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“TRIBUTE TO RON ZIMMERMAN” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E903 on May 19, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO RON ZIMMERMAN
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HON. MIKE PENCE
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Friday, May 19, 2006
Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life of Ron Zimmerman of Connersville, Indiana. He died this week in Afghanistan when a suicide bomber hit his vehicle while he was working as contractor on a U.S. State Department police training project.
Ron was working in Herat, Afghanistan, near the border with Iran and Turkmenistan. Among other things, he was training local police forces in methods of combating the illicit drug trade of opium poppies. He was in a convoy going to work to continue these training efforts when the vehicle he was traveling in was attacked by a suicide car bomber. He had been in Afghanistan since early April of this year.
Ron graduated from Connersville High School. Before going overseas, Ron served in the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, volunteered as a local firefighter, and most recently worked as a police officer in Brookville, Indiana. He left the police force in December 2004 to become a contractor. Prior to going to Afghanistan, he had worked for 1 year as a contractor training police forces in Kosovo.
Ron's courage and selfless dedication to others are shown through his willingness to travel to dangerous areas of the world in an effort to help those areas become safer and more secure. His wife Marla stated,
``He was the type of person that felt like he had to do what he had to do. He was a very giving person.''
I offer my deepest condolences to his wife, Marla; his two daughters, Mel Walker and Cheyenne Zimmerman, his son, Matt Walker, and all other family and friends who loved and admired this fine man.
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