Jim Inhofe: “today I wish to recognize a very special person and remember his life and sacrifice as a young man. I can identify with…”

“today I wish to recognize a very special person and remember his life and sacrifice as a young man. I can identify with this; I was a specialist in the U.S. Army. Stephen Zapasnik of Broken Arrow, OK--that is right outside of Tulsa--lost his life. He was only 19 years of age. He died on December 24--that was on Christmas Eve--in Baghdad, Iraq, along with two other soldiers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Stephen followed in the footsteps of his father by joining the Army and went on to complete basic training in Fort Sill, OK. He was stationed at Fort Carson, CO, and assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. He deployed to Iraq in 2008. Stephen, or Bud, as his mom called him, or Zap, as his friends called him--he had lots of names--is survived by his parents, Gary and Chris, and his sister, Ashley, and a very close friend, also named Chris, who lived with the Zapasniks since he was 15 years old, whom Stephen considered to be his brother. Stephen's mother described his determination to enter the Army by losing over 90 pounds to get in. He was grossly overweight, but he made that sacrifice. She said she barely recognized him after basic training because he lost even more weight at that time. His friends and fellow soldiers affectionately nicknamed him ``Zap,'' describing him as a jokester who would happily make fun of himself if anyone needed to be cheered up.”