On the recordJune 10, 2010
It is with great pride and a heavy heart that I speak today of a young marine from my district in Texas who gave his life while fighting the terrorists in Afghanistan. Marine Sergeant Brandon Bury was killed on Sunday, June 6 during combat operations in Kabul. This is a photograph of this marvelous marine. He leaves behind his wife, Heather, and his two young sons, Cole, who is 3-years-old, and Cade, who is 1. Brandon was on his third tour of duty. He previously served two deployments in Iraq, and he left for Afghanistan this April as part of a team training Afghan police. He was 26 years of age and a 2002 graduate of Kingwood High School in Texas. In his 26 short years, Brandon lived a lifetime of service to other people. I talked to Brandon's mom, Terri, this week. She told me that Brandon had just called her, and he had asked her to send him gifts for the local Afghanistan children in his next care package. Brandon, always thinking about ways to do something for somebody else. I have been to Afghanistan and, let me tell you something, Mr. Speaker, those Afghani kids love American warriors. They love our troops, and I have seen how they react to those troops firsthand. Marines like Brandon are the reason why. They are the best ambassadors for liberty and freedom that there are in the world because, you see, Americans never go to conquer. They go to liberate. They go to lands they have never seen, and they fight for people they have never known.
