Designating a Mountain in the John Muir Wilderness as Sky Point

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, the chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, Marine Staff Sergeant Sky Mote cared about a lot of things--his fellow Marines, his country, his family, his community--but his father, Russell, recalled, ``He never cared about medals. He never showed them to us. Once,'' he said, ``I found one in his laundry.''

The irony is that Staff Sergeant Sky Mote received the second highest medal that our country can bestow upon a Marine, the Navy Cross, for his heroism in defending his fellow Marines on the last day of his life, August 10, 2012.

The Navy Cross is in addition to the Purple Heart, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, two Combat Action Ribbons, and three Good Conduct Medals that he earned during his 9 years of exemplary service to our Nation.

In the U.S. Marine Corps, that prides itself on maintaining the highest standards of the American military tradition, Staff Sergeant Sky Mote stands conspicuously above and beyond.

On that day, that last day of his life, Sergeant Mote was at his post in the tactical operations center of the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion in Helmand province. On that day, a so-called Afghan police officer opened fire on the Marines who had come there to help that country.

When the attack broke out, Sergeant Mote was in an adjoining room. He could have easily escaped to safety. According to the Navy's citation, ``He instead grabbed his M4 rifle and entered the operations room, courageously exposing himself to a hail of gunfire in order to protect his fellow Marines. In his final act of bravery, he boldly engaged the gunman, now less than 5 meters in front of him, until falling mortally wounded.''

According to the citation, it was Mote's actions that stopped the attack and forced the attacker to flee. It was this heroism for which he received the Navy Cross.

We know that he didn't care much about medals, but he cared so deeply about his Marine Corps brothers that he gave his life for them. Many who would have perished that day will go on to lead long and productive and prosperous lives because Sky Mote sacrificed his own for them, as did Captain Matthew Manoukian of Los Altos Hills, California, who also gave his life to defend his fellow Marines that day.

Staff Sergeant Mote and his unit had been in the thick of the fighting in Afghanistan, often functioning as a commando force. During their tour in Puzeh, he and his unit were often engaged in daylong firefights, and Mote in particular had often exposed himself to grave danger.

His family didn't know a lot of this at the time. His stepmother, Marcia, said: ``He'd always say, `I'm going to be on a camping trip' or `I'm going to go on a hike.' He didn't want to give us any reason to worry.''

His father said that, although his son was indifferent to medals, he was intentionally proud of his EOD badge designating his service as an explosive ordnance disposal technician.

Russell Mote explained: ``He was just a humble person doing his job, and his job was to protect his team. He was not like a gung ho military person. You wouldn't know he was in the Special Forces.''

To the EOD technicians, bombs are not something to be avoided, but something to be sought out and disarmed. On one such day, Mote defused two IEDs; crawled through a heavily seeded minefield to save the life of his team leader, who had been severely wounded by a third; and then directed the evacuation of his unit. On that day, Sergeant Mote had earned a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a V for valor.

On another very different day nearly 3 years ago, Sergeant Mote returned home for the last time. Thousands of his countrymen stretched out more than a mile on El Dorado Hills Boulevard to silently express their gratitude and respect for this hometown hero.

Hundreds more lined overpasses to pay their respects along the motorcade route. Still more stood silent vigil in front of Silva Valley Elementary School and Rolling Hills Middle School, where he had attended, as the procession passed by. A thousand more waited for him at the church.

Many knew him by his deeds; a fortunate few knew him as a person and recounted stories of his growing up in that community. His father recalled: ``Sky loved life, family, and friends, and he loved being a Marine. He loved to surf. He loved to hunt and hike in the Sierra.''

Marcia perhaps put it best when she said: ``He was just everybody's friend, and he would do anything for anybody.''

Sky Mote was 27 on that fateful day in Afghanistan. He was born June 6, 1985, in Bishop, California. When he was still young, his parents divorced, and his father brought his children to El Dorado. He married Marcia, and there, they raised Sky and their four other sons.

There, Sky joined the 4-H. He raised pigs and rode horses. He joined the Civil Air Patrol. At Union Mine High School, he lettered in track and cross country. He camped and biked and hiked with his family throughout the Sierra.

From the time he was a child, he spoke of some day joining the military and defending his country. Right after graduation in 2003, he did just that. Nine years later, he returned home to be laid to rest by a country that honors him, a hometown that remembers him, and a family that misses him.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to share a little of what I learned about Marine Staff Sergeant Sky Mote because it helps to answer the question that James Michener first asked: ``Where do we get such men?''

Well, we get them from the heart and soul of America. We get them from good and decent families like the Motes. We get them from little towns like El Dorado, California.

We come here today, to the Hall of the House of Representatives, to try to honor a hero who didn't care much about medals. Lincoln, at Gettysburg, noted our difficulty in doing so when he looked over the quiet battlefield and noted that ``in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far beyond our poor power to add or detract.''

But nevertheless, we try.

Lincoln was right: we cannot add to the honor of his deeds. We come, instead, to draw inspiration from them. We reflect on a young life, with all the hopes and joys and aspirations of a long and productive lifetime ahead, all sacrificed for a country that, to this day, represents what Lincoln called the ``last best hope of mankind.''

We come in gratitude to know that in every generation, there are such heroes among us who will step forth from the safety of hearth and home and into mortal peril to protect their fellow citizens. Patton put it best when he said: ``It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.''

We come out of recognition that although the suffering of these fallen heroes has ended, the suffering of their families goes on day in and day out. There are Gold Star families among us who spend their Memorial Days not at barbecues and beach parties but in solemn ceremonies and quiet vigils around honored graves. We honor their loved ones in hopes that in some small way, we can help fortify them against the loss that they bear every day of their lives.

But most of all, we come in recognition of Shakespeare's plea that ``this story shall the good man teach his son.''

A few years ago, I had the honor to visit members of the 3rd United States Infantry Old Guard who tend the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. They are meticulously dressed and painstakingly drilled as they honor the memory of our fallen warriors.

It is quite an impressive sight. And on a warm spring day like this, thousands of tourists will show up to watch and to join the Old Guard for a moment to honor the sacrifices memorialized at the tomb.

Tourists don't often show up during hurricanes or in driving snowstorms or at 2 o'clock in the morning in sleet and hail, but the Old Guard does. They commit 2 years of their lives to this service, under the strictest of conditions.

I asked this young sergeant, ``Why? Why do you do this?''

His answer was simple and direct: ``Because, sir, we want to demonstrate to our fellow Americans that we will never forget.''

For that reason, Mr. Speaker, I bring this bill to the House today with the unanimous support of the entire California congressional delegation. We do so to ensure that our fellow Americans never forget Marine Staff Sergeant Sky Mote.

In consultation with his family, we have identified a mountain in the John Muir Wilderness of the Sierra National Forest overlooking where Sky Mote and his family often camped and hiked. This bill proposes that it forever more be known as Sky Point as a token of our Nation's respect of his heroism, its appreciation of his sacrifice, its sympathy for his family, and of its solemn pledge that succeeding generations of his countrymen will never forget him.

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