Corporal Michael D. Anderson Jr. Post Office Building

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Madam Speaker, I am proud to present H.R. 1555 for consideration today. This measure names the post office in Modesto, California, in honor and memory of Corporal Michael D. Anderson, Jr.

This bill has the unanimous support of the Modesto City Council, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, the entire California congressional delegation, and the House Oversight Committee.

There are those who scoff at post office naming bills like this. Such smug critics simply either don't appreciate or don't understand the sacrifices that these bills recognize and the heroism behind the events that give rise to them.

Let me tell you a little bit about the young man this bill honors today. Mike Anderson was a kid who grew up in Modesto, a farm town in California's Central Valley that has always maintained the values and traditions of middle America.

Mike reflected that in every way. He loved skateboarding, snowboarding, and motorcycles. He loved tinkering with cars and going camping. Most importantly, he loved his family, his friends, and, above all, his country.

As he graduated from Johansen High School, he could look forward to a long and happy lifetime ahead of him. However, in September of that year, America was attacked. Without hesitation, he stepped forward to defend his country and all that it stands for--the simple freedoms and uniquely American values that produce model towns like Modesto and model citizens like Mike Anderson.

He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he quickly distinguished himself. He became a member of the Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams, or FAST company, an elite Marine Corps team designed to fight terror around the world. In that capacity, he received a letter of commendation from U.S. Ambassador James Foley for defending the U.S. Embassy during riots that were directed at it.

In September 2004, Corporal Anderson deployed to Iraq to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division of the First Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Modesto community rallied around Mike and raised money to ensure that he had the best equipment available, including three different sets of protective goggles.

Eleven days before Christmas, on December 14, 2004, Corporal Anderson was leading marines and Iraqi soldiers in urban clearing operations of the insurgent-occupied buildings in the city of Fallujah. He was the first into a stronghold, and there, he was tragically killed in action. He was 21 years old.

Corporal Anderson had been scheduled to leave Iraq just a few months later to return to his family, where they had already planned a joyous family reunion and vacation.

Corporal Anderson showed tremendous bravery and incredible courage throughout his service and especially on that day, his last day, in Fallujah, as is reflected in his military decorations, including two Purple Hearts, the Marine Corps Achievement Medal with the ``V'' attachment for valor, as well as the Combat Action Ribbon.

What stands out the most in the memories of his comrades in arms were his self-sacrifice and concern for the marines in his squad. His father remembers: ``He was more worried about telling me about one of the guys in his unit first before telling me about what happened to him. He felt that since he was a squad leader, he had to take care of his men first.''

James Michener's haunting question echoes on such exploits: ``Where do we get such men?''

We get them from little towns like Modesto, and we get them from loving families like the Andersons, decent young men and women with promising futures who are willing to leave the safety and comfort of hearth and home when their country needs them and to step into harm's way to protect their families, their neighbors, their countrymen, and, above all, the cause of freedom.

A more important question is: What would we do without them?

A few feet from here in the Capitol rotunda is a fresco titled: ``The Apotheosis of Washington.'' It depicts General Washington, in uniform, ascending to the heavens, flanked by victory and freedom and surrounded by the essence and fruits of our free Nation.

In that depiction, Washington beckons. From little towns like Modesto, California, decent young men and women with happy lives and promising futures, like Mike Anderson, Jr., have answered his call.

I don't know how their families can bear it, but I do know what we owe them. I do know that we can never repay that debt except to honor their memory and keep their sacrifice always in mind.

That is what bills like this are all about: to honor and remember those among us who gave up everything to proclaim liberty throughout all the land and unto all the inhabitants thereof.

Madam Speaker, the people of Modesto, California, and the family of Corporal Anderson, his parents, Angie and Michael Sr., as well as his two little sisters, Callie and Allie, and a grateful nation ask that the post office of his hometown be named to honor and memorialize the life, service, patriotism, heroism, and ultimate sacrifice of Corporal Michael D. Anderson, Jr., United States Marine Corps.

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