Tribute to Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, U.S. Army
October 23, 2009 by The Staff at TheDP
Filed under American Patriots
This week, Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA4) spoke on the floor of the House to honor the death of Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, U.S. Army. The video contains the entire speech; a portion of the transcript is included below.
Mr. Speaker:
I rise today to pay tribute to U.S. Army Sergeant Joshua M. Hardt of Applegate, California. He is one of the fallen heroes of the Battle of Kamdesh — the remote outpost that was besieged and surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by more than 300 Taliban insurgents on October 3rd. No soldiers in the history of our nation have fought more valiantly or bravely than the defenders of Combat Outpost Keating that day. In the end, they held their ground, they defended their flag and the honor of their country.
But most importantly, they defended something fundamental and sacred and eternal that defines humanity itself. They defended something that can never be abandoned as long as humanity exists. They defended right against wrong – good against evil – freedom against tyranny – in its most stark and defining form.
During the terrible winter of 1776, Thomas Paine, having watched many brave young men like Josh Hardt fall in defense of these same eternal truths, offered these words to try to make some sense of it: “Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”
Josh Hardt knew that. And his family knew that. Through tears, his mother told a local newspaper “He was a very giving son. He went into the Army wanting to make a difference … wanting us to be safe…He expressed his desire to do more; to take more action and to make a difference. He didn’t know a better way than to go into the military and to fight for everybody.”
And that’s exactly what he did. He fought for his nation. He fought for its values. And he fought for the freedom of a people half a world away. And he paid for Heaven’s most expensive celestial article with his life — not for himself, but for others.
The rest of the transcript can be read on McClintock’s website.
