[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16053]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF STAFF SERGEANT JONATHAN LEWIS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROBERT HURT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 9, 2015

  Mr. HURT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of myself, 
Representative Bob Goodlatte, and Representative Rob Wittman, I submit 
these remarks to commemorate the
life of Staff Sergeant Jonathan Lewis of Warrenton, Virginia, who 
passed away September 2, 2015 at age 31.
  On the evening of September 2, 2015 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 
a terrible tragedy occurred during training for the Fleet Anti-
Terrorism Security Team. Several Marines were injured, and Staff 
Sergeant Jonathan Lewis, a 31-year-old Fauquier native based at 
Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, was killed. According to Colonel 
Jeffrey Kenney, the officer in charge of the Expeditionary Operations 
Training Group, training for the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Teams 
requires ``the highest-caliber Marine, with the dedication and courage 
to take on the challenge.'' This, according to Colonel Kenney, was the 
exact makeup of Sergeant Jonathan Lewis. Sergeant Lewis' uncle, Keith 
Lewis would like his nephew to be remembered as, ``foremost a Marine 
and just one heck of a human being.''
  Our thoughts and prayers are with the Lewis family and the Marines 
with whom he served. Staff Sergeant Lewis selflessly sacrificed so much 
to preserve our freedoms and our American way of life. It is because of 
soldiers like him that we may continue to live in the freest nation on 
Earth. We will remember his tremendous sacrifice and remain forever 
grateful.
  I ask that the members of this House of Representatives join with me, 
Congressman Goodlatte, Congressman Wittman, and the community of 
Warrenton, Virginia in honoring the memory of a great American hero.

                          ____________________