E1436 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks August 3, 2012 

‘‘WE STOOD!’’—REMEMBERING THE 

FALLEN OF THE CHINOOK HELICOPTER CRASH ON AUGUST 6, 

2011, IN AFGHANISTAN, ‘‘WHO 

GAVE THAT LAST FULL MEASURE’’ ON THIS ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY, THE UNITED STATES 

AIR FORCE, ARMY, AND NAVY 

HON. STEVE KING OF IOWA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, August 2, 2012 

Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I rise today 

in honor and in remembrance on this up and 

coming one year anniversary of the thirty magnificent lost heroes from the Navy Special 

Warfare Units, The Army and Air Force. Who 

so heroically gave That Last Full Measure for 

God and Country aboard a Chinook Helicopter 

in Afghanistan on August the 6th, 2011. Our 

thoughts and prayers go out to them and their 

families and all of their Brothers and Sisters in 

Arms, on this anniversary, as I read this poem 

penned in their honor by Albert Caswell. 

P01 (SEAL) Darrick C. Benson, 

CPO (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 

P01 (SEAL) Christopher G. Campbell, 

CPO (SEAL) John W. Faas, 

CPO (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 

LCDR (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 

MCPO (SEAL) Louis J. Langials, 

CPO (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 

CPO (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 

CPO Nicholas H. Null, 

SCPO (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratziaff, 

CPO (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 

CPO (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 

P01 (SEAL) Jon T. Tumilson, 

P01 (SEAL) Aaron C. Vaughn, 

P01 (SEAL) Jason R. Workman, 

P01 (SEAL) Jesse D. Pittman, 

P02 (SEAL) Nicholas P. Spehar, 

P01 Expeditionary Warfare Specialist Jared 

W. Day, 

P01 Expeditionary Warfare Specialist John 

Douangdara, 

P01 Expeditionary Warfare Specialist Michael J. Strange, 

SCPO Expeditionary Warfare Specialist 

Kraig M. Vickers, 

Army SGT Alexander J. Bennett, 

SPC Spencer C. Duncan, 

Chief Warrant Officer Brian J. Nichols, 

Chief Warrant Officer David R. Carter, 

SGT Patrick D. Hamburger, 

Airmen Tech SGT John W. Brown, 

Staff SGT Andrew W. Harvell, 

Tech SGT Daniel L. Zerbe, 

The United States Army, Air Force, Navy. 

WE STOOD! 

We! 

WE STOOD! 

WE STOOD! 

so you can sleep! 

While, out across our Nation, our Mother’s 

now so weep! 

WE FOUGHT, 

so you can live! 

All in such blessed peace, 

that which our most selfless sacrifice so 

gives! 

As all in such pain and heartache our families must now so live! 

WE STOOD, so you could sleep! 

Upon, That Bed of Freedom so very sweet! 

As to all of you our promises WE Did So 

Keep! 

As it was all for you, WE Now So Sleep! 

So Sleep, all in such cold dark quiet graves 

so very deep! 

WE GAVE! 

All of Our Most Precious Lives! 

While, all of our Brothers In Arms did so 

cry. . . 

and did not ask why! 

As WE so raised our hands so way up high! 

And so swore to pledge our most precious 

lives! 

To Make A Stand! 

To Make A Difference With It All! 

As WE so gave That Last Full Measure While 

Standing Tall! 

As WE died and so bled! 

To so keep all of our most solemn vows of 

honor, said! 

As way out across our Nation Our FAMILIES 

Now So Weep! 

All For The Greater Good, WE so gave all we 

could! 

AS WE STOOD! 

As WE pray now to our Lord their fine souls 

to so keep! 

For THEY So Stood For What Was Right. 

All with their most brilliant souls so burning 

bright! 

As THEY died, 

all for that Old Red White and Blue this 

sight! 

As into that face of evil, 

THEY so marched off casting their most heroic lights! 

To so go forth, 

all in such a most brilliant force to fight! 

For THEY’D, 

MUCH RATHER HAVE DIED FOR SOMETHING! 

THAN, TO HAVE LIVED FOR NOTHING AT 

ALL! 

FOR STRENGTH IN HONOR! 

Was but THEIR most sacred battle cry. . . 

call! 

Because, moments . . . are all that WE so 

have! 

To Make A Difference! 

To Hear That Call! 

To Change The World! 

To go off so boldly with flags unfurled! 

Troops mount up, as Heaven calls! 

Move on! Move out! 

As there are 30 more new Angels, 

In The Army of Our Lord . . . 

To fight that battle, who shall not pause! 

To so watch over us all! 

And when there comes a gentle rain, 

their tears will wash down upon us to so remain! 

To ease our pain, 

so we won’t have to cry anymore! 

As forever in our hearts YOUR most sacred 

names, 

WE will carry ALL! 

Because, 

YOU died so WE can sleep! 

Upon, That Bed of Freedom . . . YOUR Gift 

of Peace! 

As now WE LAY YOUR FINE BODIES down 

to rest, 

to sleep! 

BECAUSE YOU STOOD! 

Amen! 

f 

HONORING DOUGLAS CROPPER, 

MAINE STATE TROOPER 

HON. CHELLIE PINGREE OF MAINE

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, August 2, 2012 

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr Speaker, I 

would like to recognize a Maine State Trooper 

in my district who literally put his life on the 

line to prevent what could have been a terrible 

tragedy. 

While performing a traffic stop on Interstate 

295 in Portland on the afternoon of July 1, 

Trooper Douglas Cropper received a call that 

a motorist was driving northbound in the 

southbound lane of Maine’s busiest highway. 

Seeing no other options to stop the wrong-way 

driver, Trooper Cropper raced ahead of the 

car and nosed his cruiser into the travel lane. 

The driver hit the cruiser and came to a stop 

just in time for oncoming motorists to avoid a 

collision. A dramatic dashboard video from the 

cruiser shows just how quickly the incident unfolded. 

No one was injured, and I’m extremely 

grateful that this scary moment didn’t end up 

being a tragic one. But it’s very likely that this 

would not have been the case without Trooper 

Cropper’s quick thinking and outstanding bravery. 

Trooper Cropper says he was simply doing 

his job. But it’s my belief that he went above 

and beyond to protect lives—and that he 

saved many in the process. 

I want to thank Trooper Douglas Cropper for 

his actions, and for what he and other Maine 

State Police officers do every day in Maine: 

putting their lives on the line to protect people 

of our state. We owe them all a debt of gratitude for keeping us safe. 

f 

HONORING TAYLOR MORRIS 

HON. BRUCE L. BRALEY OF IOWA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, August 2, 2012 

Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I rise 

today to honor Petty Officer Second Class, 

Taylor Morris. 

Taylor grew up in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and 

after graduating from high school in 2007, 

Taylor joined the Navy. Looking for a challenge, Taylor trained as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technician. While all of our 

servicemembers face danger in the course of 

their service, EOD techs literally put their lives 

on the line to disarm bombs and keep all of 

our forces safe. 

Taylor deployed to Afghanistan for the first 

time in January of this year. On May 3, while 

working with Army Special Forces in the 

Kandahar province of Afghanistan, Taylor 

stepped on an IED while clearing a route. The 

blast of the IED blew off all four of Taylor’s 

limbs. Remarkably, Taylor remained conscious 

after the blast and called out to the medics 

that were rushing to help him to stop, recognizing the possible danger of other IEDs. After 

the second EOD with Taylor had cleared the 

area, medics arrived to address his wounds. 

On May 6, Taylor arrived at Walter Reed 

Medical Center, not too far from here in Bethesda, MD, where I first had the chance to 

meet this remarkable young man, along with 

his girlfriend, Danielle, and his mother, Juli, 

who’ve stuck by him since he got home. Taylor is one of only five quadruple amputees 

from the last decade’s wars, and despite his 

wounds he’s remained upbeat and shown remarkable courage in working to recover. Even 

a few weeks after his injuries when I visited 

with him for the first time he was raring to 

move forward and get better. 

Just last week, on July 23, I was proud to 

welcome Taylor, Danielle, and his sister Claire 


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