[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12818-12819]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                lieutenant commander jane lanham tafoya

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I want to pay tribute to a young woman 
from Owensboro, KY, who lost her life while in service to her country. 
U.S. Navy LCDR Jane Lanham Tafoya was assigned to the Naval Branch 
Health Clinic in Manama, Bahrain, in support of Operation Iraqi 
Freedom. She died from non-combat related causes on September 19, 2006. 
She was 43 years old.
  For her heroic service, Lieutenant Commander Tafoya received many 
awards, medals and decorations, including the Navy and Marine Corps 
Commendation Medal with Gold Star, the Navy and Marine Corps 
Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, 
the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve 
Medal, and the Navy Pistol Shot Medal with Sharpshooter Device.
  Lieutenant Commander Tafoya had served for 18 years in the Navy. 
Before her assignment in Bahrain she had served at the Naval Hospital 
and Naval Reserve Center in Philadelphia, the Bureau of Medicine here 
in Washington, DC, the Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune, NC, aboard the 
U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, and at Navy Environmental Preventive Medicine 
Unit 2 in Norfolk,

[[Page 12819]]

VA. In Bahrain she was working as an industrial hygienist.
  Born in Daviess County, KY, Jane was a graduate of Owensboro Catholic 
High School, Murray State University and Temple University. Her mother, 
Avis Lanham, remembers Jane as a smart student who enjoyed learning, 
got all As in school, and loved to read. In high school Jane played 
softball and volleyball, and she was on the Murray State intramural 
bowling team.
  Avis says that Jane loved to travel, and she loved being in the Navy. 
And Jane ``could always see the good in people,'' Avis says of her 
daughter. Whenever something negative was said about a person, Jane 
would just respond with, ``Well, nobody's perfect.''
  We are thinking of Jane's loved ones today, including her husband 
John Tafoya; her daughters Rachel and Natalie Tafoya; her mother Avis 
Lanham; her brother and sister-in-law Brad and Kathy; her sister and 
brother-in-law Phyllis and Kenny; and many other beloved family members 
and friends. Jane was preceded in death by her father Marvin Bill 
Lanham.
  Today the Senate honors this loving wife, mother, and daughter for 
her long career of service. And we salute the sacrifice that LCDR Jane 
Lanham Tafoya made, half a world away from her native Owensboro home, 
on behalf of a very grateful Nation.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________