Austin Scott: “I rise on a very, very special occasion. The very first soldier to be killed in the war in Iraq from the Atlanta…”

“I rise on a very, very special occasion. The very first soldier to be killed in the war in Iraq from the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area was from my district, the 13th district of Congress in Georgia. His name was United States Army Specialist Jamaal Addison. He died on March 23 during an ambush attack on his unit, the 507th Maintenance Company in central Iraq. Oh, what courage, what bravery, and here we are in the United States so proud and so grateful for his service. He was just 22 years old, and he is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart, Takla, and their two children, 3-year-old daughter, Christian, and a 23-month-old son, Jamaal Addison, II. Army Specialist Addison was laid to rest today at a funeral service held in my district at White's Chapel Methodist Church in Conyers, Georgia. Mr. Speaker, this was a great hero. Greatness, what a word, that comes to mind today. When Aristotle, the great philosopher was asked, what is greatness, he said, in order to be great, you must first of all know yourself. Well, Jamaal Addison knew who he was and he knew whose he was. He was a child of God. When that question was put to the great Roman General, Marcus Aurelius, what is greatness, he said, in order to be great you must first of all discipline yourself. Well, this soldier, Jamaal Addison, disciplined himself on the battlefields of Iraq and paid the ultimate sacrifice.”