Senate Bill sb2752

    Florida Senate - 2004        (NP)                      SR 2752

    By Senator Argenziano





    3-1621A-04

  1                    Senate Resolution No. ____

  2         A resolution recognizing and commending Aaron

  3         Weaver.

  4  

  5         WHEREAS, Aaron Weaver was born in Clearwater and was

  6  educated in the Citrus County Public School System, graduating

  7  from Citrus County High School in 1989, where he excelled as a

  8  student, achieving the Honor Roll, and as an athlete in

  9  soccer, track, and cross-country, earning All-County Honors in

10  Cross-Country, and

11         WHEREAS, upon graduating from high school, Aaron joined

12  the U.S. Army, was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division,

13  trained to become an Army Ranger, and later served as a member

14  of the Ranger Strike Team that was deployed in October 1993 to

15  capture two Somali Warlord Lieutenants from a stronghold in

16  Mogadishu, Somalia, resulting in a fierce battle in which two

17  Black Hawk Helicopters were shot down, 18 U.S. soldiers were

18  killed, more than 80 other U.S. soldiers were wounded, and

19  more than 300 Somalis were killed, and

20         WHEREAS, during the battle, while commanding a Humvee,

21  Aaron courageously attempted to reach one of the downed Black

22  Hawk Helicopters to retrieve those who were aboard when it was

23  shot down, received fire from three directions, and barely

24  avoided disaster when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded at

25  the door of his Humvee, injuring some of his passengers, but

26  leaving Aaron with only a few minor cuts, and

27         WHEREAS, in 1994, Aaron was awarded the Bronze Star for

28  "extreme courage under fire" and shortly thereafter was

29  honorably discharged, returned home to Citrus County, and

30  enrolled in Central Florida Community College until

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2004        (NP)                      SR 2752
    3-1621A-04




 1  re-enlisting in the U.S. Army to rejoin the 82nd Airborne

 2  Division and become a helicopter pilot, and

 3         WHEREAS, after completing flight school at Fort Rucker,

 4  Alabama, Aaron began flying Kiowa Helicopters in active duty

 5  with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

 6  He was stricken with testicular cancer, resulting in surgical

 7  removal of both testicles, threatening an early end to his

 8  life and discontinuation of his military career, and

 9         WHEREAS, after surgery, Aaron continued to be examined

10  for evidence of recurring cancer, undergoing two exploratory

11  abdominal surgeries, hospitalizing him for more than 6 months,

12  following which Aaron requested and obtained medical waivers,

13  allowing him to return to active duty with periodic medical

14  testing to ensure that any recurrence of cancer, which was

15  then in remission, would be promptly discovered and treated,

16  and

17         WHEREAS, at Aaron's urging, the Army then deployed him

18  to Iraq to rejoin the 82nd Airborne Division in active duty,

19  flying a Kiowa Helicopter on observation missions, and getting

20  his bimonthly cancer checkups at the U.S. Army Base Hospital

21  at Baghdad International Airport, which was his destination on

22  January 8, 2004, when the Black Hawk Helicopter transporting

23  him from his duty post to the base hospital for medical

24  testing was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed,

25  killing Aaron, age 32, and eight other U.S. soldiers aboard

26  the aircraft, and

27         WHEREAS, Aaron's tragic death left his wife, Nancy, his

28  two children, 10-year-old stepson, Austin, and 1-year-old

29  daughter, Savannah, his father, Mike, his mother, Kelly, his

30  two brothers, Steve and Ryan, both of whom are Army helicopter

31  pilots, and five sisters, one of whom, Regina, is in the Air

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    Florida Senate - 2004        (NP)                      SR 2752
    3-1621A-04




 1  Force, and a community of hometown residents who admire and

 2  respect the bravery and patriotic spirit of this young man who

 3  seemed always ready to courageously sacrifice his personal

 4  safety for the welfare of others, NOW, THEREFORE,

 5  

 6  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

 7  

 8         That the Florida Senate posthumously recognizes and

 9  commends Chief Warrant Officer Aaron Weaver for his patriotic

10  commitment to serving the causes of freedom, his valiant acts

11  of courage under fire, and his legacy of honorable service as

12  a member of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, leading the

13  fight against terrorism and tyranny when it threatens to

14  oppress the exercise of fundamental rights necessary to

15  establish and maintain a free society of people.

16         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution,

17  with the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Aaron's

18  wife, Nancy, as a tangible token of the sentiments of the

19  Florida Senate.

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