementary School and graduated from St. 
Patrick High School in 2004, where he was an all-conference linebacker 
in football.
  Mr. Daniels, after going back to St. Pat's to coach football, joined 
the Marines in 2010 to help achieve his goal of one day becoming a 
police officer. Nick was well known and respected throughout the St. 
Pat's community. He was a very funny, lighthearted person who would do 
anything for those around him. Not only was Nick a dedicated coach, 
but, most importantly, he was a loving son and grandson, an incredible 
mentor to his younger sister and brothers, and a loving and devoted 
fiance. I've been told that Nick poured his heart into everything he 
did and always wanted to make sure that his friends and family were 
taken care of.
  A decorated marine receiving multiple citations and a role model in 
his community, Nickolas Daniels was, and will remain, a shining example 
of the best this country has to offer.
  We can never repay Nick or his family for what they have given to 
this country, but his sacrifice will forever be remembered by those he 
fought to protect.
  As I thought about what to say today, I realized the inadequacy of 
words in any such effort. I was reminded that this feeling was shared 
by an American President who attempted to console a family that had 
lost five sons in battle during the Civil War, but he captured the 
essence of the loss as he wrote:
  ``I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should 
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I 
cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in 
the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
  ``I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your 
bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and 
lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a 
sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
  ``Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, Abraham Lincoln.''

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