April 7, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 67 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO SERGEANT MAJOR RALPH SARGENT

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                           HON. SETH MOULTON

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 7, 2020

  Mr. MOULTON. Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate the service of an 
American patriot and decorated Marine, Sergeant Major Ralph Sargent. 
Sargent took part in some of the most intense fighting of the Vietnam 
War, including the Battle of Khe Sanh, when the hilltop outpost of 
6,000 Marines was surrounded by 34,000 North Vietnamese troops. Despite 
heavy artillery bombardment and the constant threat of being overrun, 
the Marines, of course, held their ground. Later while on patrol, his 
company got into an extended firefight that would claim the lives of 35 
Marines, but it would have been far worse if not for Sergeant Major 
Sargent's actions that earned him the Bronze Star with a ``Combat V'' 
for extraordinary heroism, in addition to his Navy Commendation Medal.
  But one of the greatest stories of his service was when he saved the 
life of another Marine decades after Vietnam. That Marine is his 
grandson, whom I was privileged to serve with in Iraq. The salty Marine 
sergeant major recognized what was wrong with his grandson when this 
great Marine returned from the war and, like so many of us, had trouble 
finding meaning in life back home. So one day the sergeant major asked 
his grandson to drive him to the VA for an appointment, but when they 
arrived, he told his grandson that the appointment was actually for 
him. His grandson, my friend, followed the sergeant major's orders and 
started going regularly to the VA. I'm not sure he would be alive today 
if he hadn't. And months later, after Sergeant Major Sargent saw what a 
difference the VA had made in his grandson's life, he decided, for the 
first time, to go himself.
  Madam Speaker, Sergeant Major Sargent lived a life of service. Many 
Marines made it through Vietnam thanks to their sergeant major, and one 
of my great Marine friends is alive today because of his grandfather. 
What an American hero.

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