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Floor Statement in Support of H.Con.Res. 188, in honor of the fallen airmen of the Khobar Towers
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| June 27th, 2005 |
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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution, which reminds us that brave American servicemen and women willingly risk their lives to defend the United States’ interests and the freedom and values that we all enjoy as citizens. Such commitment imposes on the rest of us an obligation to ensure that we do not break faith with those who serve and that we respond to such commitment by resolving to provide the resources necessary for our for our military forces to successfully carry out the missions assigned to them.
Nine years ago this past Saturday, a truck bomb exploded outside the fence around the Khobar Towers compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The bomb, estimated at more than three thousand pounds, detonated about eighty-five feet from a residential unit housing U.S. troops, killing nineteen U.S. Air Force servicemen and wounding hundreds of other Americans.
The force of that explosion destroyed or damaged six high-rise apartment buildings and shattered windows throughout the residential compound. Today, we honor the nineteen airmen who gave their lives, the supreme sacrifice, at the hands of terrorists twenty miles away from Dhahran. This Congress joins me in paying tribute to those men, who are individually recognized in H. Con. Res. 188.
Mr. Speaker, I thought when I was drafting this resolution, it is ironic that just a month ago we celebrated Memorial Day, where we honored the men and women who have died in the pursuit, and subsequently the defense, of freedom in wars, domestic and foreign, since the founding of our country. One week from today, we will celebrate the founding of America; our birthday; the Declaration of Independence, upon which our Founding Fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. As we celebrate our 4th of July or Memorial Day on their designated day, they are a constant reminder of the sacrifice of these men. Twelve of the nineteen men killed were based at Eglin Air Force Base in my district, and several – along with their families – were constituents. It is my hope that all of America will pause and give thanks for their sacrifice.
This week, in Washington, D.C., the parents and loved ones of many of these who sacrificed their lives are the guests of the FBI. And, some are here in the House gallery as we speak. At this time I want to personally pay a word of deepest appreciation to the families of these heroes. We can never undo the tragedy that you have lived. We can never ameliorate the pain that I know is with you each and every day. But I would hope, and I know my colleagues join me in this hope, that with the adoption of this resolution, they will take from our action some solace in the fact that we do not forget the contributions and sacrifices of their loved ones. They were much more than men in uniform to you; they were your lives.
Bridget Brooks, mother of Airman First Class Joseph E. Rimkus, is a constituent of mine and works at Eglin even today. I regret that she is unable to be here with us today, so Mr. Speaker, I’d like to share with my colleagues the kind of man who was lost, in his own mother’s words.
“When Joseph joined the military, he told me that now he could have a flag on his coffin like his grandfather. He knew I worried about his safety and had not allowed him to join when he was seventeen, but he was so devoted to the military that in his last letter to me he told me that I was his hero and he was going to make a career out of serving his country. He was so proud to be in the Air Force. As for his youth, he became the man of the house when his father abandoned us while serving a tour in Korea, and Joseph was my biggest supporter as I put myself through college. He called me the day he died and his last words to me were that he loved me. He was the tenth first born son to be named Joseph. He did not talk about being a father because that was a done deal. Instead, he talked in great length of what kind of grandfather he would be. My family may never recover from this loss. Joseph was one of those rare souls who gave all. Before he left, he made sure that I knew he was a Christian and he would be a Catholic all of his life. Can you imagine how that knowledge has comforted me? There is no amount of money to pay for that. Even to this day, people still tell me how wonderful he was. In the court case against Iran, one airman, who I did not know, testified that while they were all huddled in mass after the bombing, and they knew the boys who were killed, it was Joseph's presence that he felt. That does not surprise me. Joseph was there for his friends. That is just what he would do.”
Mr. Speaker, our action on this resolution is a message to those who died, their family members, our nation and the rest of the world, that we honor the sacrifices of these nineteen airmen and the families they left behind. They served with the highest and best military traditions. No one could have served better or given more.
I urge all of my colleagues to join myself and the forty-seven original cosponsors in support of this resolution, and I reserve the balance of the time.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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There are no Floor Speechess to be displayed for this month.
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