Gold Star Mothers of Northern California

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the Gold Star Mothers of Northern California:

Carolyn Acosta, Mother of Spc. Rudy Acosta; Loretta J. Bridges, Mother of Staff Sgt. Steven Bridges; Betty Hall, Mother of Sgt. 1st Class Bryan E. Hall; Satnam Kaur, Mother of Cpl. Gurpreet Singh; Dianne Layfield, Mother of LCpl. Travis Layfield; Suzy Maddox, Mother of Sgt. Matthew William Maddox; Jan Martinez, Mother of Private 1st Class Jesse Jack Martinez; Debbie Mason, Mother of Spc. Roy Brooks Mason; Karen Meredith, Mother of 1st Lt. Ken Ballard; Rinda Pope, Mother of Private 1st Class Alexander R. Varela; Patricia Schumacher, Mother of LCpl. Victor Dew.

These are the Mothers of brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country. The Gold Star Mothers of Northern California highlight perhaps the most binding characteristic of these heroes: they are family. They come from the towns occupying the vast valleys and foothills of Northern California. They come from high schools and churches that produce some of America's greatest minds. But most importantly, they come from the homes of loving families.

When we as a nation lose a soldier and a patriot, these Mothers lose a child. We must remember that for the families of these fallen heroes, as with countless other families in our country, every day is Memorial Day. Time, sadly, does not heal all wounds. The grief of our Gold Star Mothers is just as great today as the day the casualty officer came to their door. Their loss is a heavy burden that they carry with them every day. Nonetheless, they persevere to keep alive the spirit of their brave children.

I have heard many stories of the young men from Northern California who have fallen in combat--among them; Garret Pant, Jeremiah McCleery, Joshua Hardt, Victor Dew, and Sky Mote. By all accounts, these young men wanted to serve their country from the time they were in grade school. They sacrificed their lives and their promising futures to protect their fellow countrymen, and for that, we owe them a tremendous debt. Although we can never repay that debt, we can always remind these Mothers of our respect and appreciation for the sacrifices their children made and the work they are doing to carry on the legacy of each and every fallen soldier. It is organizations like the Gold Star Mothers of Northern California that keep their memories alive so that we as a nation pay tribute to them every day.

These Mothers carry out the promise to our fallen heroes set forth by Reagan: ``That just as they did not forget their missing comrades, neither, ever, will we.''

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