[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15774]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING SERGEANT FIRST CLASS RILEY G. STEPHENS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Flores) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, America recently lost another hero in the 
war on terror. On September 28, America lost Army Sergeant First Class 
Riley G. Stephens of Tolar, Texas.
  Riley grew up in Tolar. He enlisted as an infantryman in the Army in 
1993. He volunteered for the Special Forces Assessment and Selection 
Course. He also went on to graduate from the Special Forces 
Qualification Course in March of 2005.
  At the time of his tragic death, he was assigned to Company B, 1st 
Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) as a Special Forces 
medical sergeant. He would go on five separate deployments in support 
of Operation Enduring Freedom.
  During his 19 years of service to our country, Sergeant Stephens 
earned many awards and decorations. He earned the Bronze Star Medal 
with Valor, two Bronze Star Medals, the Purple Heart, the Army 
Achievement Medal with Valor, four Army Commendation Medals, four Army 
Achievement Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan 
Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, the Global War on Terrorism 
Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development 
Ribbon Military, the Army Service Ribbon, two Overseas Service Ribbons, 
the NATO Medal, the Air Assault Badge, the Basic Parachutist Badge, the 
Expert Infantryman Badge, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Ranger Tab 
and the Special Forces Tab.
  On October 7, Sergeant First Class Riley G. Stephens was laid to rest 
at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, not far from his hometown 
in Tolar where, earlier that day, his life was celebrated and his 
service to our country was celebrated in a church full of friends and 
family and fellow patriots.
  Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Sergeant 
Stephens. He will forever be remembered as an outstanding soldier, a 
husband and a father. We thank him and his family for their service and 
sacrifice for our country.
  His sacrifice reflects the words of Jesus in John 15:13 which say: 
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for 
his friends.
  As I close, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask all Americans to 
continue praying for our country during these difficult times, for our 
military men and women, and for our first responders who keep us safe 
by their sacrifice each day.
  God bless our military men and women, and God bless America.

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