[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11457-11460]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           CLEARING THE NAMES OF JOHN BROW AND BROOKS GRUBER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Farenthold). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Flores) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority 
leader.


                Honoring Lieutenant Colonel Roy Tisdale

  Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, on June 28, America lost another hero, Army 
Lieutenant Colonel Roy Lin Tisdale.
  Lieutenant Colonel Tisdale grew up in Alvin, Texas, and went to Texas 
A&M University, where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets. After 
graduating from Texas A&M in 1993, he was commissioned as an Army 
infantry officer. He served two full tours in Iraq, two full tours in 
Afghanistan, and made additional short visits to both theaters.
  At the time of his tragic death, Lieutenant Colonel Tisdale was 
commander of the 525th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 525th 
Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, stationed in Fort Bragg, North 
Carolina.
  During his 19 years of service to our country, Lieutenant Colonel 
Tisdale earned many awards and recognitions. He earned the Bronze Star 
Medal, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army 
Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Joint Military Unit 
Award, the National Defense Service Medal, the Meritorious Unit 
Citation, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the 
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the 
Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Air Assault Badge, the 
Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, and Senior 
Parachutist Badge.

                              {time}  1910

  On July 5, the life of Lieutenant Colonel Tisdale was remembered at 
Central Baptist Church of Bryan, Texas, and he was later laid to rest 
at the Aggie Field of Honor in College Station, Texas.
  In response to the activities of an extremist group that protests at 
American military funerals, over 600 college students and community 
members, a majority of them Texas Aggies, came together to form a 
``Maroon Wall'' to prevent those protests from disrupting the funeral 
and burial. America should be proud of this community of patriotic and 
respectful Americans that came together to honor the service and 
sacrifice of Lieutenant Colonel Tisdale and ensure that he was given 
the respect that he deserved.
  Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Army 
Lieutenant Colonel Roy Tisdale. He will forever be remembered as an 
outstanding soldier, husband, and 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, ``Greater love hath no man than this, 
that a man lay down his life for his friends.''
  Continuing a distinguished heritage of military service for our 
country, Lieutenant Colonel Tisdale is the 27th Texas Aggie to die in 
the service of our country since 9/11. He, like tens of thousands of 
Aggies before him, answered ``Here,'' when his country called.
  God bless our military men and women, and God bless America.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Jones) will control the remainder of the hour.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, it is 10 years ago that I was contacted by 
Connie Gruber. On April 8, 2000, 19 marines were killed in a V-22 
Osprey crash in Marana, Arizona.
  Mr. Speaker, I show this tonight because so many people do not 
understand what a V-22 is. It is the kind of plane that's basically a 
helicopter that can become a plane because it would go from the 
helicopter mode to an airplane mode. And so, therefore, the V-22, 
again, at the time of this crash was still an experimental plane. In 
fact, at the time of the crash, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney spoke 
out to Congress, both House and Senate, that he wanted to eliminate the 
program. He did not think the V-22 was the right investment by the 
United States Marine Corps.
  It so happens that one of the pilots, Major Brooks Gruber and his 
wife, Connie, and his little girl named Brooke live in the Third 
District of North Carolina, which I represent. The pilot was Colonel 
John Brow. His wife, Trish, and his sons Michael and Matthew live in 
California, Maryland.
  Connie contacted me. I want to read, Mr. Speaker, what she said. 
These are taken from a full letter, but I'll read just parts of it to 
make my point tonight:

       General James Jones is fully aware of my concerns and has 
     apparently supported Generals Nyland and Hough in denying my 
     request for a ``no fault'' amendment to my husband's accident 
     report. He has refused to help me. That is exactly the reason 
     I felt it necessary to contact you as well as other respected 
     leaders.

  She further stated in that letter to me:

       My husband's life was sacrificed for the Osprey, the Marine 
     Corps, and for this Nation. I hope you understand why I 
     cannot allow his good name to be sacrificed, too. Please 
     remember, these 19 marines can no longer speak for 
     themselves. I certainly am not afraid to speak for them, and 
     I believe that somebody has to. Even though it is easier put 
     to rest and forgotten, please join me in doing the right 
     thing by taking the time to address this important issue.
       Given the controversy of this aircraft and the Marine 
     Corps' vested interest, surely there is an unbiased, ethical 
     way to rightfully absolve these pilots. Please help me by not 
     only forwarding my request but by also supporting it.

  Mr. Speaker, I tonight want to show the face of the pilot. Again, for 
those that might be watching this tonight in their homes, this is an 
Osprey, the V-22. At the time of this accident there were many, many 
questions. And I will touch on those questions in the next few minutes, 
Mr. Speaker. But this is the pilot. His name is Colonel John Brow. The 
copilot is Major Brooks Gruber. He is to the left of the poster of John 
Brow.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot continue tonight without letting the American 
people know that shortly after the accident there were three marines 
there

[[Page 11458]]

from New River, which is in my district of eastern North Carolina. 
These three investigators, Colonel Mike Morgan--and I will mention his 
name several times in the next 30 minutes--and also Colonel Ron Radich 
and Major Phil Stackhouse were sent to Arizona the day after the 
accident. Nineteen marines were killed and the two pilots that I just 
mentioned. These three marines were sent there by the Marine Corps to 
investigate the accident. And they wrote what is called the JAGMAN 
report.
  This is what the two wives are asking. The lawsuits are over--and 
I'll touch on that in just a moment. Bell-Boeing settled for millions 
of dollars to the 19 marines and their families. And all the two wives 
have been asking for 10 years is a clarification of whether their 
husbands were at fault or not at fault. And I'm going to show you 
tonight, Mr. Speaker, in the next 30 minutes that the pilots were not 
at fault.
  All they would like of the United States Marine Corps, which I have 
great respect for, is to issue a letter on the Commandant's stationery 
that says Lieutenant Colonel John Brow, pilot, was not at fault for the 
accident on April 8, 2000, at Marana, Arizona. Then, what Connie Gruber 
would like, the wife of the copilot, Major Brooks Gruber, is that her 
husband was not at fault for the accident that killed 19 marines. Mr. 
Speaker, again, the lawsuits are over. Everything has been settled. But 
all the two wives want is their husbands to lie in that grave and not 
feel that they're responsible for that accident because, Mr. Speaker, 
they were not responsible.
  I want to thank Congressman Steny Hoyer from Maryland for joining in 
this effort because John Brow's wife, Trish, and her sons, Matthew and 
Michael, live in California, Maryland. They're his constituents. I want 
to thank Norm Dicks from the State of Washington. I'm sorry that he's 
not running for reelection. He's a very fine gentleman and a Member of 
the House. But he's decided not to run for reelection. He has joined 
and said, Let us help you.
  Mr. Speaker, a lawyer for the two families, Jim Furman, in Texas, who 
defended these two pilots and won the major award from Bell-Boeing, 
which has not been made public, and cannot be--they settled with the 
two wives of John Brow and Brooks Gruber--Jim Furman has joined us and 
said their names need to be cleared. They were not at fault. In 
addition, the attorney for the 17 marines who were killed in the back 
of that plane, Brian Alexander and his associate, Francis Young, in New 
York, have joined. People like Phil Coyle have joined. Rex Rivolo has 
joined. These were experts within the DOD system that knew this plane 
and know that these gentlemen were not at fault. And even though he is 
deceased--and God rest his soul--Mike Wallace did a major ``60 
Minutes'' piece on this accident 2 years after it happened.

                              {time}  1920

  And yet everything in that ``60 Minutes'' showed that these fellows 
were put into a situation that they were not trained for, they did not 
know how to react to--an issue called vortex ring state. And I'll touch 
on that in just a moment.
  The real tragedy of all this is all the families want is an official 
document that will say their husbands are not at fault.
  Mr. Speaker, it's gotten kind of ironic to me because we have spent 
10 years--I'm not going to try to say to you tonight, Mr. Speaker, or 
to anyone that might be watching that we have spent every day, every 
week, every month for 10 years, but this has been a 10-year effort to 
do what is right for these two marines who gave their life for this 
country.
  I got very frustrated in March of 2010. I could not get the response 
from the Marine Corps that I would hope--not for me because I'm a 
Member of Congress, but for the wives and the children to clear the 
names. I contacted Trish Brow. I said, Trish, I need some help. I don't 
know who to contact, but somebody has to join me in this effort, 
because I don't think I can get it done by myself.
  Mr. Speaker, I've always given credit to God for anything that I did 
that was worthwhile, but I needed the help. She said, Have you ever 
spoken to Colonel Jim Schafer? He was a friend of John Brow and a 
friend of Brooks Gruber, and he was in the air. There were four V-22s 
flying, and he was one of them.
  So I called Colonel Jim Schafer, and he said to me, Congressman, 
whatever I can do to help you clear the names of these two pilots, I 
will do it.
  He joined us, and, in fact, in the year 2011, he and I made a 
presentation to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. And I thought Jim 
Schafer did a magnificent job. With tears in his eyes, he told the 
Commandant that these fellows had not been trained, they were not 
equipped, the plane had no warning system to the vortex ring state 
which affects the nacelles on the twin engines. So therefore, he said, 
What can I do?
  I'm sorry. But, at that time, we were not convincing enough to the 
Marine Corps to give the wives the two letters.
  Mr. Speaker, I'd like to share with you that what created the problem 
after the accident on April 8 was actually the press release by the 
United States Marine Corps. The Commandant at the time--a very fine 
gentleman, I've met with him several times. I think the world of him. 
We are not related, even though my name is Jones--was Commandant Jim 
Jones. But the press release stated, on July 27 of 2000--April 8 was 
the accident. This is a quote that gave the problem:

       Unfortunately, the pilots' drive to accomplish that mission 
     appears to have been the fatal factor.

  Mr. Speaker, I'm going to read that again. This is the press release 
from the United States Marine Corps after this tragic accident in 
Arizona.

       Unfortunately, the pilots' drive to accomplish that mission 
     appears to have been the fatal factor.

  Mr. Speaker, again, I want to thank Colonel Mike Morgan, Retired. I 
want to thank Colonel Ron Radich, Retired, and Phil Stackhouse, Major, 
Retired, for joining me in trying to clear the names of these two 
pilots.
  It so happens in a recent email from Colonel Morgan, one of the three 
investigators, I read his quote:

       This is the crux of the issue; there is nothing in the JAG 
     investigation that says that the pilots are at fault. If you 
     change ``pilots'' to ``flight leaders,'' the statement, in my 
     opinion, is correct, and the investigation so much as brings 
     that out.

  Why is it clear to the Blue Ribbon panel that was set up after this 
accident and not the Commandant of the Marine Corps' office? Because at 
that time the Blue Ribbon panel was not worried about fielding a new 
and controversial aircraft, which I just talked about Dick Cheney's 
being opposed to it. This was the second plane behind a lead plane. It 
was Nighthawk 71 and Nighthawk 72. Nighthawk 72 crashed.
  In the official report that Lieutenant Colonel Morgan made reference 
to, the JAGMAN report, and I want to read this, Mr. Speaker, the 
official JAGMAN investigation was released in the following months, and 
the investigators, Morgan, Stackhouse, and Radich, testified by saying, 
and I quote, Mr. Speaker:

       During this investigation, we found nothing that we would 
     characterize as negligent, deliberate pilot error or 
     maintenance/material failure.

  Mr. Speaker, the word ``deliberate'' bothered me so much that I wrote 
to Colonel Morgan, and I said, Sir, would you please explain why you 
used the word ``deliberate''? And I'll read his comments back to me, 
Mr. Speaker:

       My personal feeling and opinion supported by my interviews 
     with the lead flight crew is that the mishap aircraft----

  That's 72 now, these two men were flying it.

     --had no idea they had exceeded any flight parameters. They 
     were merely trying to remain in position on a flight lead 
     trying to salvage a bad approach.

  Mr. Speaker, what he is saying is that these two men, in a new 
experimental airplane, were following behind on a mission that never 
should have been ordered by the Marine Corps to begin with. These two 
men are in the second plane. They are following the lead. The lead got 
into trouble, and they followed the lead.

[[Page 11459]]

  That is why I want to repeat again, Mr. Speaker, Lieutenant Colonel 
Morgan, the word ``deliberate'':

       My personal feeling and opinion supported by my interviews 
     with the lead aircraft is that mishap aircraft had no idea 
     they had exceeded any flight parameters. They were merely 
     trying to remain in a position of a flight lead trying to 
     salvage a bad approach.

  Mr. Speaker, he further states, and let me read this for the Record, 
please, sir:

       Brow and Gruber did nothing but try to maintain position on 
     their flight lead. Did they fail to recognize they were in a 
     dangerous situation? Absolutely. Were they properly trained 
     for such a situation? Absolutely not.

  Mr. Speaker, that's why this 10-year journey has meant so much to me. 
I did not know these men. I know the families now. But these marines 
were in the cockpit of a V-22, an experimental airplane that Bell-
Boeing did not do the research that they should have done to prepare 
these men for what was coming. Again, the problem is called vortex ring 
state. This is pretty well known in airplanes, but, Mr. Speaker, not in 
the Osprey in these nacelles. It was not fully understood.
  In fact, Tom Macdonald, experimental pilot for Bell-Boeing, spent 700 
hours, Mr. Speaker, 700 hours trying to figure out after this crash: 
What do you do? How do you react? How do you respond to vortex ring 
state?
  Mr. Speaker, what is so sad is they now have warning systems on the 
software. They have even a voice that comes on the helmet that says 
sync, sync, sync, meaning you're in trouble, react, react. Brow and 
Gruber had none of that information. In fact, the NATOPS manual that 
was in their lap the moment before they crashed and burned, it had one 
page and a paragraph on vortex ring state. And, Mr. Speaker, it was 
written by an Army helicopter pilot who had never been in the V-22.
  Mr. Speaker, now the NATOPS manual that the V-22 pilots have is six 
pages about vortex ring state and how you react to that ring state.

                              {time}  1930

  Mr. Speaker, I'm just going to take a few more minutes, and then I 
will close tonight. I want to thank the staff for staying late for me 
to have this opportunity, but I do want to restate what the 
investigators are saying.
  I contacted them and asked them if they would be willing to write me 
a letter that I could use in trying to clear the names of John Brow and 
Brooks Gruber. I'm going to read just a few parts of this, and then 
I'll close in just a few minutes, Mr. Speaker.
  This is from Phil Stackhouse:

       I do not believe that it would be a surprise to anyone that 
     it is my opinion the mishap was not a result of pilot error, 
     but was the result of a perfect storm of circumstances. 
     During the conduct of the investigation, we collected some 20 
     binders of evidence.

  I'm going to just skip from one paragraph to another. ``This 
includes, for example, compressed testing and evaluation''--that means 
they did not do the test on this issue of vortex ring state; they had 
no way to evaluate it because they didn't test it--``created by 
deadlines, funding, and maintenance; the omission of important testing 
and evaluation missions; the actions of the lead aircraft in the 
section; and lack of understanding how vortex ring state/power settling 
would actually effect the Osprey in real-world situations and simulated 
real-world training.''
  Mr. Speaker, this is the whole thing. I'll close on Mr. Stackhouse, 
and then I will read two others very quickly.
  Stackhouse, one of the investigators, said:

       For any record that reflects the mishap was a result of 
     pilot error, it should be corrected. For any publication that 
     reflects the mishap was a result of pilot error, it should be 
     corrected and recanted.

  Again, this is one of the three investigators. I'll read the others 
very quickly, Mr. Speaker. This is from Mike Morgan. He supports my 
effort to clear the names of John Brow and Brooks Gruber. He further 
states that:

       The judge advocate general (JAG) mishap report, and over 20 
     binders of evidence provided, clearly focuses on the 
     consequences of encountering vortex ring state in a tilt-
     rotor aircraft and questionable flight management of 
     Nighthawk 72 (lead aircraft) as the key contributing factors, 
     among many. In my opinion, as a former USMC weapons and 
     tactics instructor/flight leader/mission commander, John Brow 
     and Brooks Gruber performed as model wingmen on this mission. 
     They were doing exactly what is expected of a wingman on a 
     tactical flight.

  Mr. Speaker, the reason for reading that is that I want to restate 
that the three investigators of the V-22 crash, they know John Brow and 
Bruce Gruber were not at fault.
  Mr. Speaker, I am a man of strong religious faith, but I cannot 
imagine being the pilot and copilot, with 17 young marines sitting in 
the back of your plane, and all of a sudden you are hit with a 
situation that you don't understand. You don't know how to react, 
you've never been trained, you have no warning system, but something's 
not right as that plane is beginning to shake. These gentlemen did 
everything that they could. John Brow and Brooks Gruber, they did 
everything they could do to save that flight, and yet it was out of 
their control because they had not been trained. They flipped; and on 
April 8, a very unbelievable fire took place when that plane hit.
  All the wives are asking for is one official document from the Marine 
Corps. Mr. Speaker, I must say before I close tonight that I want to 
thank the Marine Corps. They have agreed to meet with the two 
investigators--the third one lives in California, Ron Radich. I want to 
thank him for his strong letter, but he will not be here--he cannot--
but his letter will stand to speak for him.
  The Marine Corps has agreed to give us a meeting with the 
representative of the Marine Corps and try to come up with some 
language that will be acceptable to the two families. I'm going to ask 
the commandant of the Marine Corps--I doubt if he will do it--but do 
something right for the Corps that so many American people, including 
myself, have the greatest respect for; bring the two wives and their 
children to your office and say: I have an official letter for you that 
will clearly state that your husbands were not at fault for this 
accident. Mr. Speaker, I hope that's what will come from this meeting 
in the next couple of weeks.
  It's one of those things in life that Members of Congress get 
involved in that you don't ask for, but you feel that there's a reason 
that someone has come to you and said, my husband cannot defend himself 
anymore, yet because of one press release that indicated these pilots 
were descending too quickly, they did not know what they were doing at 
the time, there was no indication on their software panel that they 
were in trouble. So my hope is, Mr. Speaker, that the Marine Corps will 
give Connie Gruber and Trish Brow what they're asking for.
  Mr. Speaker, because I want to give God credit if we ever clear the 
names of these two pilots, I've asked God to please give me the energy 
and the strength to go with Connie Gruber and her daughter Brooke down 
to Jacksonville, North Carolina, to the grave of her husband and 
Brooke's father. I want to say to Major Gruber: Sir, no one will ever 
question your integrity or your honor again. It has been done. You can 
rest in peace because you won't be blamed.
  Then, Mr. Speaker, I want to go with Trish Brow to Arlington 
Cemetery, and I want to stand with Matthew and Michael, the two young 
boys that never got a chance to know their daddy--they're young men 
now, they're in their early twenties, college students--and I want to 
say the same thing to Colonel Brow: Sir, your reputation is secured. 
You will not be blamed any longer for that crash on April 8. Mr. 
Speaker, with that, I will know that I have fulfilled my duty as a 
Member of Congress. I will fulfill my duty as a man who believes in the 
truth and integrity. It is very important in my life. And I will be 
able to say to Connie and to Trish, if ever anybody prints again that 
your husband was at fault, you have an official document to call that 
newspaper, call that TV station, call that reporter and say, Sir, I 
want a retraction. I will send you a copy of the documentation that 
says that my father--that my husband and my friend's husband were not 
at fault.
  The reason I almost said ``father,'' as I'm closing, Mr. Speaker, I 
will tell you

[[Page 11460]]

that 4 or 5 years ago I was in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Connie 
Gruber invited me to a fall reunion at the church. I had a chance to 
meet Bruce Gruber's father, the major from Jacksonville, North 
Carolina. That gentleman lives in Naples, Florida, with his wife, and 
he came out and we spoke. He had tears in his eyes. Mr. Speaker, he 
fought in Korea for this country as a marine, and he said with tears in 
his eyes: Congressman, I want to thank you for trying to clear my son's 
name. I said, Mr. Gruber, I will accept your kind words on behalf of my 
savior, Jesus Christ, because Christ was a man of humility, and I try 
to walk in the light of Christ.
  If we ever accomplish anything for this country, no matter what faith 
my colleagues might be, just remember that accomplishing truth and 
integrity for John Brow and Brooks Gruber will be God's will and not 
mine. That gives me one thought, and then I will close.
  Voltaire said 1,000 years ago:

       To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only 
     the truth.

  Mr. Speaker, as I always close on the floor of the House, because 
it's time to get our troops out of Afghanistan, they've done their 
jobs, bid Laden is dead, al Qaeda has been dispersed around the world, 
it's time to bring them home. I've seen too many at Walter Reed and 
Bethesda without legs and arms.

                              {time}  1940

  Spending money we don't have over there, cutting programs for 
children and senior citizens here in America, I don't know, it doesn't 
make any sense.
  But on behalf of the families that I talked about tonight, Colonel 
John Brow's family, Major Brooks Gruber's family, and all of our men 
and women in uniform and their families across the world, I will close 
and yield back.
  I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform. I ask God to 
please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. I ask God to 
hold in His loving arms the families who have given a child dying for 
freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  I ask God to please bless the House and Senate, that we will do what 
is right in the eyes of God for God's people today and God's people 
tomorrow.
  And I will ask, from the bottom of my heart, God please bless 
President Obama that he will do what is right in Your eyes, God, for 
Your people today and Your people tomorrow.
  And, Mr. Speaker, with that I'll say three times, God, please, God, 
please, God, please continue to bless America.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________