a hand-painted sign said, thank you, blaine. also in attendance were sali allen and monica alexander, two mothers from nearby towns whose sons were killed during their service in iraq. they simply came just to show their support. by the many heartwarming accounts i heard from his loved ones on tuesday, he was a beloved son, friend and husband. he cared deeply about his family and this country. he had served before in iraq and volunteered for another tour of duty in afghanistan. mr. speaker, my heart is heavy from the loss of specialist reding. i am deeply humbled by his service and his sacrifice and i wish god's blessing upon him and his family during this difficult time. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. poe. >> i ask permission to take his time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from pennsylvania may proceed for five minutes. mrs. dahlkemper: mr. speaker, it is with a heavy heart that i rise today to honor the lives of two fallen heroes from western pennsylvania, ser

and on behalf of our son, blain. i never thought i was goinn to have to say to a bright-eyed 3-year-old that his dad would never come home to us. every week when blain and i would say good-bye and see him off, i feared the helicopter ride. through god's grace and family and friends, we are makinn it through. after all the meetings and safety drills, i knew he was safe. when the deepwater horizon incident began to unfold, i began to ask myself, will i ever recover? what if he's out there and they didn't look well enough? as the days past, i understood the reality. deepwater horizon famill. it was important to him to provide the life he wanted for me and my son. his lifestyle allowed me to attend college. we met -- the life blain and i knew was over. shane and i's wonderful love story came to an end. blain has now a void that will never bb filled. the day i found out and i got that phone call april 21st and i heard what had happened, i knew he was safe. i just knew he was coming home. the only thing i knew was to get c

and speaking of thanks, we all owe our thanks to a vietnam veteran named blaine jackson. remember him right away because during times square, when a terrorist attack was being attempted, duane jackson was fair, and when he saw the smoking vehicle, he immediately called the police. he is no stranger. he was there on 9/11 and saw the aircraft hit the world trade center and was very much affected by it. he is a graduate of boston university. a fine human being, and he will receive the patriot award from the vietnam veterans memorial fund, and we will ask admiral mullen and i to hold it as we get a tooth dwanye -- as we get it -- give it to dwayne jackson. [applause] >> good afternoon, fellow veterans, and the many friends of veterans. freedom is not free. freedom is not free. we have our man in women overseas today -- our men and women overseas today for our freedoms. i want to take a moment to reflect about my mother who was a wac in world war ii. [applause] fort bragg, 1941 -- although she is not with me here today, i know she is looking down and saying, thank you, dwanye,

and speaking of thanks, we all owe our thanks to a vietnam veteran named blaine jackson. who is doing jackson? you will rememr him right away because during times square, when a terrorist attack was being attempted, duane jackson was fair, and when he saw the smoking vehicle, he immediately called the police. he is no stranger. he was there on 9/11 and saw the aircraft hit the world trade center and was very much affected by it. he is a graduate of boston university. a fine human being, and he will receive the patriot award from the vietnam veterans memorial fund, and we will ask admiral mullen and i to hold it as we get a tooth dwanye -- as we get it -- give it to dwayne jackson. [plause] >> good afternoon, fellow veterans, and the many friends of veterans. freedom is not free freedom is not free. we have our man in women overseas today -- our men and women overseas today for our freedoms. i want to take a moment to reflect about my mother who was a wac in world war ii. [applause] fort bragg, 1941 -- although she is not with me here today, i know she is looking down and