Mike Conaway: “I rise today to memorialize a friend and a true hero of our country. Americans honor those who have made the ultimate…”

“I rise today to memorialize a friend and a true hero of our country. Americans honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom through a variety of methods. Most of the times we talk about this sacrifice in terms of all of those brave men and women as a group. While this is entirely appropriate, I encourage everyone to make the issue personal by thinking about a specific individual. Every soldier has their own important story, and every American should have one story that pulls at their heartstrings and personifies the ideals of our young men and women in uniform. For me that story is Rex Young. Rex graduated from Odessa Permian High School in 1965 and attended Odessa College for 1 year before joining the Army on September 15, 1966. He took basic training at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, and he had been serving in Vietnam for 10 months when he was killed. Rex's mother, Marilyn, said Rex planned to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock following his service. I would like to read from the citation that describes Rex's heroism: ``For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Staff Sergeant Rex Young distinguished himself at the cost of his life while serving as a squad leader with Company C. While conducting a reconnaissance mission in the vicinity of Ben Cui, Company C was suddenly engaged by an estimated regimental-sized force of the North Vietnamese Army.…”