On the recordJune 24, 2010
It is with a heavy heart that I rise today to honor the lives of two fallen heroes from western Pennsylvania. Sergeant First Class Robert Fike of Conneautville, and Staff Sergeant Bryan Hoover of Lyndora, Pennsylvania, made the ultimate sacrifice while defending our Nation in Afghanistan. On June 11, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive near the Bullard Bazaar in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan. Sergeant First Class Fike, 38 years old, and his friend, Staff Sergeant Hoover, 29 years old, were on foot patrol. Both of these brave men were killed in the explosion. They were members of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's Company C, 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry, based in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. Sergeants Fike and Hoover shared a passion for service to our country. They were patriots, soldiers, and good men. Robert Fike and Bryan Hoover were friends who fought, and ultimately sacrificed, side by side.
