Congressional Tribute
Representative Jean Schmidt
Second Congressional District of Ohio
November 1, 2007
Madam Speaker, it is with great pride I rise today to congratulate the 20,630 brave souls who finished the Marine Corps Marathon this past Sunday, October 28, and to thank all the Marines, and Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen that have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for this Country.
Anyone that participated in the Marine Corps Marathon as a runner or a spectator should be very aware of the inherent good in humanity. The entire course was filled with Marine volunteers handing out water, friends and family of those running, and countless well-wishers who just came to cheer the runners on, and pay respect to those that have given so much.
There are 20,630 stories of why this marathon was important, and 20,630 reasons why it was special. I would like to take a minute to share just a few of these compelling and heartwarming stories.
I am told that 1st Lt. Travis Manion was excited to run the Marine Corps Marathon with his father, Colonel Thomas Manion, also an active duty Marine. Being active duty Marines they were accepted before general registration began. Unfortunately a sniper's bullet cut Travis's life short on April 29, 2007 in Al Anbar province. He was serving his second tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In his honor, his father ran with both their bib numbers, and nearly 100 others ran the marathon as a part of ``Team Travis.'' All members of ``Team Travis'' should be proud of their hard work to honor this hero whose life was tragically cut short.
The United States Naval Academy Class of 1995 graduated a little over a decade ago just like generations of Sailors and Marines before them, ready to spread out over the world, and serve our country. This past weekend, nearly 100 members of that graduating class ran in the Marine Corps marathon to ``Run to Honor'' six members of their graduating class who have died in military operations from 1998 and 2007. Their fallen comrades, Marine Major Douglas Zembiec, Marine Major Megan McClung, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erik Kristensen, Navy Lt. Richard Pugh, Navy Lt. Bruce Donald, and Navy Lt. J. G. Brendan Duffy, constitute the highest operations related loss of any Naval Academy class since the Vietnam War. Anyone present on Sunday saw their many classmates carrying the yellow signs that read ``Run to Honor,'' and carried the names of those heroes who have given so much.
Steve Penrose and his wife Brenna Penrose ran the marathon to raise money for the Matt Maupin Foundation. Matt Maupin, a native of Clermont County, Ohio, has been missing in Iraq since April 2004, and the Matt Maupin Foundation gives scholarships in his honor. The Penroses run raised at least $1000 for the foundation. Madam Speaker, I pray for Matt's safe return every day, and we are all grateful for the sacrifices of Steve and Brenna.
Finally, I would like to congratulate all the members of the Capitol Hill Running Club for their hard work meeting at the Capitol at 6 a.m. to train. I would like to congratulate the coaches, Major Ben Venning, Colonel Ray Celeste, Staff Sergeant Juan Carrasco, Sergeant Shane Cooley, Gunnery Sergeant Ramses Cypress, first time marathoners Natosha Prolago and Caitlin Short from Representative Pryce's office, and second time marathoner Chris Vieson who serves us all as a member of the Republican Whip's floor staff. Other members of the club who ran the marathon are: BG Michael Regner, MAJ Tom Wood, MAJ Gerald Thomas, MAJ Toby Patterson, Sgt Hector Rodriguez, Cpl Scott Caudill, 2nd Lt Ingrid Rivera, RADM Mark Ferguson III, CDR Audrey Monish, Bernadette Arellano, Mark Baker, Martin Bayr, Danielle Behler, Kern Briggs, Clay Brockman, Diane Cihota, Christine Clapp, Fletcher Cork, Kelly Anne Creazzo, Katrina Eagle, Jim Faucett, Kirtley Fisher, Liza Fornaciari, Jeremy Glauber, Molly Gray, Shane Hagerman, Robert Hartmans, Richard Hayden Jr., Mark Hayes, Hanz Heinrichs, Alicia Herrmann, Wallace Hsueh, Kelley Huemoeller, Timothy Joyce, Amy Judge, Katy Kale, Garrett Keeler, Andrew Kermick, Vanessa Kermick, Max Kidalov, Speros Koumparakis, Kevin Lawlor, Fitzhugh Lee, Christopher Lee, Angelical Martinez, MAJ Christopher Meyers, Mariah Moncecchi, Kenneth Monroe, Philip Moore, Iffat Nawaz, Alexander Newcome, Timothy O'Rourke, Katherine Pattillo, Jeff Pickett, Gary Pinkerton, Susan Pinkerton, Rebeccah Ramey, Helen Robbins, Charles Roman, Matthew Shaffer, Royce Shields, Joshua Shields, Glee Smith, Tom Stallings, Caroline Stephens, Jeff Stephens, Amy Sterling, Zachary Stone, Jade Stone, Andrew Tabler, Gerald Thomas, Steve Vahson, Jonathon Van Arsdell, Sheila Venning, Jacob Watts, Sandra Weiss, Lynn Williams, Daniel Wolf, Justin Yee, Team Dr. Mike Moses, Riley Scott, David Cleary, Tom Sheehy, Michael Hermann, Amy Porter, Brandon Garrett, and Mark Smith. Congratulations to you all.
I also wanted to mention several other groups equally worthy of recognition who had many dedicated runners, running for great causes: The Semper Fi Fund, The Fisher House Foundation, the Achilles Track Club, Hope for the Warriors, Operation Homefront, USO of North Carolina, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (T.A.P.S.), and the many more that I failed to mention.
