Stephen F. Austin State University

NACOGDOCHES-Delivering the commencement address at Stephen F. Austin State University today, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) acknowledged one mother who was watching her daughter graduate from 8,000 miles away.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Romona Mayeaux, stationed with the National Guard in Bagram, Afghanistan, was scheduled to connect to a Web cast as daughter Amelia Mayeaux, and approximately 900 others, walked across the stage. With a time difference of more than nine hours, Romona would watch at 7 p.m. as Amelia received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing in the ceremony that began at 9:30 a.m. in Nacogdoches.

"For Romona and all those who are serving our country today in Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever they are serving, we thank you for protecting our freedom," Hutchison said.

Romona Mayeaux, who also served in Bosnia in 2001, was deployed to Afghanistan in March. As a food service adviser, she works with contractors who prepare food and others to ensure soldiers are well fed. While many mothers will receive perfume for Mother's Day, her gift from Amelia consisted of the traditional card, along with batteries, a disposable camera, disposable wipes, Christian books and a graduation invitation.

"Every time I think of or mention to someone that my daughter is graduating from college on Saturday the 13th, I get tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat," Romona wrote in an e-mail. "People always comment on how awesome of a young lady she is.

"It will mean the world to me to watch her graduate from college. I am just thankful and grateful to God and Stephen F. Austin State University for this opportunity to show support and love for my girl (young lady), Amelia."

The family lives in League City, Texas. When Romona is not on active duty, she's a teacher and a coach and most recently taught JROTC in middle school. In her speech, Hutchison recapped events that shaped the class of 2006. Among those were Hurricane Rita and the large number of SFA students who assisted more than 1,000 evacuees, including Lamar University students, sheltered in the university's coliseum.

"I was really touched by the number of student volunteers," said Hutchison, who visited with the Lamar students in the shelter last September.

Hutchison also recounted the February 2003 morning when the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, with the loss of the seven-member crew, propelled the university into the national spotlight.

As remnants of the shuttle began falling to earth over East Texas, teams organized by the university used geographic information system equipment to capture data on the debris and prepare maps for federal agencies. Student volunteers also stood watch round the clock until debris was recovered from the campus.

"For you this tragedy was much more personal than most because it happened in your own backyard," Hutchison said.

"I heard from numerous officials of NASA about the character of people from East Texas," she said. "To your class and all the people of East Texas, thank you for that."

Hutchison said that she is committed to United States leadership in space and predicted that one day the first people will land on Mars.

"They will carry the memory of the Columbia crew with them, and some of you may be with them," she said.