In Memory of Sergeant Danny Londono

IN MEMORY OF SERGEANT DANNY LONDONO -- (House of Representatives - March 23, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, last week this House passed a resolution offering our sincere thanks and this Nation's thanks to our men and women in uniform who have so bravely and brilliantly served the cause of freedom, justice, and democracy in Iraq.

While I fully support that resolution, offering our sincere appreciation to our armed service personnel, I personally wanted to add to those sentiments the great sadness and most profound sense of loss on behalf of the families of those young men and women who have made the supreme sacrifice in the fight against terrorism and tyranny in our time.

It is with such sadness today that I must add the name of Sergeant Danny Londono, from the neighborhood of Dorchester in the city of Boston, which I proudly represent in the Congress, to the list of those who have fought with extreme valor and given their lives for our country.

In my brief time here in the Congress, following the attacks of September 11, I note that we frequently speak of the
grandest ideals and the noblest principles on which this country stands; and against the backdrop of world terrorism, it is easy to be persuaded that we are all paying the price equally in some small way to meet the cost of that confrontation between good and evil.

But, Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say that there are some citizens, like Danny Londono, who are rendering all they have so that others might know freedom; and there are some families, like the Londono family, who are literally carrying this Nation forward on their backs and in their individual grief.

One such citizen soldier is Danny Londono. Sergeant Danny Londono gave his life for his country on the streets of Baghdad about 10 days ago, and one such family who must now bear the terrible grief and sadness is Danny's family.

Danny's family lives on East Cottage Street in Dorchester, Massachusetts, a tightly knit, hard-working neighborhood in Boston. Danny was a graduate of Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree, where he was a member of the track team. He enlisted in the Army straight out of high school and did tours as a foot soldier, as paratrooper, and as sergeant with the 82nd Airborne Division; and at age 22, Danny had served in Kosovo and Afghanistan, as well as Iraq.

Sergeant Londono represents the very best this country has to offer. He was someone who hoped to use his skills and training that he got in the Army to make a better life for himself and his family so he could pay for college and possibly return to his community to serve as a police officer. His tour of duty with the Army would have finished in August.

Mr. Speaker, this Nation is enormously proud of Danny Londono. We mourn his loss as we honor his memory. We are all proud of our Armed Forces and the job they are doing today in Iraq, as well as places like Kosovo and Bosnia, Afghanistan, Haiti and elsewhere; but I think it is important that we never lose sight of the individual stories of the soldiers who have given their lives on behalf of this country. For these families, the sacrifice is overwhelming, the sorrow is unspeakable, and the sacrifice is real.

I join with the Members of the House of Representatives in offering our condolences and prayers to Danny Londono and his family.

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