John Ensign: “I rise today with a truly heavy heart. At Arlington Cemetery, on January 17, 2008, I attended the funeral services of my…”

“I rise today with a truly heavy heart. At Arlington Cemetery, on January 17, 2008, I attended the funeral services of my friend, COL D'Arcy Grisier. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife beloved Roberta, or, as we call her, Bert, and their three children Sean, Kelly, and Darcy. D, as he was called by his friends, was a caring father, loving husband, and a member of my extended family. A patriot in every sense of the word, D spent 26 years serving this Nation in the U.S. Marine Corps. Upon retiring from the Corps in 2003, D decided to continue serving this country in a different capacity. From 2003 until September of this past year, Colonel D was my military legislative assistant. In this capacity D advised me on all national security matters, all the while reminding me that once a Marine always a Marine and that the 'M' in Marine is always capitalized. Those of us who were friends with D will remember him more for who he was than the lifetime of service he gave to this country. My staff and I will miss D always knowing exactly what the Redskins were doing wrong. We will miss him always saying 'keep your seats' whenever he entered a room. We will miss him constantly singing Jimmy Buffet songs out loud, and losing at least two sleeves of golf balls every time he played. We will miss his laughter and his camaraderie. Most of all, we will miss his friendship.”