IN MEMORIAM.......These BRAVE Men and Women died.......FOR US

[fireplug]

Thank you for this effort. Capt. Beaupre was from our area and his mother works for the same hospital I do.

Steve

 

[Pop Daddy]

Im one of the people that just look at the big picture, this is good

 

[Silky]

Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 28, Easton, Pa.

3-25-03

Christopher Scott Seifert was killed early Sunday when a grenade went off in a command tent at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait.

Seifert was a military intelligence officer with the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Ky. He joined the Army in May 1997. Fort Campbell spokesman George Heath, quoted in the Allentown, Pa., Morning Call, said Seifert was working with his commander, Col. Ben Rogers, when they came under attack. A fellow soldier is being held as a suspect in the incident.

The only child of Thomas and Helen Seifert of Williams Township, Pa., Seifert was married to Theresa, whom he met while attending Moravian College. They were married in the Old Chapel there. Their son, Benjamin, is 4 months old.

Seifert graduated from Wilson Area High School in 1993 and Moravian College in 1997. According to the Morning Call, he was active in the high school band, winning a scholarship and award, and the drama club.

Wilson drama teacher Daniel Kay said, “Chris was a great guy. He was quiet, but he had a great sense of humor. I remember his laugh. He was a wonderful young man. He was proud he came from Wilson, and he was proud to be involved with drama.”

At Moravian College, Seifert majored in history and was a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) and Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

History professor Robert Stinton said he remembers “the tall and slender Seifert attending class with impeccably shined leather military boots and a respectful demeanor. He was so into the military spirit that every answer from him would be ‘yes sir, no sir.’ He was a good student who was quite honorable and dedicated to his work.”

 

[binny]

thank you thats a beautiful tribute

 

[Silky]

Specialist Brandon S. Tobler, 19, Portland, Ore.

3-25-03

Army Reserve Spc. Brandon S. Tobler, 19, died Saturday, March 22, in Iraq when the Humvee he was riding in crashed into the back of another vehicle during a sandstorm.

Tobler was assigned to the 671 st Engineer Brigade in Portland, Ore., the Defense Department said.

"His unit encountered a blinding sandstorm, which caused the driver of his Humvee to not see the vehicle in front of her. Pvt. Tobler died instantly at the scene," Capt. Randy Montalbano said.

Tobler served as a logistics data automation specialist with the 671 st, which builds bridges and provides other engineering support to troops. He was responsible for tracking all supplies going to and from the unit, Montalbano said.

Tobler was mobilized Nov. 15. He volunteered to go to Kuwait, said Scott Tom, his uncle.

"He was just a wonderful young man. He was my nephew. I saw a lot of me in him. I loved that young man," Tom said.

Tobler is survived by his parents, Gail Tobler and Leon Tobler. He was an only child.

"That's what makes this so devastating. He was their bright, shining star, especially to his mother. Her whole life was centered around Brandon. He was the sparkle in her eye and the pride of his father," Tom said.

Tobler grew up in the Portland area and graduated from Franklin High School in 2001.

He worked at Best Buy to earn money for college.

Tobler enjoyed his high school French class, said Lew Frederick, a spokesman for Portland Public Schools.

"French is extremely challenging," Tobler wrote in his yearbook. "Mr. (Guillaume) Gendre has a way of making it easier, but he is always on my case. He entertainingly picks on me. He is an extremely wise French man."

Tobler was "a passionate, dedicated and enthusiastic young man" who was proud to join the military, Gendre said.

After graduating, Tobler visited Franklin several times wearing his Army uniform.

"He had a great sense of humor and enjoyed jokes with a twist of dark humor," Gendre said."

 

[Silky]

Specialist Jamaal Addison, 22, Roswell, Ga.

3-28-03

Five years after Jamaal Addison graduated from Atlanta’s Lakeside High School, his junior ROTC commander wasted no time boiling down the essence of his former student.

"He stood out with his character," Col. Sidney Sider said. "He was never rushed. He was never hurried. He had a calm demeanor." Addison participated in a lot of junior ROTC activities and carried a 3.0 grade point average, Sider said. Addison died Sunday, March 23, when his unit of the 507 th Maintenance Company was ambushed near An Nasiriyah, Iraq.

Pfc. Howard Johnson, 21, of Mobile also was killed. Eight other members of the 507 th are missing and five are Iraqi prisoners, the Pentagon said.

Some prisoners of war shown in an Iraqi television video identified themselves as serving with the 507 th. The video showed four bodies Iraqi television said were Americans from the attack on the 507th.

"He was a member of our small ROTC family," said Sider, who heads the unit at the 1,500-student high school. "This has touched us. We have a small unit."

Kevin Addison of Decatur, Ga., Addison’s father, declined comment on his son’s death.

Sharon Addison, who is not Addison’s mother but was married to Kevin Addison for eight years and helped raise his son, said the young man was a joy.

"He had a very gentle spirit," she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He grew up in the church. He always looked out for his sisters. Jamaal was one of the sweetest young men I’ve known."

 

[Silky]

Specialist Edward J. Anguiano, 24, Brownsville, Texas

5-3-03

For 36 days, Edward John Anguiano was missing in action in Iraq. His convoy was ambushed near Nasiriyah four days into the Iraqi war. Six soldiers in his unit were captured. In Los Fresnos, Texas, for 36 days and 36 long nights, his mother waited.

The waiting ended April 28 when the Army delivered the news she dreaded: Anguiano was killed by Iraqi troops in the Sunday, March 23, ambush. His remains were found April 24 at the ambush site.

A week ago, as the soldier’s body was taken to Kuwait on the first leg of the long journey back to the United States, his grandfather, Vicente Anguiano, told the Brownsville (Texas) Herald:

"We are very sad. We hoped that he would be found as a prisoner of war. He will not rest in peace until he is here. Home. Until he is here with us." May 1, Anguiano came home.

A few days later, inside Brownsville’s Jacob Brown Auditorium, surrounded by a giant U.S. flag and photos of Anguiano with his arms around two friends, smiling from the saddle of a horse and standing proudly in his uniform — two sisters said goodbye to their brother.

A mother said goodbye to her son.

And thousands of people who never knew him came to the memorial service to say goodbye to a hero.

From U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi: "His dedication to duty and his service to this country carried a price borne by many others in the history of our nation. The spirit and memories of Edward Anguiano will always be among us, to inspire us and remind us of the sacrifices of war."

 

[Silky]

Sergeant Michael E. Bitz, 31, Ventura, Calif

3-25-03


Michael E. Bitz died in combat near Nasiriyah, Iraq, on Sunday, March 23 — 10 weeks after shipping out to the Middle East and four weeks after the birth of twins he will never see.

Bitz was an assault amphibian vehicle driver with the 2 nd Amphibious Battalion in the 2 nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

He enlisted in the Marines in 1995. "Michael liked a challenge, and the feeling was they were the most fit and the biggest challenge," his mother, Donna Bellman, told the Los Angeles Daily News.

Before war broke out, he lived in Jacksonville, N.C., near Camp Lejeune, where he was stationed.

But Bitz the soldier is not the image those close to him hold in their hearts.

"He was a wonderful father, over the top," his mother-inlaw, Marie Heron, told the Jacksonville Daily News.

His mother said he spent as much time as possible with his children, wrestling, tickling and playing "steamroller." Bitz is survived by his mother, his wife, Janina Bitz, four children and two brothers.

 

[JohnTBap]

Originally posted by Silky
His mother said he spent as much time as possible with his children, wrestling, tickling and playing "steamroller." Bitz is survived by his mother, his wife, Janina Bitz, four children and two brothers.

Craig likes to play "steamroller" with us.

 

[Keli]

What kind of game is 'steamroller'? I've never heard of it.

 

[Silky]

Sergeant George E. Buggs, 31, Barnwell, S.C.

4-10-03

"Wanda Buggs thinks her husband, George, would count being a good father and a good soldier as his greatest accomplishments.

Pentagon officials said Saturday that Buggs died in action along with seven fellow soldiers missing since March 23.

The softspoken father of a 12-year-old son was assigned to the 3rd Forward Support Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Ga.

He and seven soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company based at Fort Bliss, Texas, were ambushed near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. The dead soldiers were found at an Iraqi hospital when commandoes rescued prisoner of war Pfc. Jessica Lynch. Although Wanda and her husband were separated at the time of his death, she said he was "a real good dad" and a big help in raising Guy, their only son. She described Buggs as "a quiet, home person" who liked to cook. "His specialties were pasta and seafood," she said.

Buggs was raised by his grandparents, George and Florine Buggs, in Barnwell, S.C. "He was a good, caring person who never gave me any trouble growing up," his grandmother said. "He was always a perfect gentleman," family friend Peggy Gadson Kirkland said. "He was an exceptional kid. Just as sweet as could be." Kirkland attended Buggs’ baptism and watched him grow up in the church, Brown Chapel in Barnwell. "Through it all he never let go of his faith," she said. Buggs sang in the youth choir at church and played the tuba in the marching band in high school. He was a 1990 graduate of Barnwell High School and enlisted in the Army after graduation."

 

[DaisyDebbie]

They're all so young

 

[Silky]

Lance Corporal Brian Rory Buesing, 20, Cedar Key, Fla.

3-27-03

"Lance Cpl. Brian Rory Buesing, 20, died in combat, Sunday, March 23, near An Nasiriyah, Iraq.

He followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, both Marines.

Buesing was assigned to the 1 st Battalion, 2 nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

"That's what he wanted to do," said his father, William Buesing III. "It was a family thing. And he wanted to be part of that." He loved the life in the Marines, the camaraderie, the discipline and the action.

"He wouldn't sit back and watch anything. We knew if there was anything going on in Iraq, Brian was going to get involved," his father said. "It kind of scared us."

In his last letter home, written aboard a ship in the Suez Canal heading toward Kuwait, Buesing promised he would "go in there and get some answers and let us know what's going on."

Born in Tampa, Fla., he attended Cedar Key School for two years before graduating in 2000. His sister, Ariele Steve, 14, is an eighthgrader at the school.

"He was full of energy in life. He always had a smile on his face," remembered Angie Doty, who works in the guidance office at the Cedar Key School and whose daughter graduated with Buesing. "He was just a nice guy. I know his parents were real proud of him."

"He always wanted to get out of this small town and see what else was going on in the world," said high school friend Cindy Liddell, 22.

Buesing's grandmother, Sandra Bunch, told The Gazette he was in the ROTC program, where he enjoyed karate and wrestling. He was well-known among his family and friends for his sharp sense of humor.

"He was at home as much as possible to spend time with his family," Bunch said. "He will be terribly missed by all. We will never get over this."

In addition to his father, sister and grandmother, he is survived by his mother and stepfather, Patricia and Roger Steve; two brothers, William "Billy,"22, and Casey, 18; his grandfather, George Bunch; and his paternal grandparents, William and Shirley."

 

[Serena]

these young men need to be remembered

 

[Silky]

Pfc. Tamario D. Burkett, 21, Buffalo, N.Y.

4-18-03

"While preparing for combat, Tamario Burkett said he wasn’t afraid. His big worry, he told his mother, Brenda Wilson, was whether he would have to take a life.

"Ma, is God going to forgive me if I kill someone over there? " he said.

She assured him God would.

Burkett died Sunday, March 23, near Nasiriyah, Iraq, when members of the 1 st Battalion, 2 nd Marine Regiment, 2 nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade were attacked while securing a bridge over the Euphrates River. The unit is based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

When the dust cleared, he was one of seven Marines missing.

For nearly three weeks, his family kept hoping he was alive.

Late Friday, April 11, two Marines and a Marine chaplain knocked on the door at 53 Peace Street in Buffalo, N.Y. Burkett died in combat, they told his parents, Brenda and Raymond D. Wilson Sr.

"I’m just hoping that there’s an end to the war and that they’ll be able to tell me something," his mother said two days earlier. "Anything is better than nothing right now. They say no news is good news, but right now for me, that’s not the case."

"Right now, I thank God my son is not somewhere suffering and that I know," she said after learning of his death .

Burkett’s parents were surprised when their poet-artist son joined the Marines after talking to a recruiter at Buffalo’s McKinley High School. His brother Raymond D. Wilson Jr., 18, said money, travel and adventure were the lures.

Burkett planned to leave the Marines in June 2004 for college to study business.

His letters home let his seven younger brothers and sisters know he had them on his mind. Stay in school, he told Raymond Jr. Stay away from boys, he warned a teenage sister.

At a memorial service Wednesday in Buffalo, a military chaplain handed Burkett’s mother a folded American flag.

"He’s a hero. That’s what he is," his father said.

In addition to his parents and brother Raymond Jr., he is survived by brothers and sisters Ranita, 15; Candace, 14; Katrina, 13; Darius, 12; De-Andre, 11; and Kenyon, 1."

The Associated Press and The Buffalo News contributed to this report.

 

[Silky]

Corporal Kemaphoom A. Chanawongse, 22, Waterford, Conn

4-20-03

At 10, Kemaphoom Chanawongse liked to dress up in his stepfather’s Navy uniform.

Days after his high school graduation in 1999, he traded that in for a U.S. Marines uniform of his own.

"They’re the best," he told his mother when she asked why.

Chanawongse, known as "Ahn" to his family and friends, died Sunday, March 23, when his amphibious assault vehicle came under attack while trying to secure a bridge near Nasiriyah.

Military life was second nature to Chanawongse.

"He had a natural military inclination," said Paul Patchem, his stepfather. "His toys from childhood have always been swords, weapons and uniforms."

He also had family tradition.

His grandfather was an officer in the Thai air force. His uncle was a decorated pilot.

Patchem was an electrician in the Navy.

While stationed at a naval base in Thailand, Patchem met Chanawongse’s mother, Anutarapon "Tan." Chanawongse was 9 when he moved to the United States with his mother, stepfather and brother, Kemapasse.

"Ahn never liked to do anything halfway," Patchem said. He became a Marine because he knew being one would be the best training he could get.

Family friend James Temple recalled him as "a real likeable kid. Always fun. Always happy. . . . great to be around."

His mother put together a collage in the family’s home in Connecticut.

One photo stands out. It shows Chanawongse opening his Marine uniform to reveal a Superman emblem underneath.

Beside it, he’d written, "Bullet Proof."

"I don’t think he thought he was bulletproof. But maybe he did," Patchem said. "Marines train you to be the best. And you are."

In his last letter home, Chanawongse told his family his camp in Kuwait reminded him of the sitcom "M*A*S*H."

Except he called it MAHTSF, for "Marines Are Here to Stay Forever."

 

[Silky]

Sgt. Donald R. Walters, 33, Kansas City, Mo.


4-6-03

"Sgt. Donald R. Walters was confirmed dead Friday, 12 days after Iraqis attacked the Army convoy he was traveling with near Nasiriyah, Iraq.

Walters was a native of Colorado Springs.

His remains have been taken to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Medical examiners haven’t determined how he died.

He was one of eight soldiers found dead during the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch at a hospital in Nasiriyah.

Walters lived his first several years in Colorado Springs, where his father was a trombone player in the Air Force Academy Band. He was immersed in the military from the time his parents adopted him at just a few days old.

He attended Madison Elementary School and often played with children from other military families. In 1981, the family moved to Salem, Ore.

Walters visited the Springs in October to show his wife, Stacie Walters, and their three daughters where he grew up, friend Darline Horner of Colorado Springs said.

Walters drove supply trucks for the Army. He also served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

"He thought it was his duty, he thought it was his privilege, almost, to go over there and serve his country," Horner said.

Walters recently wrote a children’s book, which family members and friends are trying to get published.

Other survivors are Walters’ parents, Norman and Arlene Walters, and siblings Norman Walters Jr. and Kimberly Cieslak"

 

[catsrule]

Thank You for putting this together, Silky.

 

[Silky]

Lance Corporal Donald John Cline, 21, Sparks, Nev.

4-20-03

"Hope suddenly turned to sorrow for Tina Cline, wife of Marine Lance Cpl. Donald John Cline, whose remains were identified through DNA testing.

Cline, assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2 nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was classified as missing in action March 23 after the Humvee he was riding in near the southern Iraq city of Nasiriyah was ambushed.

As late as April 8, Tina Cline of Sparks, Nev., held out hope the father of her two young sons, Dakota, 2, and Dylan, 7 months, would be found alive.

"Someone heard John Cline on TV," Tina Cline told the Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal. "Everyone was tuned in trying to hear if John was rescued, too. Everybody’s spirits got very high."

Meanwhile, laboratory workers at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware were busy analyzing the remains found after the Humvee was destroyed.

Marine 1st Sgt. Jason Ruff had the sobering duty of delivering the news to Tina Cline.

"She was still very hopeful that he was alive, so it was a very sad time," Ruff said. "I’d much rather be over there (in Iraq) than be here giving this kind of news to the families."

John and Tina Cline met in 1997 when both their families moved to Reno, and they lived in the same apartment complex. They dated throughout high school and married Oct. 21, 2000, the day after he graduated from boot camp.

"He always said he wanted to be a Marine. His whole senior year he was already signed up and ready," Tina Cline told The Associated Press.

She is left to pick up the pieces and raise the boys on her own. She wants to be sure they know who their father was.

"A proud father, a proud husband and a proud Marine," she told the Gazette-Journal. "I saw a teenager grow up to be a man."

He was preceded in death by his father. He is survived by his wife and their two sons, and by his mother. "

 

[Silky]

First Sergeant Robert J. Dowdy, 38, Cleveland

4-11-03

Robert Dowdy was 18 months from retirement when his convoy was ambushed near Nasiriyah in southern Iraq on Sunday, March 23. His body was among those found at an Iraqi hospital during the raid that rescued Pfc. Jessica Lynch.

"It took this war for everyone to know that he was a hero, but I’ve known it for years," said his wife, Kathy, from her home in DeRidder, La. Dowdy grew up in Cleveland and joined the Army 18 years ago. He was sent to Kuwait just before Thanksgiving and was in the 507 th Maintenance Company, which services vehicles and equipment of the Army’s 3 rd Infantry Division.

Jim Kowalski, his brotherin-law, said the only things Dowdy was more proud of than his military service were his daughter, Kristi, 14, and his wife. Dowdy was an avid runner, Kowalski said.

"He loved to run, and he’d always encourage other runners to keep taking the next step," Kowalski said.

Kathy Dowdy said one of her husband’s greatest achievements was winning the Iron Mike Trophy as the top noncommissioned officer in his class.

"I love him, and I’ll miss him deeply," she said.