Ted Poe: “they were called the Screaming Eagles of World War II. They jumped into Normandy into the wet darkness of the night…”

“they were called the Screaming Eagles of World War II. They jumped into Normandy into the wet darkness of the night before sunrise on D-Day, June 6, 1944. They held off the Germans in the dead of winter in the Battle of the Bulge in a small Belgian town called Bastogne. Even though completely surrounded, they replied to the demands of the Germans to surrender with that famous statement of their commander, ``Nuts.'' They are the 101st Airborne of the United States Army. They are the Band of Brothers. The 101st is still on duty, and their legacy now continues in the blistering heat of Iraq. They are once again fighting the forces of tyranny and terrorism. Recently, at an outpost near Baghdad, American volunteers of the 101st found themselves surrounded and attacked by the enemy. One soldier, Specialist David Babineau, was killed in the skirmish. Private First Class Kristian Menchaca and Private First Class Thomas Tucker were kidnapped, captured, and later, apparently, murdered. Twenty-three-year-old Kristian Menchaca was from my hometown of Houston, Texas. The Army turned Kristian Menchaca's life around. It gave him a greater purpose, a higher calling. He leaves behind a wife, a family, and lots of grateful Americans. The terrorists that America fights in Iraq and Afghanistan, they take no prisoners. They have no POW camps.…”