Ted Poe: “The soldier is the Army, and wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. While we mourn those men who die…”

“The soldier is the Army, and wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. While we mourn those men who die, we should thank God such men ever lived. These are the words of General George Patton in World War II. Mr. Speaker, one of those soldiers was Corporal Donald E. Valentine III of the United States Army. He was born in Houston, Texas, on March 5, 1986. Donald Valentine joined the United States Army because of the 9/11 attack on this country. His mother Anna said, 'My husband and I were behind Donald 100 percent. I was so proud of him no matter what he ever did. He made me very proud to be his mother.' Words from another of America's Gold Star Mothers. I met Anna Valentine and many members of the Valentine family recently at Veterans National Cemetery in Houston, where mothers like Anna who had children killed in Iraq and Afghanistan were being honored. We call those noble women Gold Star Mothers. Anna Valentine's son is buried on that hallowed ground of the fallen in Houston, Texas. Corporal Valentine was killed along with two other soldiers on September 18 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, when an IED, an improvised explosive device, detonated near him.”