Honoring Our Armed Forces

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES
ARMY PRIVATE FIRST CLASS GAVIN NEIGHBOR

Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to honor and remember a young man from Somerset, OH. I rise to honor Gavin Neighbor, a soldier who gave the last full measure of devotion to our Nation on June 10, 2003. On that date, Gavin was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade while serving in Iraq as part of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 325th Infantry Regiment, of the 82nd Airborne Division. At the time of his death, Gavin Neighbor was 20 years old.

When Gavin Neighbor was killed, Marisa Porto, who at the time was a journalist with the Zanesville Times Recorder, had a very difficult time writing about Gavin. She struggled to write about his life and his death because she said she knew she had to balance the reporting of the news with the personal connection she felt knowing that someone so young from her own community had just been killed. She managed, though, to find the right words and wrote the following:

My thoughts [are] simple. Gavin Neighbor's family won't get the chance to see his wedding announcement in his newspaper. They won't ever have the opportunity to see his son's birth announced in this newspaper. These next few days may be the last time his name is ever published in this newspaper. . . . So, let's give him the homecoming he deserves.

Mr. President, Members of the Senate, since his death, I have learned that Gavin Neighbor, in his all-too-brief 20 years on this Earth, did, in fact, live life fully. He was an outgoing, determined young man, who felt great love and affection for his family, for his fiancee, his friends, and his country.

Gavin was born in Newark, OH, on November 25, 1982. He graduated from New Lexington High School in 2001, where high school friends described him as dependable and fun loving. Gavin was a gifted artist. He had a signature piece: a drawing of a dragon. His friends say he would draw that dragon anywhere, anytime.

He loved to draw, and he was good at it. According to his high school art teacher, Jody Bowen:

Gavin would work on projects on the side, after his classwork was done. I saw something more in him. . . . He certainly impacted my life. I feel fortunate I met him and got to know him.

Equal in his devotion to art, Gavin was committed to serving his country and making his family proud. Gavin had a strong sense of duty and a strong sense of family. He was always trying to take care of others and protect others. That is part of what compelled him to join the military. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of several relatives. Like them, he wanted to protect his family and his friends and his country. So after his high school graduation in 2001, Gavin enlisted in the U.S. Army.

According to Gavin's grandmother, Gladys Hykes:

He was wonderful. He loved the service. That was his goal.

Gavin planned to make a career for himself in the military, aspiring to join an elite Ranger battalion. He was well on his way toward achieving that dream. Gavin earned his paratrooper wings and was known for performing, with ease, some of the most difficult airplane jumps. Known as a "Javelin Jumper," he would jump from planes while carrying part of an antitank missile system strapped to his leg. Upon receiving an award of recognition for this accomplishment, Gavin dedicated it to his parents and had his thanks to them engraved on the plaque.

Gavin loved his family very much. He had an especially strong bond with his mother Cathy. Oh, he loved her cooking. He loved to spend time with her. He wrote and called home often, and when he did he had simple requests. According to his mom, Cathy:

I kept sending him letters and boxes. He wanted Kool-Aid and chips. And Copenhagen. He wanted Copenhagen. I didn't want to send it, but I did.

Gavin called home on February 13, 2003, to say his unit was leaving on Valentine's Day for Iraq. Soldiers only had an hour for family visits. Cathy and her husband Willie drove more than nine hours to visit one last time with Gavin. As Cathy said:

All I knew was that I had to get there. I had to be there to hug him.

Many of his fellow comrades have said that Gavin Neighbor was the kind of soldier you wanted by your side-any time, any place. He was dependable. He was tough. He was a real leader.

Gavin was also known for his ability to make light of serious situations-an admirable quality in the face of war. While training in California, to humor his comrades, he would walk around flapping his arms like a chicken and then claim to be a dinosaur. During a punishing mountain hike, Gavin lightheartedly asked his leader, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" The other members of the platoon could not help but smile. As Sergeant Arthur Swartz said at Gavin's memorial service:

When we were at our lowest, Gavin could turn the whole platoon around just by making a joke or saying something funny. . . . He was definitely the best, youngest soldier in my platoon.

Gavin's unique sense of humor did not cloak the fact that he was also a very hard worker and a very independent young man. Captain Todd Hollins, a chaplain with the 82nd Airborne Division, said that when he thinks of Gavin:

I see a young man who chose to walk the road less traveled-a man who gave 100 percent, all the way, all the time. . . . I see a young man, one who cared about others more than himself, a man with a zest for life, who was willing to face his fears. . . . I see a volunteer, a bold spirit. I see a young man who was genuine in all regards.

Gavin Neighbor's dependability, commitment, and fun-loving attitude will never be forgotten. His life is an example for us all. Left to cherish his memory are his parents; his sisters, Roxanne Lewis and Tracy Neighbor; brother Willie Neighbor, Jr.; and Gavin's special friend-his fiancé, his soulmate-Rachel Sanderson.

Gavin Neighbor was just a good kid, who died too young. I think that Brigadier General Abe Turner, assistant division commander of operations with the 82nd Airborne, said it best:

He quickly became a very important part of our band of brothers. We asked him if he'd be willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice, and he did. . . . He was our hero.