[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8547]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1010
       IN MEMORY OF PRIVATE FIRST CLASS WILLIAM ``SETH'' BLEVINS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Mrs. Schmidt) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, it is a sad day for my district because 
today we're going to lay an American hero to rest, Private First Class 
William ``Seth'' Blevins. He was only 21.
  Just before Christmas in 1989, on December 22, Steven and Trish 
Wagnoner Blevins got the best gift of all--a beautiful, healthy little 
boy. They lived in rural America, Sardinia, Brown County, Ohio. They 
were small business owners, working hard to make a living and working 
harder to make sure that their children achieve the American Dream. And 
they did their job with Seth. You see, Seth was a wonderful young man, 
a young man who loved our country so much he put the cloth of his 
country, a uniform, on and decided to protect our freedom no matter 
what cost or peril it was to him.
  In 2008, he graduated from Eastern High School in Brown County. He 
played soccer, basketball, participated in the band, and was a member 
of the Eastern High School chapter of the National Honor Society, 
clearly a winning individual. He attended Ohio University and took 
courses at the University of Cincinnati prior to enlisting in the Army. 
He was a member of the Peace Lutheran Church in Arnheim.
  His parents now feel an unbearable sorrow with the loss of their 
wonderful son, Seth, but so does his sister, Paige Blevins, his 
mother's fiance, Brandon Black, his maternal grandparents, Will and 
Shirley Wagoner, and all of the aunts and uncles and cousins and 
friends, everyone in the community.
  Seth was a member of the U.S. Army, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry 
Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield 
Barracks in Hawaii--commonly referred to as the Wolfhounds--and he 
loved what he did. Unfortunately, on May 23, 2011, while so many 
Americans were planning their celebrations for Memorial Day, he was the 
victim of an improvised explosive device in Kunar Province, 
Afghanistan, participating in Operation Enduring Freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, we must never forget the bravery of our men and women in 
uniform that continue to serve our country and continue to serve it in 
harm's way. These are true American heroes--so many who have died, so 
many continue in the battlefield, so many that are injured. But today, 
I ask this Chamber and America to recognize Seth Blevin's family and 
pray for them so that they can endure this heartache and find a way to 
overcome it.
  Mr. Speaker, may Seth Blevins rest in peace, and may his family find 
peace.

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