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

[Silky]

Regardless of one's political orientation or thoughts about the Iraq War, it is humbling to think that so many men and women have died in the service of their country this year. As LINCOLN put it so eloquently:

"But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract"

I'll be posting brief eulogies for every American soldier who has made the ultimate sacrifice....... in our name. Each one of these soldiers had hopes, dreams, aspirations, families, loves, and passions. They deserve to be remembered as real people, not just statistics cited daily.

Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22 Lomita, Calif.
3-26-03

"Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, is said to be the second U.S. serviceman to die in combat in Iraq.

He died at 4 p.m. Friday during the siege of the southern Iraqi city of Umm Qsar. A native of Guatemala, Gutierrez hopped at least 14 trains to immigrate as a teenager alone to the United States, the Los Angeles Times reported. Gutierrez was taken into the foster care of Mercelo and Nora Mosquera, a couple who helps underage immigrant children. Although he had aspirations to be an architect, Gutierrez enlisted with the Marines on March 25, 2002. He became an infantry rifleman with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Every major newspaper, radio and television station in Guatemala reported his death. The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala estimates 1,500 Guatemalan-Americans are in the U.S. military. "He was very helpful and very friendly," said Dina Perdue, a neighbor of the Mosqueras. She recalled a day last year when he offered to help her with her yardwork and spent six hours finishing the job.

The Mosqueras’ adult daughter, Jackie Baker, told KVEA-TV that Gutierrez wanted to give the United States what the United States had given him.

Gutierrez is survived by a sister in Guatemala City, his foster parents in Lomita, Calif., and several foster siblings."

 

[Serena]

thank you

 

[Silky]

Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy

3-23-03

"Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, grew up in Glenview, Ill., a Chicago suburb, with a love of sports and engineering. He was a starting guard on the strong Glenbrook South High School football team. He studied mechanical engineering at Purdue University and played lacrosse. Three years later, he transferred to Texas Tech University.

He left Texas Tech in 1999 and enlisted.

He was stationed for the past three years at Camp Pendleton, a Marine base near San Diego. Kennedy was a mechanic and helicopter crew chief.

Kennedy was one of four U.S. Marines who died Thursday along with eight British Marines in a helicopter crash in southern Iraq.

"Our son and brother proudly volunteered to serve in the United States Marine Corps," his father, Mark Kennedy, told the Houston Chronicle from his home near Spring Branch, Texas. "He gave his life in an effort to contribute to the freedom of the Iraqi people."

In addition to his father, he is survived by his mother, Melissa Derbyshire, of Port Clyde, Maine; and a sister, Gretchen Helgeson. Staff Sgt. Kendall D. Waters-Bey, 29 Baltimore "

 

[Silky]

Sgt. Nicholas M. Hodson, 22 Smithville, Mo.

3-26-03

"In the mid-1990s, there were only two black students in the Smithville, Mo., school system: Nicolas "Nick" Hodson and his twin sister, Nicole.

Their mother moved them to the small rural town when she accepted a job as a computer programmer in nearby Kansas City.

Friends remember Hodson dealt with the racism that confronted him in Smithville, survived and conquered. He used his sense of humor and his skill at making and keeping friends to become one of the best-known and most popular students at Smithville High School.

Although small, he was on the basketball team. He ran sprint relays during track and field season.

In the classroom, he was "a solid student who got along with everybody," remembers Principal Wayne Krueger.

Friends say he was addicted to playing "Madden 2003" and watching Jim Carrey movies.

On the serious side, Hodson always dreamed of being a Marine. That might eventually lead to being able to pay for college and becoming an engineer.

Those dreams ended Sunday in a vehicle accident in Iraq.

It was the second family tragedy in five months. Hodson’s mother, Gloria, died of cancer in October. He had been stationed temporarily in Missouri to be near as she fought the disease.

He is survived by sons Braden, 2, of Missouri, and Marius, 1, of North Carolina.

Braden’s mother, Michelle Smith, cherishes the six letters she and her son received from Hodson while he was in Iraq.

Hodson’s friend Kynny Garrett told the St. Joseph News-Press he wanted Nick "to be remembered as a father figure, a brother to his sister and that he has a face and a name. He won’t be afaded memory. His memory will live."

SOURCES: Kansas City Star, The Associated Press, St. Joseph News-Press

 

[lilboo]

Thank you...they do deserve to be remembered as so much more than just a name on a daily tally.

 

[Silky]

Capt. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, Yuma, Ariz.

3-23-03

Jay Thomas Aubin, a Marine helicopter pilot who was in line to fly the president on Marine One, died Friday in a helicopter crash in the Kuwaiti desert.

Aubin was based at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., and was part of the 1 st Marine Expeditionary Force fighting in the Middle East.

He grew up in Skowhegan, Maine, a town of nearly 9,000, where he played high school football and baseball and was voted student of the year as a senior by teachers. Many of Aubin’s relatives still live in Skowhegan, and his mother lives in nearby Winslow.

Relatives describe Aubin, the eldest of three boys whose cheeks dimpled deeply when he smiled, as a ramrod straight-arrow, the sort who never drank or smoked, who pursued a plan seemingly mapped from birth.

When Aubin graduated, he wanted to go to college, but money was short. He enlisted in the Marines and served four years, based in California, where he worked as a helicopter mechanic. There he met his wife, Rhonda, a fellow Marine.

Aubin returned to Maine for school. At the end of schooling, he re-enlisted in the Marines.

"When he left the Marines to go to school, he was so lost," said his uncle, Peter Willett. "Being in the military was a dream that he stepped into with open arms."

He was stationed in Okinawa when he was told he would be in line to fly Marine One, the president’s helicopter, if he returned to serve as a night flight instructor in Yuma, Willett said.

Aubin is survived by his wife, Rhonda; a daughter, Alicia, 10; and a son, Nathan, 7, all of Yuma. He also is survived by his mother, Nancy Chamberlain, of Winslow, Maine; and his father, Thomas, of Bangs, Texas.

SOURCES: The Boston Globe, The Associated Press

 

[Silky]

Capt. Ryan Beaupre, 30, St. Anne, Ill.

3-23-03

"After graduating from college, Ryan Beaupre worked as an accountant for a large insurance company. But it wasn’t enough.

"He came home and told us he thought he could do more by joining the Marines and becoming a pilot," his sister Alyse told the Daily Journal in Kankakee, Ill.

His sister identified him as the Camp Pendletonbased pilot killed Thursday in the CH-46 Sea Knight crash in Kuwait. Three other American Marines and eight British soldiers died.

His sister said she last talked to Beaupre, a captain, in February, before he left for the Middle East.

"I asked him if he was afraid. He said: ‘Honey, I’m sitting on my couch in San Diego, what do I have to be afraid of?’ " she said. "The last we heard from him was Wednesday, by letter. He told us you had to stand in line for a few hours to use the telephone for a five-minute call, and he thought he would make that line shorter for guys with wives and children."

News of his death shook his hometown, as well as friends in Carlsbad, Calif., where he lived for 18 months.

Carol Warren, manager of the Adams Street Apartments, remembers him speaking fondly about his hometown. He was a regular friendly face at the complex Jacuzzi, before moving out when he got his orders, she said.

"I’m really sad to hear about this," she said. "I feel for his family."

In St. Anne, community members gathered at a Roman Catholic church for a special Mass. He is survived by his parents, two sisters and a brother.

"He was at ease with anyone — the kind of kid you would like your daughter to marry. He was the most charming young man," said Pat Gould, a family friend."

 

[goofymom23]

You honor our Servicemen and Women with this thread and you honor all of us who have served and given so much. Thank you!

 

[JohnTBap]

Oh my goodness, they are just babies. It's breaking my heart to read these, but I am making myself do it. Thank you for posting these.

 

[WebmasterPete]

Thank you VERY much for posting these. We need to remember these very brave men and women. It also helps us to keep our own issues and problems in perspective.

Pete

 

[Silky]

2nd Lt. Therrel S. Childers, 30, Harrison County, Miss.

3-23-03

Second Lt. Therrel S. Childers, 30, known by his middle name Shane, died in combat Friday in Iraq while serving with the U.S. Marines 1 st Battalion 5 th Division. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Childers enlisted in the Marines in 1990, said John VanValin, a family friend in Powell, Wyo., where Childers’ parents live.

Childers loved the Marines. "You could ask him a question about Marine history, and he could tell you who, what and why," VanValin said.

Childers majored in French at the The Citadel.


His attraction to the armed forces came long before he joined the Marines. His father, Joseph, was a Navy Seabee, VanValin said.

Childers loved to exercise and did so often when he visited his parents in Wyoming.

A 100-mile bike ride was nothing for him, said Van-Valin. "That was a morning pedal."

Childers also served during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

He is survived by his parents, Joseph and Judy; a sister, Sandra Brown, of Killen, Texas; and a brother, Sam Childers, of Chicago. Cpl. Brian Kennedy, 25 Glenview, Ill.

 

[Big Dude]

Thank you for posting this thread. One of my workers sons just came home from Iraq. He came into work and visited with me and I thanked him for the sacrifice he made. I thank the heros posted on your thread even more for the ultimate sacrifice and pray for their greiving families.

Adam aka Big Dude

 

[Silky]

Lance Corporal Thomas Alan Blair, 24, Broken Arrow, Okla.

Tommy Blair was a drummer before he became a soldier. "He was quite good," Darrin Davis, Broken Arrow High School’s band director, told The Charlotte Observer. "He’d be in the band room before and after school partly to socialize but mostly to practice."

When, as a sophomore, the senior band members stitched military insignias on their uniforms, Blair followed suit.

His love of the military lasted throughout his life.

"In his first letter home to our mom, he said he was doing what he had been trained to do and was proud to be doing it for his country," said his brother, Alan, a Marine, during a news conference in Broken Arrow.

Blair’s unit was involved in operations March 24 on the outskirts of Nasiriyah. Initially listed as missing, his remains were recovered Friday, March 28.

His father, Al Blair Sr., heard the news the next day.

Blair joined the Marines in 1997, the year he graduated from high school. He most recently was part of the 2 nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, Marine Air Control Group 28, 2 nd Marine Aircraft Wing, stationed in Cherry Point, N.C.

After an initial two-year deployment to Okinawa, Japan, Blair was promoted to lance corporal in September. He left for the Persian Gulf region Jan. 10.

The city of Broken Arrow, a suburb of Tulsa, saluted Blair, proclaiming this week as Thomas Alan Blair Memorial Week.

"My brother was a hero in life and will always be a hero to his family, friends and the country he so loved," Alan Blair said.

"We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers that have been extended to our family and request that we be allowed to grieve in private."

 

[Deb in IA]

They are true heroes, and should never be forgotten.

 

[Pam]

Thank-you, Silky.

What makes me very sad is that you have so many more to post.....

God Bless and Protect Our Armed Forces.

 

[JAP]

Thanks for the reminder. My thoughts are with these young men's families.

 

[Silky]

Staff Sgt. Kendall Waters-Bey

3-23-03

"Staff Sgt. Kendall Waters-Bey, 29, was among four U.S. Marines and eight British Marines who died early Friday when their helicopter crashed in southern Iraq.

A specialist in helicopter maintenance, he was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

He grew up in Baltimore and saw the Marines as a way to better himself and take care of his son, said Tawanda Poteat, his former wife and mother of his 10-year-old son, Kenneth. "He was going to make a career out of it," she said Saturday from her home in Baltimore.

Around Thanksgiving, he brought his son to California to live with him. The two spent time together until February, when Waters-Bey learned he was shipping out.

"He was a good father," Poteat said. "He loved his son to death."

She said she and Kenneth talked of getting a computer so Kenneth could e-mail his father while he was overseas.

Waters-Bey was generous, she said: "If you needed help, and if he only had a little bit of money, he would give it to you."

In addition to Kenneth, he is survived by his wife, Belinda Waters-Bey, of San Diego; his parents; and four sisters. "

 

[momsal]

THANK YOU !!!

 

[Silky]

Lt. Thomas Adams, 27, La Mesa, Calif.

3-26-03

Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams, 27, of La Mesa, Calif., died March 22 when two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters collided over international waters.

Witnesses said the collision created a huge explosion and was over instantaneously, said Bill Allen, a longtime family friend.

Adams was an exchange officer with the Royal Navy’s 849 Squadron in Helston, England, when he was deployed. The squadron is embarked on the Royal Navy aircraft carrier Ark Royal.

Adams, a soccer fanatic, began his assignment with the Royal Navy in October after serving on the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron at bases in Japan and Virginia.

"Soccer was a passion for sure," said Ron Torretto, former high school teacher, adding he was passionate about so much, especially his family.

A 1993 Grossmont High School graduate, Adams was a modest person, Torretto said.

"He loved learning and was the kind of kid that got A’s because he wanted to learn," Torretto said. "He was the kind of serviceman that when he was oversees he took the time to learn about the different cultures."

Allen said everyone would love to have a child like Adams.

"He got to live his life in 28 years and got to live in a way that the majority of people wouldn’t have been able to," he said.

Adams’ lineage is traced back to Presidents John and John Quincy Adams.

He graduated from the Naval Academy and got his wings in 1997, Torretto said. He trained in Pensacola, Fla., achieved the rank of lieutenant two years ago and has since earned two National Defense Service Medals, three Sea Service Deployment Ribbons and other awards and decorations.

Adams is survived by his parents, John and Marilyn, and his sister, Cari.

 

[Silky]

Lance Cpl. Eric Orlowski, 26, Buffalo, N.Y.

3-26-03

"Lance Cpl. Eric Orlowski, 26, died March 22 in Iraq after the accidental discharge of a .50-caliber machine gun. Orlowski was assigned to the 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Nicole Kross, the mother of Orlowski’s 3-year-old daughter, Cameryn, told The New York Times he joined the Marine Reserves three years ago. He wanted to be a Marine since he was 10 years old, Kross said from the house in south Buffalo she and Orlowski once shared.

"He was really proud of himself — it was something he always wanted to do and he did it."

Orlowski was called up for active duty Jan. 19 and went to Camp Lejeune and then to Kuwait. It was his first active-duty assignment.

Kross said he talked to his family 10 hours before his death.

"He talked to Cameryn and told her he loved her," Kross said. "His mother told me he said, ‘We’re going in there and everything’s OK.’ Ten hours later, the Marines showed up at his mother’s door."