President Pays Tribute to TSO Killed in Iraq
News & Happenings
September 17, 2007
Brandon Stout, 23, a transportation security officer at Gerald Ford International Airport, Grand Rapids, Mich., was killed on Jan. 22 while on patrol in Iraq. President Bush paid tribute to him on Sept. 13 in a televised address to the nation about the U.S. committment to democracy in Iraq:
"Earlier this year I received an e-mail from the family of Army Specialist Brandon Stout of Michigan. Brandon volunteered for the National Guard and he was killed while serving in Baghdad. His family has suffered greatly. Yet in their sorrow, they see larger purpose. His wife, Audrey, says that Brandon felt called to serve and knew what he was fighting for. And his parents, Tracey and Jeff, wrote me this: 'We believe this is a war of good and evil and we must win even if it cost the life of our own son. Freedom is not free.'
"This country is blessed to have Americans like Brandon Stout, who make extraordinary sacrifices to keep us safe from harm. They are doing so in a fight that is just, and right, and necessary. And now it falls to us to finish the work they have begun."
Stout's death came eight days before he was scheduled to return home for leave. The previous July he had nominated Shawn Caughey, a TSA security manager at the airport, for the My Boss is a Patriot Award. It is sponsored by the Michigan National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, on behalf of the Department of Defense.
Caughey had taken his 10-year-old son to meet Stout before he went to Iraq. "I wanted him to meet a true hero," Caughey said. "I am so glad I did that." Caughey won the award and it was presented to him by Audrey Stout.
Acting Federal Security Director Max J. Harnish said of Stout, "This young man will be remembered by his co-workers as a dual patriot, serving both TSA and the U.S. Army with dignity, honor and a sense of duty that we will admire for a long time to come."
