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Senator Fischer’s floor speech on Sergeant First Class Tricia Jameson
 
WASHINGTON – This afternoon, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) spoke on the Senate floor as part of her initiative to honor Nebraskans who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
 
Today, Senator Fischer honored the life and service of Nebraska Army National Guard Sergeant First Class Tricia Jameson, a native of St. Paul, Nebraska. Jameson was killed on the border between Iraq and Jordan after her field ambulance was struck by an improvised explosive device. 
 
Below is the full transcript of today’s speech honoring Sergeant First Class Tricia Jameson:
 
Mr. President, I rise today to continue my tribute to Nebraska’s heroes and the current generation of men and women who have given their lives defending our freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
Each of these Nebraskans has a powerful story of answering the call to serve.
 
Today, I would like to honor the life of Nebraska Army National Guard Sergeant First Class Tricia Jameson.
 
Tricia grew up in St. Paul, a small town in central Nebraska’s farm country.
 
She had a love for animals and wanted to pursue a career as a veterinarian. 
 
Tricia usually kept to herself and was not out spoken, but she displayed great determination when something was important to her.
 
In elementary school, upon learning that she and other young girls could not play organized softball, she started a letter writing campaign to change the rules.
 
The community soon took notice and revised the policy to include girls her age.
 
When her friend took his own life because he was picked on at school, Tricia again took up her pen and wrote a letter that was published in a local newspaper where she condemned bullying and honored the life of her friend. 
 
She advocated for what is right and how others should be treated.
 
Looking back, it seems obvious that her selfless spirit would one day lead her to serve her country.
 
Tricia attended St. Paul High School, where she was a determined athlete.
 
She participated in volleyball, setting athletic records that still stand to this day.
 
Her family then moved to Omaha and she spent her senior year at Millard South High School, graduating in 1989.
 
Like many young people, Tricia saw the benefits of joining the National Guard, as it could provide extra income and help with college tuition.
 
She joined in 1994.
 
It didn’t take long before her grit and determination caught the eye of her superiors.
 
They rewarded her with a promotion to become a full-time training instructor at Camp Ashland. 
 
As combat intensified in Afghanistan and Iraq, so too did the need to improve battlefield medical knowledge.
 
Sergeant Jameson was assigned to improve the Combat Life Saver course.
 
The course teaches soldiers basic medical skills for application on a battlefield.
With the same dogged determination that was evident all throughout her life, Sergeant Jameson raised the program into a world class operation. 
 
Hundreds of soldiers who learned from Tricia in the program would go on to save lives on battlefields across the world.
 
In 2005, Nebraska’s 313th Medical Company needed to replace two soldiers, so it reached back to Nebraska for volunteers.
 
And when her country called for her service, Sergeant Jameson eagerly stepped forward.
 
She quickly got her personal affairs in order and was sent to her deployment training.
 
By June of 2005, she was in Iraq on duty with the 313th Medical Company at Camp Speicher.
 
Her impact was felt immediately, as the Camp was stretched thin to support combat operations in Northern and Western Iraq. 
  
Staff Sergeant Jameson’s first mission on the road was a long one.
 
She was the vehicle commander of an M997 ambulance that was headed to Trebil near the Jordan border.
 
Staff Sergeant Jameson and her battle buddy, Specialist Rachelle Spors, had just left with a convoy when an urgent call came to help Marines injured in combat just a few miles away. 
 
Without hesitation, Tricia was speeding towards the battlefield to attend to the fallen, when their field ambulance was struck by an IED.
 
That day, Tricia gave her life while serving her country.
 
The Nebraska’s Prairie Soldier newspaper wrote of Tricia’s service: “Hundreds of family, friends, veterans group members, state governmental leaders and uniformed co-workers flooded into St. Bridget Catholic Church in Omaha, to help lay a fallen hero to rest.”
 
Her name and reputation live on as soldiers save lives, just as she did, on the battlefield.
 
For her service to our nation, Sergeant First Class Tricia Jameson earned many military decorations, including the Purple Heart and Bronze Star posthumously.
 
Today, I ask that we take a minute to remember Tricia and her selfless spirit.
 
I want to thank her family, her mother, Pat and her brother, Rob, who share their own heroic burden.
 
Sergeant First Class Tricia Jameson loved her family, she embodied the pride of her state and the values of our nation.
 
I am honored to tell her story.
 
Thank you Mr. President, I yield.

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