Kent Conrad: “I rise today in tribute to a brave volunteer of the North Dakota National Guard who this week made the ultimate…”

“I rise today in tribute to a brave volunteer of the North Dakota National Guard who this week made the ultimate sacrifice for his Nation. Specialist Jon Fettig was a proud and patriotic American killed in action in Iraq on Monday. He was many times over a volunteer, from when he made his commitment to America's Armed Forces by enlisting and re-enlisting in the National Guard, to when he stepped forward to serve in Iraq despite the fact that his own unit had not been activated. Jon Fettig is the first North Dakota National Guardsman killed in combat since the Korean war. Even before he volunteered to deploy to Iraq as a combat engineer with the 957th Multi-role Bridge Company he had already served 11 years in the Guard. His fellow soldiers admired him and valued his service. Those still at home in North Dakota gathered yesterday to celebrate his memory and mourn his passing. SP Fettig lived his life in a way that is surely familiar to many of my distinguished colleagues here in the Senate. As Senators we are blessed with the opportunity to meet countless fine young Americans who serve our Nation in the military. Like so many National Guardsmen, SP Fettig was a good soldier, a good civilian employee, a good citizen and a good spouse. That he carried all those burdens at once is a tribute to him. In this difficult time, our thoughts are with his father Larry, his mother Shirley, and his wife Cody.”