[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17537]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     STAFF SERGEANT RYAN D. HAMMOND

  (Mr. McKINLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Staff 
Sergeant Ryan Hammond of Moundsville, West Virginia. Staff Sergeant 
Hammond was one of six airmen killed last month when their C-130 
crashed at Jalalabad.
  A native of Moundsville, Staff Sergeant Hammond joined the Air Force 
after graduating from John Marshall High School in Glen Dale.
  On Tuesday, I joined with Ryan's family and friends to honor his 
life, service, and sacrifice at Arlington National Cemetery. The burial 
service was a reminder that the expense of individual freedom is steep, 
row after row of white headstones with names of Americans who gave 
their ultimate sacrifice.
  Dozens of his fellow squadron members paid tribute to Staff Sergeant 
Hammond during the ceremony. As they filed past, they laid their wings 
upon his coffin, a final salute to a young airman who followed his 
dream of flying. There was not a dry eye at the grave site.
  Thomas Paine said, 200 years ago:

       Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must 
     undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

  I offer my condolences to Staff Sergeant Hammond's family; his wife, 
Holly; his parents, David and Cathy; and his friends.
  Staff Sergeant Hammond will be missed, but his sacrifices will never 
be forgotten.

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