[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12993]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JEREMY HOLBROOK

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to Jeremy 
Holbrook a Marine from my home State, the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
  Jeremy hails from Magoffin County, and graduated from Magoffin County 
High School in 2004. The attacks of September 11, 2001, had a profound 
impact on Jeremy, and inspired him to enlist in the Marine Corps after 
graduating at the age of 18.
  After completing basic training, combat training, and tank school, 
Jeremy was deployed to Ramadi as a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 
Despite being wounded on this first tour, for which he received the 
Purple Heart, he remained determined to serve his country. Jeremy 
returned to Iraq for a second tour, this time in Fallujah and, as in 
his previous tour, participated in counter-insurgency missions.
  Both Jeremy's uncle and grandfather served in the U.S. Army, and for 
Jeremy it just made sense to continue that legacy of service. As he 
puts it--``pretty much whenever I saw our Nation needed people to 
defend our Nation, I felt I needed to take the call, and that's what I 
did.''
  Jeremy's honorable service to this country is deserving of the praise 
of this body. Therefore, I ask that my Senate colleagues join me in 
honoring Jeremy Holbrook.
  The Salyersville Independent recently published an article detailing 
Holbrook's two tours in Iraq. I ask unanimous consent that the full 
article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record as follows:

           [From the Salyersville Independent, July 3, 2014]

               Holbrook Inspired by 9/11 to Join Marines

                           (By Heather Oney)

       The attacks of 9/11 inspired Jeremy Holbrook to join the 
     Marines, which took him on two tours of Iraq.
       At 18 years old in 2004, Holbrook enlisted with the 
     Marines, making his family sad, but proud, he said. Since his 
     grandfather and uncle had both been in the Army, he said it 
     just seemed like the right thing to do.
       ``Pretty much, whenever I saw our nation needed people to 
     defend our nation, I felt I needed to take the call and 
     that's what I did,'' Holbrook said.
       The Magoffin County High School grad went to boot camp at 
     the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South 
     Carolina in July 2004, graduating from there in October 2004. 
     He had his combat training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 
     then tank school in Fort Knox, Kentucky, assigned to the M1A1 
     Abrams Tank Crew. He trained for Operation Iraqi Freedom at 
     Twentynine Palms, California.
       Holbrook did two combat tours in Iraq, the first time in 
     Ramadi, Iraq, running counter-insurgency missions, and the 
     second time to Fallujah, Iraq, where he continued counter-
     insurgency missions and route clearing.
       Based in an old Iraqi Army barracks, Holbrook said the 
     living conditions were dingy and rundown, with no running 
     water or toilets. With temperatures climbing upward of 150 
     degrees during the day and 110 degrees at night, he said they 
     would actually get cold at night.
       In a normal day he said they would go into a city and look 
     for insurgents. If found, they would try to eliminate them, 
     all while trying to protect and liberate the Iraqi people, 
     Holbrook said.
       ``We slept when we could, ate when we could, and there 
     wasn't much time for a bath,'' Holbrook remembers.
       Even though he was wounded in his first tour, receiving the 
     Purple Heart, he still went back for the second tour, 
     deployed for seven months each time. In addition to the 
     Purple Heart, he also received the National Defense Medal, 
     Iraqi Freedom Medal, Combat Action Medal, Sea Service 
     Deployment Ribbon and Global War on Terrorism Medal.
       Holbrook said the hardest thing he had to deal with when he 
     returned to the States was coping with the loss of a friend, 
     who was killed during their first tour together.
       Holbrook is married to Britani Holbrook, and has three 
     kids, Gavin, Austin and Bentley.

     

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