Air Force Staff Sgt. Casey Crate

Remember Our Heroes

Air Force Staff Sgt. Casey Crate, 26, of Spanaway, Washington.

SSG Crate died in the crash of an Iraqi air force aircraft during a training mission in eastern Diyala province. He was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Christmas, 2004, Casey Crate scooped his mother off her chair, took her outside and plopped her in front of her gift: A brand new Honda Civic. "He said, 'There you go, Mom, you've got a new car. That's from your little Sonny,'" Linda Crate said. "That's what I used to call him, Sonny."

Crate, 26, of Spanaway, Wash., was killed May 30 in a crash of his surveillance plane about 80 miles northeast of Baghdad. He was based at Hurlburt Field.

Crate was raised by a single mother and was teased by cousins for being such an attentive son when he chopped wood for her to heat the home. He attended Pierce College for two years, but didn't take his studies seriously. "I gave him four options," his mother said. "Get the grades up to go to (Washington State Univesity), go to trade school, or flip hamburgers for a living for the rest of your life."

Crate chose his mother's fourth option: military service. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1998, and never regretted it. He was never able to say much about his special-operations work, but his mother heard from commanders after his death. "They told me they used to call him the 'mission hound.' He always took responsibility," she said.

Air Force Staff Sgt Casey Crate was killed in action on 05/30/05.

Air Force Major William Downs

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Air Force Major William Downs, 40, of Winchester, Virginia.

Maj Downs died in the crash of an Iraqi air force aircraft during a training mission in eastern Diyala province. He was assigned to the 6th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Maj Downs was commissioned into the Air Force in 1988, several months after earning a bachelor’s degree in international business at Grove City College, in Grove City, Pennsylvania.

Maj Downs was assigned to the 6th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, when he left active duty. A few months after US Airways placed Downs on furlough in 2002, he returned to active duty at Hurlburt Field. He was assigned to the Air Commandos of the 6th Special Operations Squadron.

Maj Downs was deployed to Iraq in February, where he flew more than 90 combat sorties in an Iraqi aircraft and was directly responsible for capturing or killing 60 insurgents and nine high-value targets.

At the time of his death, Lieutenant Colonel John Alvarez, commander of the 6th Special Operations Squadron, said Maj Downs, who was serving as an adviser to the Iraqi Air Force and was attached to a multi-national security transition team in Iraq, was at the “peak of his combat aviation advisory career, assisting the newly established Iraqi Air Force in classified and dangerous combat missions.”

On the day of the crash, Maj Downs was on a training mission, flying a six-seat Comp Air 7SL fixed-wing aircraft donated to the Iraqis by the United Arab Emirates in November 2004, said Army Lieutenant Colonel Frederick P. Wellman, the public affairs officer with the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq at Phoenix Base, International Zone, Baghdad.

The crash occurred while in route to Julula, Iraq, which borders Iran

“He was the kind of guy you wished you had a church full of,” said the Rev. Mark Carey, senior pastor at Fellowship Bible Church on Middle Road, where Downs and his family attended services. “He was a man of faith, who didn’t separate it as a once a week activity but made it a part of all that he did.”

Air Force Major William Downs was killed in action on 05/30/05.

Air Force Capt. Jeremy Fresques

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Air Force Capt. Jeremy Fresques, 26, of Clarkdale, Arizona.

Capt Fresques died in the crash of an Iraqi air force aircraft during a training mission in eastern Diyala province. He was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Alongside three fellow soldiers, the 26-year-old commando - who had been promoted to Captain that morning - died in a plane crash during a training mission near Baghdad.

A graduate of the prestigious Air Force Academy in Colorado, Fresques was married for a little more than a year. He lived in Florida with his wife, Lindsey, who is also an officer in the Air Force, said Chuck Shaw, Jeremy's father-in-law.

"They had an excellent marriage, loved each other very much," Shaw said. "He's going to be very sorely missed, and we couldn't have been more proud."

Fresques had been chief of communications and an information officer at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale before transferring to special operations in 2002.

He was set to return home next month after being deployed earlier this year. He and his wife had yet to decide whether they would stay in the military. The couple had no children, Shaw said.

"They were taking it day by day," he said.

Fresques died when a single-engine Iraqi air force plane crashed during a training mission near Jalula, about 50 miles northeast of Baquba.

Air Force Capt Jeremy Fresques was killed in action on 05/30/05.

Air Force Capt. Derek Argel

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Air Force Capt. Derek Argel, 28, of Lompoc, California.

Capt Argel died in the crash of an Iraqi air force aircraft during a training mission in eastern Diyala province. He was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Capt. Derek Argel was so dedicated to water polo that he started showing up at high school practices as a fifth-grader.

As he grew older, his intense commitment to the military led him to enroll in the Air Force Academy and head to Iraq as a commando.

Argel, 28, died Monday in a plane crash during a training mission in the Diyala province northwest of Baghdad. Three other U.S. troops and an Iraqi pilot were also killed in the Memorial Day crash.

Argel was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron based at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The squadron’s missions were often classified and officials refused to say when he was deployed.

Argel was named most valuable player in his high school water polo league, and played the sport at the Academy, where he graduated in 2000. “He worked exceptionally hard. He never took anything for granted,” Cabrillo High School athletic director Bob Lawrence said.

He said the 6-foot-6 Argel towered over him. “He always leaned over and hugged me. He doesn’t ever leave without saying he loves me.”

Argel, who graduated from the school in 1995, brought his wife and young son with him when he last returned to Lompoc to attend the high school’s annual alumni game in October. He gave his old teachers photos of him in uniform.

“His life was always secondary to the United States of America,” friend David Riley said.

Air Force Capt Derek Argel was killed in action 05/30/05.

Air Force Capt. Jeremy Fresques

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Air Force Capt. Jeremy Fresques, 26, of Clarkdale, Ariz.

Capt. Fresques was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.; killed May 30, 2005 in the crash of an Iraqi air force aircraft during a training mission in eastern Diyala province, Iraq. Also killed were Maj. William Downs, Capt. Derek Argel and Staff Sgt. Casey Crate.

Arizona Central -- Memorial Day will never be the same for the tight-knit family of Air Force Capt. Jeremy Fresques.

Alongside three fellow soldiers, the 26-year-old commando with Arizona ties - who had been promoted to captain that morning - died Monday in a plane crash during a training mission near Baghdad.

A graduate of the prestigious Air Force Academy in Colorado, Fresques was married for a little more than a year. He lived in Florida with his wife, Lindsey, who is also an officer in the Air Force, said Chuck Shaw, Jeremy's father-in-law.

"They had an excellent marriage, loved each other very much," Shaw said. "He's going to be very sorely missed, and we couldn't have been more proud."

Lindsey Fresques graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder before joining the Air Force and heading to Florida. The couple worked at bases near Destin, Fla., down the street from each other, Shaw said.

Fresques had been chief of communications and an information officer at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale before transferring to special operations in 2002.

He was set to return home next month after being deployed earlier this year. He and his wife had yet to decide whether they would stay in the military. The couple had no children, Shaw said.

"They were taking it day by day," he said.

Fresques' mother and father lived in Clarkdale, south of Flagstaff, before moving to Yuma. Neither was available for comment Wednesday.

Fresques died when a single-engine Iraqi air force plane crashed during a training mission near Jalula, about 50 miles northeast of Baquba.

The cause of the crash has not been determined, Air Force Master Sgt. Randy Phelps said.

Other Americans killed in the crash were Maj. William Downs, 40, of Winchester, Va.; Capt. Derek Argel, 28, of Lompoc, Calif.; and Staff Sgt. Casey Crate, 26, of Spanaway, Wash. Fresques, Argel and Crate were assigned to the Air Force 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, while Downs was part of the 6th Special Operations Squadron. All were based at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

An Iraqi pilot also died in the crash.

Air Force Capt. Jeremy Fresques was killed in action on 5/30/05.

Army CW4 Matthew Scott Lourey

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Army CW4 Matthew Scott Lourey, 40, of East Bethel, Minnesota.

CW4 Lourey died from injuries sustained on May 26, 2005 in Buhriz, Iraq, when his OH-58 (Kiowa Warrior) came under small arms attack and crashed. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

As a child, Matt Lourey played with toy helicopters and dressed up as the Red Baron for Halloween. His dream of flying was so strong that he left the Marines when he didn't get to fly with them and trained as a private pilot.

"For Matt, it was all or nothing, whether running a marathon, learning to fly, collecting military artifacts or simply loving life," said Maj. Randy Wendt, a National Guard chaplain.

Lourey, 41, of Washington, D.C., died when his helicopter came under attack and crashed in Buhriz. He was based at Fort Bragg.

Lourey was the homecoming king of his 1982 high school class. He served with the Marines before going to Vermilion Community College, earning his pilot's license and joining the Army.

His mother, Minnesota state Sen. Becky Lourey, and other family members opposed the Iraq war, but Lourey volunteered for a second tour of duty.

Lourey's wife, Army Capt. Lisa Lourey, said her husband loved British military tradition and read Rudyard Kipling because of Kipling's respect for the predicament of the junior soldier. "Matt was a cavalryman in the war as well as a loving husband," she said.

Army CW4 Matthew Scott Lourey was killed in action on 05/27/05.

Army CW2 Joshua Michael Scott

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Army CW2 Joshua Michael Scott, 28, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

CW2 Scott died from injuries sustained on May 26, 2005 in Buhriz, Iraq, when his OH-58 (Kiowa Warrior) came under small arms attack and crashed. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Chief Warrant Officer Joshua Michael Scott, a 1995 graduate of Sun Prairie High School, enlisted in the Army immediately after high school, in what family members say was the culmination of a lifelong dream to serve in the military.

Melissa Scott, a younger sister, recalled watching her brother build forts and play Army games as a child.

"This was what he wanted to do, even before he knew about it," she said.

Scott arrived in Iraq in November with the 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, N.C.

According to the Department of Defense, he was killed in the helicopter crash along with Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Scott Lourey, 40, of East Bethel, Minn.

Just before heading overseas, Scott and his wife, Sherri, celebrated the arrival of their third child, a boy named Kross. The couple met at Sun Prairie High School and were married in 1999.

Sherri Scott said her husband tried to shield her from the dangers of serving in Iraq. But after nearly 10 years in the military, he was excited about getting his first chance at active combat.

"He was very proud to serve his country," she said. "He felt like this was finally his opportunity."

In addition to their son, the couple has a 2-year-old daughter, Trynity, and a 16-year-old son, Kenneth.

Sherri Scott said his children were the top priority in Joshua Scott's life. He believed joining the U.S.-led mission in Iraq would make their world more safe, she said.

Army CW2 Joshua Michael Scott was killed in action on 05/27/05.

Army Sgt. First Class Randy D. Collins

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Army Sgt. First Class Randy D. Collins, 36, of Long Beach, California.

SFC Collins died at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland of injuries sustained in Mosul, Iraq, May 4, 2005 during a mortar attack. He was assigned to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Irwin, California.

The sixth of nine children, Collins wanted to join the Army from a young age, his mother said.

He attended Mark Twain Elementary and Bancroft Junior High schools in Long Beach, where he excelled in track and cross country. At Millikan High School, he joined the Army Junior ROTC program.

After he graduated in 1987, Collins joined the Army Reserves and then went on active duty when he couldn’t find a civilian job.

During nearly two decades of active duty, Collins was stationed in California, New York, Germany, Kosovo and Kuwait. He was deployed to Iraq in January, less than a year after marrying his wife, Roxanne.

Army Sgt First Class Randy D. Collins was killed in action on 05/24/05.

Army Sgt. Kurt D. Schamberg

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Army Sgt. Kurt D. Schamberg, 26, of Euclid, Ohio

Sgt. Schamberg died in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York.

His mother said her son had only three weeks left on his second tour and had planned to visit Wyoming, where he loved to four-wheel in the mountains.

Sgt. Kurt Schamberg, 26, had been injured once before in the leg.

“The hours. I was counting the hours,” his mother, Pam Lindsay, of Gillette, said. “We had that close call and we really felt the opportunity had knocked and he had escaped.”

Lindsay had thought it would only be a matter of weeks before her son would be in the Big Horn Mountains, covering acre after acre of forest on a four-wheeler. They had planned the trip months ago, long before Schamberg left in January for his second tour in Iraq.

When he returned, he wanted to visit his brother in Denver. Then he was going to come to Gillette and visit the mountains he fell in love with during several previous visits to Wyoming.

He has spent a summer in Gillette working as a lifeguard at the Campbell County pool and living with his aunt, Cindy Schamberg.

He even had talked about buying property and moving to northeast Wyoming when his obligation to the Army ended in April 2006, his mother said.

Schamberg, 26, was born and raised in Orwell, Ohio, and enlisted in the Army in April 2003. He was awarded the Purple Heart on April 12, 2005 for his leg injury.

He believed in the Army’s mission in Iraq, even though two weeks earlier two others in his squad were killed, said Lindsay, who learned of her son’s death on Friday.

“I would have supported him anyway,” she said.

Army Sgt. Kurt D. Schamberg was killed in action on 05/20/05.

Army Pfc. Wesley R. Riggs

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Army Pfc. Wesley R. Riggs, 19, of Baytown, Texas.

Pfc. Riggs died in Tikrit, Iraq, from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted position. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Wesley Riggs was a "quiet presence," a pensive man with blue eyes that would put Paul Newman to shame. "It made you wonder what he was up to," said family friend BJ McCoy.

Riggs, 19, of Baytown, Texas, was killed May 17 when a roadside bomb exploded in Tikrit. He was based at Fort Stewart.

Growing up on the Gulf Coast, Wesley Riggs was always fond of the water and frequently went rafting with friends. He loved working on cars, fishing, camping and riding dirt bikes. He was a connoisseur of "Southern fun," said BJ's husband, Gary.

Riggs and his cohorts would tear through the closest mud field in a big-wheeled truck. "They would go muddin' or riding any kind of motorized anything that could go fast," McCoy said. "They could make a party out of just about any day."

He finished high school in 2003 after just three years. His decision to join the military was "an organized plan," said his stepmother, Vicki Riggs. "He was a real Southerner," she said. "And he was raised by two Yankees."

Army Pfc. Wesley R. Riggs was killed in action on 05/17/05.

Army Pfc. Travis W. Anderson

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Army Pfc. Travis W. Anderson, 28, of Hooper, Colorado.

Pfc. Anderson died in Bayji, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Before he left for Iraq, Spc. Travis Wayne “Loopie” Anderson told his sister he was scared more for his family than for himself.

“We don’t know how much time we have together,” Anderson wrote to Toscha Alcorta. “I am scared not for me, but for all of you should something happen to me.

“For once I feel I am doing the right thing. It’s strange how life works out. I am tired of being a screw-up.”

Brig. Gen. Robert Reese, commander at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, dismissed the term at Anderson’s funeral Sunday. “He was anything but a screw-up,” Reese said. “He made the ultimate sacrifice to his country.”

About 400 people gathered to remember Anderson, 28, who was killed May 13 when a car loaded with explosives slipped past a line of vehicles waiting at a checkpoint in Beiji, Iraq. The driver detonated the device, killing Anderson and wounding several other soldiers.

Family and friends shared stories Sunday about Anderson, who they said struggled to finish high school but earned a diploma and survived a battle with hantavirus. His long history of hunting and expert marksmanship led to his becoming an Army sniper.

Staff Sgt. Jeremy Schultz said Anderson planned to be a career soldier and wanted to earn enough money to buy land in the San Luis Valley.

“He was a damn fine soldier,” said Schultz, who was in charge of Anderson’s platoon in Iraq before being given another platoon to command in December. “We all called him ‘Cowboy’ because he was from Colorado.”

Cory Anderson remembered when he broke his collarbone and couldn’t work in junior high school, and his brother sent him money from his paycheck so he would have clothes for school.

Second cousin Brant Clayton remembered how Anderson would put his dog, Daniel, in a backpack and drive around on his motorcycle.

Kandalyn Bradshaw grew up with Travis Anderson.

“Oh, that Travis. If he was an angel, the horns on his head kept the halo up,” Bradshaw said.

Army Pfc. Travis W. Anderson was killed in action on 05/13/05.

Army Pfc. Kenneth E. Zeigler II

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Army Pfc. Kenneth E. Zeigler II, 22, of Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.

Pfc. Zeigler died in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

A friend in Texas called Vicki Zeigler to share the radio news report: Their boys' infantry division in Iraq had been fired on. There were casualties. "But we took comfort that it wasn't one of our kids," Vicki Zeigler recalled. "We figured [the Army] would have already notified us."

Army officials arrived at her home in Hinesville, Ga., a few hours later. "Please," she recalled praying as she opened the front door. "Don't let it be Kenny. Don't let it be Kenny."

The chaplain realized her worst fears: Pfc. Kenneth E. Zeigler II, 22, of Dillsburg, Pa., was killed May 13 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

Vicki Zeigler traveled to Arlington National Cemetery to honor her son, a man remembered by family members as an accomplished artist and musician who was passionate about his country.

Soft rain fell as Zeigler's flag-draped coffin was taken from the hearse and placed at his gravesite. Family and friends followed behind the military coffin bearers, their colorful umbrellas in sharp contrast to the melancholy ceremony.

Two American flags, folded with precision, were presented to Zeigler's mother and his father, Kenneth Zeigler, along with a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Good Conduct Medal.

"He was my rock," Vicki Zeigler said in a telephone interview a few days before the service, recalling how her son nursed her after a serious accident and through cancer treatments. She described him as shy and artistic, favoring painting and playing the guitar, which he loved.

It was the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that changed her boy, she said. "He felt a tugging at his heartstrings," she said. "He wanted to do something." That something inspired him to join the Army.

Vicki Zeigler said she was stunned by his decision, but she pledged her support, and in March 2003, he enlisted. The Army tested him to see whether he had the skills to become a medic, but he had other plans, his mother said.

"He wanted to fight," she said. "He wanted to make a career out of it."

The last time Katie Zeigler, 24, talked to her brother was in January, just before he was deployed to Iraq. The conversation was brief, but they covered the bases, talking about his favorite band, Metallica, and what would come next for him while he was overseas.

She confessed she was worried for him, but her brother was unafraid. "He said if he died, he'd die doing something he loved," his sister recalled. "He said he'd be happy dying for his country."

Family members said Zeigler was on his way back from patrol, piloting a Humvee, when an explosive detonated.

"He was the love of my life, and as I understand it, I was his," Vicki Zeigler said.

Soldiers would later tell her that when they brought her son back to base after the attack, his heartbeat "was but a breath."

"They were doing CPR and one of the sergeants leaned over Ken and said: 'Don't worry about your mom. We'll take care of her,' " Vicki Zeigler said. "Then he just let go. Up until the very end, he was worried about Mom."

Army Pfc. Kenneth E. Zeigler II was killed in action on 05/12/05.

Army Sgt. Bernard L. Sembly II

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Army Sgt. Bernard L. Sembly II, 25, of Bossier City, La.

Sgt. Sembly was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, Louisiana Army National Guard, Shreveport, La.; killed May 19, 2005 when he was shot while conducting dismounted combat operations in Baghdad.

Age: 25
Hometown: Bossier City
Unit: Louisiana Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, Shreveport
Date of casualty: May 19, 2005
Incident: Sembly and another member of his unit were shot during combat in Baghdad.

Army Sgt. Bernard L. Sembly II was killed in action on 5/19/05.

Marine Lance Cpl. Marcus Mahdee

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Marine Lance Cpl. Marcus Mahdee, 20, of Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Lance Cpl. Mahdee died as a result of wounds received from an enemy explosion while conducting combat operations in the vicinity of Al Karmah, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Lance Cpl. Marcus Mahdee was raised by his grandparents, Essie and Linton Harris. "He was a good kid," Essie Harris said.

She said she had wanted her grandson to go into the Air Force like two of her sons, thinking the Marines would be too difficult. But Marcus wanted to be a Marine.

On the football team at Fort Walton Beach High School, Mahdee was "quiet and unassuming," coach Mike Owens said of the former wide receiver and defensive back. "Everybody liked him."

Marine Lance Cpl. Marcus Mahdee was killed in action on 05/09/05.

Army Specialist Steven R. Givens

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Army Specialist Steven R. Givens, 26, of Mobile, Alabama

Spc. Givens died in Balad, Iraq, from injuries sustained from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Brigade, 3d
Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Georgia.

The 26-year-old soldier who was killed in Iraq by insurgents on Mother’s Day was remembered as a man who loved and helped children of the war-torn country.

Spc. Steven Ray Givens “made a difference in their lives,” Ron Pierce, the chaplain of the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and the local FBI, said in his eulogy on Saturday.

Givens’ funeral service with full military honors drew several hundred people to the Gospel Lighthouse Independent Holiness Church.

Pierce noted that Givens had volunteered to serve his second tour of duty in Iraq so he could serve his country and help the children on the streets. “He said, ‘I can do something,’ and he did do something,” Pierce said.

Givens, who spent much of his childhood in Mobile, often asked family and friends from his hometown to send him Mardi Gras beads and candy for the kids in Iraq.

As Givens’ mother, Joyce McDuffie of Mobile, wept uncontrollably, Pierce told the audience, “Memorial Day has come early to Mobile, Alabama.”

Many area residents showed their support during the funeral procession, standing with hands over heart in front of their homes or along the roadsides or bowing their heads. Mobile firefighters and law enforcement officials also lined the route, many of them saluting as the procession passed by, and firefighters hoisted a huge American flag along the route.

At the entrance to the cemetery, Givens’ flag-draped casket was loaded onto a horse-drawn caisson. Led by a bagpiper and a drummer, members of the family followed on foot as the procession moved slowly through the cemetery to the grave site.

At graveside, Army Brig. Gen. William Jacobs, the deputy commanding general at Fort Rucker, presented the Bronze Star and Purple Heart to the soldier’s mother and to his wife, Cayssia Givens, of Columbus, Ga., as both women wept.

Cayssia Givens and her husband had only been married for three days when he shipped out for his second tour of duty in Iraq.

A six-member rifle squad from Fort Rucker performed a 21-gun salute, and a bugler concluded the ceremony by playing “Taps”.

Army Specialist Steven R. Givens was killed in action on 05/08/05.

Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher J. Dyer

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Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher J. Dyer, 19, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Lance Cpl Dyer died when the amphibious assault vehicle in which he was a passenger was hit by an improvised explosive device. Dyer’s unit was conducting combat operations south of Haditha, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Columbus, Ohio. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Christopher Dyer had an auspicious beginning to his diving career. On one of his first competitive dives in the 9th grade, he flattened out and hit the water in a belly flop.

But he stuck with it and twice made it to the high school district championship. He even lost two front teeth on an inward dive attempt and had to wear two false teeth.

“He thrived on challenges,” his father, John Dyer.

Dyer, 19, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was killed in an explosion Aug. 3 south of Haditha. His Marine reserve unit was based in Columbus, Ohio.

Dyer graduated with honors from high school in 2004, where he also played the viola in the school orchestra. He had been accepted into Ohio State University and wanted to major in finance.

His father said he joined the Marines because of his sense of duty and the challenge to be “one of the best.”

John Dyer said he and his wife, Kathy, saw a mature and proud son when they visited him during his pre-deployment leave in Las Vegas.

“He said that he couldn’t be happier with the way his life had worked out to this point,” his father said.

WEST CHESTER, Ohio - The mother of a Marine killed in Iraq urged mourners Wednesday not to let their anger and sadness turn them against the U.S. fight in Iraq.

“Honor me in this way,” Kathy Dyer said during a memorial service for Lance Cpl. Christopher J. Dyer, 19, of the Cincinnati suburb of Evendale.

At the funeral at Tri-County Baptist Church, Kathy Dyer delivered what she believed would have been her son’s own message: “It has been with the greatest pride I have served ... fighting to preserve freedom.”

Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher J. Dyer was killed in action on 05/03/05.

Army Capt. Stephen W. Frank

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Army Capt. Stephen W. Frank, 29, of Detroit, Michigan.

Capt Frank died in Diyarah, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated as he was conducting a traffic control point inspection. He was assigned to 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Irwin, California.

Capt. Stephen Frank, 29, died April 29th, 2005 while inspecting a truck at a checkpoint 30 miles south of Baghdad in Diyarah, Iraq. The driver detonated a bomb, killing Frank, and his West Point classmate Capt. Ralph John Harting III.

CPT Frank is survived by his wife Laurel and their two year old son Alex.

A joint memorial service was held for Frank and Harting at Fort Irwin. Another service was held for them at West Point on 12 May, where they were buried.

These Classmates were both raised in Detroit, graduated from West Point together, died together, and were buried together.

"Grip hands - though it be from the shadows"
The Corps

CPT Frank's awards include: Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal (2 oak leaf clusters), National Defense Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat Infantryman's Badge, Expert Infantryman's Badge, Ranger Tab, Parachutist's Badge, and the Air Assault Badge.

Army Capt Stephen W. Frank was killed in action on 04/29/05.

Army 1st Lt. William A. Edens

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Army 1st Lt. William A. Edens, 29, of Columbia, Mo.

1st Lt. Edens was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.; killed April 28, 2005 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Stryker military vehicle in Tal Afar, Iraq. Also killed were Sgt. Eric W. Morris, Spc. Ricky W. Rockholt Jr. and Pfc. Robert W. Murray Jr.

William Edens became a college graduate, an Army lieutenant and a newlywed, all in the space of four months.

When he went to Iraq, his wife, Christina, was finishing medical school.

"I'm sure that leaving her was one of the hardest things he'd ever done," said 1st Lt. Joshua Grenard, a classmate.

Edens, 29, of Columbia, Mo., was among four soldiers killed April 28 by a roadside bomb in Tal Afar. He was based at Fort Lewis.

Edens worked for a while after high school before going to a community college, where he became student body president. At the University of Missouri-Columbia, he studied Russian and military history and led his ROTC team to two back-to-back regional championships in the annual Ranger Challenge.

Edens had a dimpled smile and was known for keeping his college classes in stitches, including with an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression.

"I'm looking through old pictures, and he's always front and center with the biggest smile, hamming it up," said longtime friend Chris Luppen. "He was just well-loved by everybody."

Army 1st Lt. William A. Edens was killed in action on 4/28/05.

Marine Cpl. Kelly "Matt" Cannan

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Marine Cpl. Kelly M. Cannan, 21, of Lowville, New York.

Cpl. Cannan was killed as the result of the detonation of an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom their unit was attached to a 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Cpl. Cannan, was one of two soldiers who died when a bomb exploded near their Humvee in Ramadi. Cannan was a 2001 graduate of Lowville Academy, 60 miles northeast of Syracuse.

Cannan had worked part-time in the maintenance department at the Lewis County Courthouse until enlisting in the Marine Corps in September 2001.

“He was close to a lot of people here,” said Frank J. Archer, a maintenance worker at the courthouse. “Matt wasn’t just a co-worker; Matt was a friend. He always gave 110 percent, no matter what he did. Matt liked everybody, and everybody like Matt.”

Cannan, who last visited the courthouse in the fall, recently volunteered for a third tour in Iraq so fellow Marines with wives and children wouldn’t have to go. “He was always thinking of someone else,” Mr. Archer said.

Marine Cpl. Kelly M. Cannan was killed in action 04/20/05.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Clint J. Prather

Remember Our Heroes

Army Chief Warrant Officer Clint J. Prather, 32, of Cheney, Washington.

CWO2 Prather died in Ghazni, Afghanistan, when the CH-47 helicopter he was on crashed. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Aviation Brigade, Giebelstadt, Germany.

Prather, a chief warrant officer, had served a year in Iraq and went to Afghanistan in February. He joined the Army in 1992 and planned to make the military a career.

Prather had served as a medic before he was trained as a helicopter pilot in 2001.

CWO2 Clint J. Prather, 32, was a native of Cheney, Wash., and enlisted to serve as a combat medic in the Persian Gulf War. He served in South Korea and later in Fort Gordon, Ga., where he met and married his wife, Irene.

He flew 240 hours of combat missions in Iraq, flying mainly out of Balad. In Afghanistan, Prather logged nearly 100 hours of combat flight time in one month.

His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, two Air Medals, the Army Commendation Medal and a posthumous Bronze Star.

Prather was “a charismatic joker” who “had a way of commanding a room,” Wilhelm said. Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Sims said Prather could have transferred out of the unit after serving a stint in Iraq, but volunteered to stay on, knowing it was headed for Afghanistan.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Clint J. Prather was killed in action on 04/06/05.





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Army Staff Sgt. David F. Day

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. David F. Day, 25, of Saint Louis Park, Minn.

SSgt Day was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 151st Field Artillery, 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota Army National Guard, Montevideo, Minn.; killed Feb. 21, 2005 when an improvised explosive device detonated as he was assisting injured soldiers in his command in Baghdad. Also killed were Army 1st Lt. Jason G. Timmerman and Army Sgt. Jesse M. Lhotka.Day ‘found his way with duty, honor and courage’

Army Command Sergeant Major Erik Arnie talked about Staff Sgt. David F. Day at a flag-pole dedication ceremony in his honor on July 9 during Pioneer Prairie Days in Minnesota. — Ed.

The date of 21 February 2005 has been etched into the small communities of Western Minnesota, such as Appleton, Marshall and Morris, for all eternity. For it was on that day that the lives of three young, brave men from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 151st Field Artillery, were sacrificed for their country and their comrades half a world away.

On that morning 1st Lt. Jason Timmerman, Staff Sgt. David Day and Sgt. Jesse Lhotka were conducting what was supposed to be an ordinary mission. The mission turned out to be anything but ordinary.

First Lt. Timmerman, Staff Sgt. Day and Sgt. Lhotka were traveling in the 2nd Echelon of Charlie Company on mission. They had departed the company area at approximately 7 a.m. First Lt. Timmerman and Staff Sgt. Day were in the same Humvee with their driver. Sgt. Lhotka was in another Humvee, with his driver and gunner, that lost control somehow, left the road and began to roll, injuring two soldiers. The small convoy stopped and did what it was trained to do, provide security around the scene and begin assisting the injured. Staff Sgt. David Day, the squad leader of most of those on the scene, did exactly what he was trained to do, take care of his men. After a medevac was called in, the first injured soldier was carried to a helicopter. The second soldier was being carried on a stretcher by 1st Lt. Timmerman; Staff Sgt. Day, Sgt. Lhotka and a soldier from another unit who had also stopped to provide security. As they carried the soldier across the road towards the helicopter an explosion occurred within a few feet of the group. Three soldiers from Western Minnesota died that morning and two others were seriously wounded.

Many of you did not personally know Staff Sgt. David Day — but you did. You know of the boys who grew up from this area; playing ball in the park, riding bikes to the store with a buck from mowing and excitement on what awaited, swimming and fishing in the Pomme de Terre, playing cops and robbers throughout the neighborhood, chasing the fire trucks when they came flashing by, going to Scout camp; and pretending the enemies of America were in the backyard and he was an Army sergeant stopping them in their tracks.

You know of the young men, desiring to be their own man, going off to vocational school or college or joining the service or going to work in the elevator and eventually finding their own way. You know of the those men finding their sweethearts. Oh yes, you know Dave Day — but he was more.

Dave found that serving and protecting was his calling. Whether a police officer with the St. Louis Park Police Department, or a soldier in the Minnesota Army National Guard, or a son and a husband, Dave Day was dedicated to serving and giving back to those who had given to him. Staff Sgt. Day lived out his childhood imaginings and found his own way with duty, honor and courage.

Duty: an act or course of action required of one by position, custom, law or regulation. Moral obligation: the compulsion felt to meet such obligations. These are just a few of the definitions listed in most dictionaries.

On the morning of 21 February 2005, Staff Sgt. Day was performing his duty. More than just the duty that he swore to the day he pledged the oath to serve his president and country. He was doing the duties of a warrior. “I will always place the mission first.” He was out on a mission; helping to protect and secure the new state of Iraq. He did not hesitate to accept this mission when the Charlie Company commander issued it, therefore placing the mission ahead of himself. “I will never accept defeat.” He did not accept defeat; when one of his own teams lost a vehicle, he reacted quickly to recover his soldiers and vehicle and attempted to continue on with the assigned mission.

Honor: personal integrity maintained without legal or other obligations;

“I will never quit.” He certainly did not quit just because something had gone wrong — he obligated himself to carry on as did the rest of his squad from Company C to set up security around the perimeter of the scene and help his comrades.

Courage: Some say that courage is the lack of fear. I say courage is having fear, but knowing and understanding your fear — using it to motivate you and knowing how to put it aside when duty calls. Staff Sgt. Day certainly overcame any fears when he assessed the situation and reacted in a way to assist his men. “I will never leave a fallen comrade.”

It is right that we pay tribute to Staff Sgt. David Day and place a memorial within his community — but not just as a reminder of a boy, a man, a son and a husband, but that of a servant with duty, honor and courage — to those he loved dearly and those he served bravely.

I am honored and proud to be a part of this event. And to Amy, David and Vickie — on behalf of the 1st Battalion 151st Field Artillery, the community of Morris, the state of Minnesota and the Army National Guard, the St. Louis Park Police and friends — thank you for letting all of us know Dave.

He will be forever remembered!

Minnesota towns honor fallen soldier

MORRIS, Minn. — Two by two, a procession of 110 squad cars with lights flashing drove slowly and silently through this western Minnesota city.

A Blackhawk helicopter flew over the procession, flying low enough to create a stir of dust.

And when a white hearse carrying Staff Sgt. David Day drove by, people laid down pink, red and peach roses on the streets of Morris in tribute to a Minnesota soldier who laid down his life last week in Iraq.

Day, 25, a Morris native who was a St. Louis Park police officer, was one of three members of the same Minnesota National Guard unit who were killed Feb. 21 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Separate funerals were held earlier in the week for 1st Lt. Jason Timmerman of Tracy, and Sgt. Jesse Lhotka of Alexandria. Gov. Tim Pawlenty and first lady Mary Pawlenty attended all of the funerals.

After the procession passed Thursday, the crowd dissipated, leaving a line of roses behind them.

“It kind of just overwhelms you, there’s so much support here,” said Carolyn Smith, who held an American flag.

Day, the youngest child of David and Vicki Day, was remembered as a hardworking, good-humored and courageous young man.

An estimated 1,000 people packed Assumption Catholic Church for Day’s funeral. Their ranks included more than 250 law enforcement members from 70 agencies, including 65 from the St. Louis Park Police Department, which swore in Day in February 2004, and the staffs of the Morris police and Stevens County sheriff’s departments. Day had also worked as a community service officer in Morris.

Seating and closed-circuit televisions were set up in the church basement and at St. Mary’s School to accommodate the large numbers.

The Rev. Alan Wielinski shared family stories about Day and reiterated that Day had “laid down his life for his friends.” The three soldiers were killed while coming to the aid of injured comrades.

“The selfless service of David, and countless other soldiers like him, gives witness to some of the very best of human qualities: courage, faithfulness, selflessness, steadfastness, loyalty and love unto death,” he said.

Stevens County Sheriff Randy Willis said Day was a “great kid.”

“A lot of people are liked. A lot of people are respected. But it’s hard to be both,” Willis said. “He pulled it off.”

Capt. Kirk DiLorenzo of the St. Louis Park Police Department worked with Day for two years. He stood on the church steps while Day’s coffin was brought in and out.

“All of the officers are heartbroken,” he said.

Day married his longtime girlfriend, Amy Gulbrandson, 12 days before his deployment in October. Sgt. 1st Class James Howe was Day’s first sergeant and knew Day for about five years.

“He’s not only a good soldier, but a good individual, a great person,” Howe said before the funeral. “The kind of guy you’d want your daughter to marry.”

Before the procession, Brian Brummond, of Morris, spoke of his “very hard emotions.” His son, Joshua, 23, is in Day’s unit — the Montevideo-based 151st Field Artillery — and was assigned to gather the personal belongings of Day, Timmerman and Lhotka to be sent back home.

“He said it was one of the hardest things he’s had to do,” Brummond said.

Army Staff Sgt. David F. Day was killed in action on 2/21/05.

Army Sgt. Adam J. Plumondore

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. Adam J. Plumondore, 22, of Gresham, Ore.

Sgt. Plumondore was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.; killed Feb. 16, 2005 when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Mosul, Iraq.

Big crowd honors a big man
Family and friends gather in Gresham to remember the life of Army Sgt. Adam Plumondore, killed in Iraq
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
ROBIN FRANZEN
GRESHAM -- Army Sgt. Adam Plumondore was big -- 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds -- and he lived as large as he was. He liked to wear wide-brimmed cowboy hats. He liked to shoot big guns and wield big chain saws. He liked the great outdoors and listening to country and western music.

When he and his buddies went out dancing, "we just had a blast watching his head bob around the floor -- it was all you could see," his uncle, Alan Birchfield, said Tuesday at the 22-year-old soldier's funeral service in Gresham.

About 500 people turned out at Greater Gresham Baptist Church to mourn the 2001 Gresham High School graduate, who died Feb. 16 in Mosul, Iraq, after an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. But sadness was mixed with laughter as loved ones shared story after story of a man they said had a huge appetite for life and rarely stopped smiling.

Chris Bartlett, a neighbor of the Plumondore family, recalled occasionally hearing someone peeling out in the street, then looking outside to see Plumondore on his motorcycle, driving wildly up and down the road and grinning.

"Bigger was always better with Adam," he said.

Big fisherman, too

Plumondore, an expert marksman and athlete, also was an avid hunter and fisherman, making frequent outings to woods and water with his father, Dan, and older brother, Ron. Celebratory photos suggest he caught more big fish in 22 years than many fishermen catch in a lifetime.

And over the years, lots of photos were taken of Plumondore; many were displayed Tuesday in a series of video memorials spanning infancy to adulthood. In one, "Plumbob" appeared as a rather large adult laughing while sitting on the lap of his mother, Elfriede. In another, he was a small boy sitting behind the wheel of the family truck, steering with the help of his father, Dan.

Plumondore, a sniper, enlisted in the Army in 2001 and was based at Fort Lewis, Wash. At the time of his death, he had been stationed in Iraq for about four months, deployed there just days before he expected to be discharged from the military.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski, one of several speakers on Tuesday, said Plumondore believed in what he was fighting for as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and died stepping into the shoes of another soldier who was supposed to be on patrol that day. At the time of the explosion, he was positioned in a weapons hatch that left parts of his body exposed.

"No one can replace, and time cannot dim, the memory of Adam Plumondore," Kulongoski said. "He's as fixed in our hearts as God is in our prayers."

A patriot's dream

When dedication leads to the death of a patriot who dreamed of a career as a police officer, the governor added, "then Oregon has lost a valuable, irreplaceable part of its future."

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael A. Dunn said Plumondore, assigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, was a respected senior member of a reconnaissance platoon who showed fierce bravery during battle.

Military officials also fondly remembered Plumondore as a "walking uniform violation," often failing to buckle his chin strap or keep his sleeves rolled down.

"I think it's pretty clear the uniform regulations were advisory to him" Dunn said, drawing laughter.

Birchfield, Plumondore's uncle, read a message from a lieutenant colonel in Iraq that described several heroic actions by his nephew, including an incident in which he helped rescue injured soldiers from a burning vehicle after it was hit in a suicide car bombing.

" 'He jumped out of his vehicle with fire extinguishers in his hands,' " Birchfield read.

Birchfield then presented his late nephew with his own badge from the Wasco County Sheriff's Office, saying he had dreamed of working with Plumondore and Plumondore's brother one day.

"It may not be as important as his Bronze Star or his Purple Heart, but it means something to me," Birchfield said. "I know it would have meant something to him."

Medals at cemetery

Plumondore was posthumously awarded both of those medals at a ceremony later Tuesday at the Willamette National Cemetery, where he was buried following a rifle salute and the playing of "Taps."

In life, country singer George Strait was Plumondore's favorite, and Strait's warm voice crooned over the church's sound system as hundreds of mourners assembled. A few toes couldn't resist tapping to the upbeat tempo, but the words told the real story.

"Am I blue? Yes I'm blue. It started the day I lost you. . . . Am I blue. . . ."

Army Sgt. Adam J. Plumondore was killed in action on 2/16/05.

Staff Sgt. Zachary Ryan Wobler

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. Zachary Ryan Wobler, 24, of Ottowa, Ohio

SSG Zachary Ryan Wobler, is a 1998 graduate of Ottawa-Glandorf High School. A member of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C., he was shot several times after emerging from a warehouse in search of support troops.

After graduating from Ottawa-Glandorf, SSG Wobler joined the Ohio National Guard in Bowling Green and took courses at Owens Community College to become a peace officer.

He completed Army basic training in Missouri and later won numerous honors, including being named Paratrooper of the Year at Fort Bragg in 2002. Sgt. Wobler is survived by his wife and 3 yr old daughter.

Zach Wobler was a soldier, who died for his country, doing a job he loved for the land he loved. His efforts will not be forgotten.

Army Staff Sgt. Zachary Ryan Wobler was killed in action 02/06/05

Marine Lance Cpl. Travis M. Wichlacz

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Travis M. Wichlacz, 22, of West Bend, Wisconsin.

Lance Cpl Wichlacz died as a result of hostile action in Babil Province, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Wichlacz, a 2002 graduate of West Bend West High School, was in a convoy on routine patrol when the bomb exploded. Several other Marines were injured in the attack, said Sgt. Cecil Goodloe, a spokesman for Wichlacz's unit.

Before Jan. 30, Wichlacz and the Marines he was serving with in the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment "helped support getting the region stabilized for elections," Goodloe said. Wichlacz was a member of the Milwaukee-based Fox Company and is the fifth Wisconsin Marine from that company to die in action in Iraq.

Wichlacz was remembered as a competitive three-sport athlete in high school who was extremely proud to be a U.S. Marine.

"He always tried so hard to make everyone proud of him," said his father, Dennis. "He was nothing but good. He just tried so hard to follow the rules."

His son loved being a Marine and had considered a military career, he said.

"He was pretty excited about going over to Iraq," said Bob Kopecky, Travis Wichlacz's high school wrestling coach. "He was pretty proud of it. He took his job pretty seriously over there.

"He was a pretty tough person. He was competitive. He wasn't afraid of anyone."

Marine Lance Cpl Travis M. Wichlacz was killed in action on 02/05/05.

Marine Lance Cpl. Brian C. Hopper

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Brian C. Hopper, 21, of Wynne, Ark.

LCpl. Hopper was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; killed Jan. 26, 2005 when the CH-53E helicopter in which he was riding crashed near Rutbah, Iraq. Twenty-nine Marines and one sailor also were killed.

Chopper crash claims life of Arkansas Marine
By Rainer Sabin
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK — An Arkansas Marine killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq was due to leave the country soon, his family said Friday.

Lance Cpl. Brian C. Hopper, 21, of Wynne, was among 31 Marines killed in the crash of a CH-53E military helicopter in western Iraq on Wednesday. Hopper’s brother, Lance Cpl. Patrick Hopper, is also serving in Iraq and will fly into Memphis, Tenn., on Saturday, according to their father, Robert Hopper. Patrick Hopper is currently in Kuwait, the elder Hopper said.

The father had said Friday morning he wasn’t aware of the whereabouts of Patrick Hopper, who was supposed to escort his brother’s body to an air base at Dover, Del. Brian Hopper’s casket arrived at that base Friday morning, and his brother made a special request to accompany it. Both brothers had been in Iraq since last summer and were expected to come home in the coming weeks.

“Brian was due back next week,” Robert Hopper said. “Patrick is due back February 19th.”

Donald Hopper, a cousin of the younger Hoppers, said Brian Hopper’s presence on the mission that ended in disaster was surprising.

“We were under the impression that he was going to be out of Iraq,” he said. “We thought this was supposed to be his last week. We thought he was on a bus going to Kuwait.”

Donald Hopper said Brian Hopper had been wounded twice in Iraq before the crash.

Most of those aboard the aircraft, a CH-53E helicopter, were assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the Pentagon said.

Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, said the helicopter was on a routine mission in support of Sunday’s elections in Iraq. Abizaid, in Washington to brief members of Congress on the war effort, said the cause of the crash was still under investigation, but there was severe weather in the area at the time.

For Hopper’s family, the news has been difficult.

“When the Marines pulled into the yard, (Robert) knew, but he didn’t know which (son was killed),” Donald Hopper said.

Brian Hopper was remembered by his family as a person who rose above the call of duty.

“To me he was a hero, because he wouldn’t leave his men,” Donald Hopper said. “He was my hunting and fishing buddy.”

Wynne Mayor Paul Nichols taught Patrick Hopper in school and said he got to know his brother as a result. He said the town was troubled by Brian Hopper’s death.

“He was a fine young man,” Nichols said. “There is a lot of concern. People I have come into contact with have expressed sorrow.”

• • • • •
Arkansas Marine laid to rest in hometown

WYNNE, Ark. — A Hawaii-based Marine who was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq was laid to rest Thursday.

Lance Cpl. Brian C. Hopper, 21, of Wynne, was among 30 Marines and one sailor killed in the crash of a CH-53E military helicopter in western Iraq on Jan. 26.

“This is the way we operate together to take care of any fallen Marine,” Minister Robbie McMaster said. “It’s only befitting that we do that.”

Hopper earned three Purple Hearts, one posthumously, for injuries suffered.

His brother, Lance Cpl. Patrick Hopper, also serving in Iraq, accompanied Brian Hopper’s body home Tuesday.

Most of those aboard the aircraft were assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the Pentagon said. Officials said the helicopter was on a routine mission in support of Sunday’s elections in Iraq. There was severe weather in the area.

Hopper’s family said he had returned to active duty so he could stay in Iraq to serve with his comrades.

Marine Lance Cpl. Brian C. Hopper was killed in action on 1/26/05.

Army Specialist Taylor J. Burk

Remember Our Heroes

Army Specialist Taylor J. Burk, 21, of Amarillo, Texas.

Spc. Burk died in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Spc. Burk was born Aug. 26, 1983, and raised in Amarillo. In his youth he developed a great love of sports, playing both soccer and football. Taylor deeply loved his family and as a young man was nurtured by his "Mom," Tracy and mentored by his "Dad," Larry. Wheeler, Taylor's brother, was his best friend and Taylor was truly a "big brother" to his sister Julie. Taylor's youth was filled with both the love of his family and many close friends. He graduated from Randall High School before enlisting in the Army, attending boot camp at Fort Sill, Okla. Taylor trained as a medic at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and was later stationed at Fort Hood prior to his deployment to Baghdad, Iraq.

Last year, Private Taylor Burk, a medic, was riding with a group of Humvees on a nighttime patrol when Iraqi gunmen suddenly raked his vehicle with gunfire. Burk, a rural Amarillo native, was riding in an unprotected Humvee when a tracer bullet ricocheted through his boot and lodged in his foot, family members said.

Another soldier called out to Burk and said he'd been hit. Private Joseph Bridges had been shot in the thigh and suffered severe bleeding. Although wounded himself and under enemy fire, Burk worked quickly saving the soldier's life as the gunfire continued striking Private Bridges again.

Burk insisted to his commander that they take the soldier directly to a surgical hospital in unfamiliar territory. The Humvees rushed through Baghdad streets with their lights off to the medical facility.

Burk's actions were credited with saving his friend's life, and he was awarded the Bronze Star for his valor in combat, the Combat Medic Badge and the Purple Heart.

Taylor returned to Fort Hood for rehabilitation of the wounds he sustained during that conflict. He received a 30-day medical leave and enjoyed quality time with his family and friends. Taylor was a young man with a pure heart and deep spiritual conviction. He was honored to serve this nation and demonstrated courage and valor in his duties. At the time of his death, he was serving his second tour of duty in Baghdad. Taylor was killed while on patrol in a heated area when a homemade bomb detonated.

He will be dearly missed by his family and friends. He will never be forgotten by Company C, 1-8 Calvary for his courage and bravery as a hero in the line of duty.

Army Specialist Taylor J. Burk was killed in action on 01/26/05.

Army Capt. Christopher J. Sullivan

Remember Our Heroes

Army Capt. Christopher J. Sullivan, 29, of Princeton, Mass.

Capt. Sullivan was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed Jan. 18, 2005 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his parked vehicle in Baghdad.

Army captain killed in Iraq
By Kaitlin M. Thaney, Globe Correspondent | January 21, 2005

Army Captain Christopher J. Sullivan was a protector, his sister said. The 29-year-old Princeton native always tried to keep his family and friends from worrying, often telling them the situation was not as grim as it appeared in Iraq, where he had been sent one January ago.

Amy Lilley, Sullivan's sister from Scarborough, Maine, said she had heard from her brother on Jan. 10. ''We were passing around joke e-mails," she said.

Lilley was still trying to let the news sink in yesterday that her brother, a committed career soldier, was killed on Tuesday in Baghdad, while serving as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Department of Defense confirmed yesterday that Sullivan died when an improvised explosive device detonated near his parked vehicle.

He was scheduled to return home to his wife and son in a few weeks, the government reported.

Sullivan had been working as an armor officer, in charge of the tanks and vehicles in the field, said Maureen Ramsey, a public affairs specialist for the Defense Department.

He had entered the Army in March 1998 and just this month had taken on the responsibility of company commander, leaving a job at headquarters.

He also had served in Kosovo and Germany and in November had participated from Fallujah via satellite phone link in the Veterans Day ceremony held in Shirley.

Sullivan felt it was important to thank veterans who had preceded him and always emphasized that soldiers in Iraq were proud to serve, his family said.

Sullivan's interest in military service started early. At age 14, he joined the Civil Air Patrol. He served in the ROTC while attending the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, where he majored in mechanical engineering. He sought to continue the family tradition of military service, following the path of his grandfather, father, and two uncles.

His parents, longtime Princeton residents James and Dorothy Sullivan, could not be reached for comment. Yesterday, they were with Sullivan's widow, Sandy, and his 19-month-old son, David, in Fort Hood, Texas, where he was based.

Sullivan also leaves an older sister, Jennifer Orr, who lives in Epsom, N.H.

Lilley said Sandy Sullivan had talked to her husband on Saturday.

''This is the worst thing that we could imagine," she said.

Army Capt. Christopher J. Sullivan was killed in action on 01/1/05.

Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew W. Holloway

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Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew W. Holloway, 21, of Fulton, Texas.

Lance Cpl. Holloway died from injuries received as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve's 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Corpus Christi, Texas.

Hundreds of people came to remember an adventurous young man, who found his latest challenge in Iraq. But after this adventure he won't be coming home to young wife Amie whom Reverend Jim Daniel called a gift to Matthew.

"You have given all you have lived, have loved, and you have died for a purpose," said Rev. Daniel. His sacrifice earned him the oldest combat medal awarded. Some came to mourn Lance Corporal Holloway. Others came to remember him as a kid catching a quick nap, or riding his bike, or a young patriot who gave his life in service of his country.

As the Marine Hymn played, marines who have made it home safely honored Matthew's sacrifice. One they vow will not be in vein.

Bryan Holloway remembers exactly when his younger brother was born, the day after his own birthday.

"So my birthday present was a day late," said Bryan Holloway. "I still haven't forgiven mom and dad for that. But what a present it was I had a little brother." Like all little brothers Matthew looked up to his older brother. After the attacks of September 11th 2001, he decided to become a Marine like his father and older brother Bryan, who's been overwhelmed by the outpour of sympathy from the community.

"It amazes me just how many people have told me how much they loved Matt. How much he affected so many lives in a positive way. Everyone who knew him liked him and most grew to love him." Bryan also tried to console Matthew's widow Amie who was a new bride just eight short months ago. "I know how very much Matthew loved you and I am so glad you were a part of his life."

His father also talked to the congregation saying his son would appreciate all the flowers and condolences, and would urge them not to forget his buddies who are still at war.

"I would ask them that they give those prayers for my fellow devil dogs in Charlie Company 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines so that they all return safely home to their families," said Wayne Holloway. Tragically there was not a safe return for Matthew who paid the ultimate price for his country and freedom.

"Thank you Matthew for your love, strength, courage and kindness," said Bryan. "Thank you for being that shining light to so many. I love you Matthew and goodnight little brother. God bless America and Semper Fi."

Lance Corporal Holloway was laid to rest with full military honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.

Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew W. Holloway was killed in action on 01/13/05.

Marine Lance Cpl. Eric S. Freeman

Remember Our Heroes

Marine's death in car accident rattles family, neighborhood
By BRAD A. GREENBERG
Staff Writer

Monday, January 03, 2005 - Marine Lance Cpl. Eric S. Freeman was in Baghdad when American military toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein. He survived the assault on the restless Iraqi city of Fallujah in April. A week before deploying for his third tour of duty, he died when his sedan overturned on Interstate 10 in Calimesa and hit a tree.

"After two deployments, you get in your mind that he is untouchable. He can't die,' said Tiara Wentworth, Freeman's girlfriend who spent Monday with his family in Thousand Oaks. "And then to have him die in a car accident three hours after I say goodbye,' drawing out a long pause, "It's really strange.'

Lance Cpl. Nathan Olig was driving the car when it rolled on the 20-year-old men. Freeman died at the scene early Monday morning. Olig broke his collarbone and suffered a concussion.

He was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center on Monday, surrounded by other members of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms.

Capt. Chad Walton, the spokesman for the base, would not release any information Monday.

Olig was recovering well, a Marine said in the hospital's hallway. He was not ready to speak about the car crash.

"It's not his fault,' Brenda Freeman, Eric's mother, said of Olig, who had been at her home Sunday. "It could have happened to anybody.'

The collision sent a shock wave through the Freemans' tight-knit upper-middle class neighborhood.

"Oh no! Oh my God! Oh my God! He was a great kid,' neighbor Jean Castaing, 65, cried out when she found out.

Hours later, Jody Tiefel drove onto Windersong Street and noticed the Marines flag missing from a pole on the front of the Freeman house. In its place was an American flag.

"I thought, 'Well, he's still in the states. He's not in Iraq. What happened?'' Tiefel, 58, recalled. "This was really a shock. When they are in Iraq, you brace for it, but not when they are at home.'

The public support Brenda Freeman showed her Marine son only added to the grief. At the start of the war in Iraq, she and other Thousand Oaks residents tied yellow ribbons around scores of trees along Lynn Road to support the troops. The city then took them down.

Residents responded with outrage, and more ribbons appeared throughout town. City officials backed down and let the ribbons stay.

"The community really rallied behind her and said, 'This isn't fair. We want those ribbons. We want to remember the guys,'' Tiefel said.

Since combat began in March 2003, 1,335 American military men and women have died in Iraq. Others have died here in the United States while resting from one tour of duty and awaiting their next.

Army Spc. Daniel Maldonado, 20, fought in Afghanistan once and Iraq twice before returning home to Victorville to recover from a broken back he suffered when he fell out of a helicopter, dropping 60 feet. Days before he was set to board a plane to train in Fort Bragg, N.C., he was shot dead while sitting on the lawn of his mother's home.

"My life changed,' said his mother, Rosa Maldonado, 56. Her heart went out to the Freemans on Monday. "I feel so bad for that family. I know how that mom feels.'

Broken is one way Brenda Freeman feels. As she spoke by phone, her voice quivered and ebbed. She paused at times for 30 seconds or more when talking. It sounded as if she was shaking violently.

"He was a good boy,' she said of her son, one of five children. "He was brave and honorable. And he had a good future ahead of him.'

Scott Freeman said his son first decided he would be a Marine at age 15. After graduating from The High School at Moorpark College, a program for gifted students who don't fit well in traditional schooling, Freeman began his service.

"He embodied ... the goals of the U.S. Marine Corps,' said Taylor Gilbert, a teacher at the school. "Loyalty, fidelity, honesty and integrity were the goals he strived to deal with.'

He was an infantryman regularly on the front line of major battles, said Gilbert, who saw him last week. A bout in Fallujah earned him the Purple Heart. The wounds he suffered from the improvised-explosive device sidelined him only a few days.

His parents were scared every minute he spent overseas.

"But I was proud of him, too,' his mother said.

The Marines at Twentynine Palms were given time during December to see family and friends, or just relax. Miraculously, the whole Freeman clan was able to connect. They visited Lake Tahoe for Christmas. For New Year's, they spent the night with a relative who lives on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. Eric had a perfect seat for his first trip to the Rose Parade.

He spent Sunday packing for Iraq. He and Olig departed from Thousand Oaks in the middle of the night. He kissed goodbye Wentworth, his 17-year-old "drama queen' who he wanted to marry. He gave his family his love.

At about 2:20 a.m. Monday, 117 miles from Thousand Oaks, Lance Cpl. Olig dropped his drink. When he looked down for the cup he bought during a snack stop in Redlands, the car drifted off the freeway, CHP Officer Chris Blondon said. Olig overcorrected when he swung it back onto the road. The car flipped and slammed into a tree.

Both men wore seat belts, Blondon said, but the trauma caused by the tree took Freeman's life.

"The Marine Corps' most precious asset has always been the individual Marine,' said Maj. Nathaniel Fahy, a spokesman for Marine headquarters at the Pentagon. "Anytime one of our own is taken from us by a senseless tragedy like this, it is truly heart wrenching. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones during this difficult time.'

Marine Lance Cpl. Eric S. Freeman died on 01/03/05.

Army Specialist Nicholas C. Mason

Remember Our Heroes

Remember Our Heroes

Army Specialist Nicholas C. Mason, 20, of King George, Virginia.

Spc. Mason died in Mosul, Iraq, when a suicide bomber entered his dining facility and detonated an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's 276th Engineer Battalion, West Point, Virginia.

Spc. Mason, a 2002 graduate of King George High School, signed up for the military in 2001 while he was still in school. He attended National Guard training once a month while completing his freshman year at Virginia Tech, and planned to resume his studies after returning from Iraq in February or March.

Spc. Mason was one of two members of the Virginia Guard’s 229th Engineer Battalion killed in the Dec. 21 attack. They had deployed to Iraq last December with the 276th Engineer Battalion, based in Richmond.

Maj. Gen. Claude Williams, the Virginia Guard’s adjutant general, knelt between Mason’s flag-draped coffin and his family, and presented a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal and the Virginia Legion of Merit.

Fellow firefighters also honored Mason, a member of the King George Volunteer Fire Department. They stood and saluted as his father received his helmet. A series of symbolic rings tolled on a silver fireman’s bell, signifying Mason’s death and that his job was complete.

Army Specialist Nicholas C. Mason was killed in action 12/21/04.

Army Sgt 1st Class Todd C. Gibbs

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt 1st Class Todd C. Gibbs, 37, of Angelina, Texas.

Sgt Gibbs died in Khalidiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated while his unit was on a dismounted patrol. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Greaves, Korea.

Gibbs, who had been in the Army for 13 years, was deployed to Iraq in August as part of the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Camp Greaves, South Korea, his brother said.

“Todd was the kind of guy that would give you the shirt off his back,” Bret Gibbs said. He said friends of his brother have been calling him saying the same words.

Bret Gibbs said that his brother grew up in Lufkin, graduating from high school in 1986. He went on to earn a criminal justice degree from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.

“After college he had a change of heart in the direction he wanted to take,” Bret Gibbs said. “He decided to enlist in the Army.”

Todd Gibbs’ wife, Melissa Gibbs, their 1-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter live in Killeen, where he had been stationed at Fort Hood prior to being sent for a year to Korea.

Army Sgt 1st Class Todd C. Gibbs was killed in action on 12/07/04.

Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock

Remember Our Heroes

Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock, 20, of Maple Shade, New Jersey.

Spc. Mahlenbrock died in Kirkuk, Iraq, when he was clearing a route and an improvised explosive device detonated. He was assigned to the 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Died on December 3, 2004.

Spc. David Mahlenbrock was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetary. In honor of his final request, here are the lyrics to his favorite song. God bless him and his family.

Toby Keith - American Soldier

I'm just trying to be a father,
Raise a daughter and a son,
Be a lover to their mother,
Everything to everyone.
Up and at 'em bright and early,
I'm all in my business suit,
Yeah, I'm dressed for success from my head down to my boots,
I don't do it for money, there's still bills that I can't pay,
I don't do it for the glory, I just do it anyway,
Providing for our future's my responsibility,
Yeah I'm real good under pressure, being all that I can be,
And I can't call in sick on Mondays when the weekends been to strong,
I just work straight through the holidays,
And sometimes all night long.
You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door,
Hey, I'm solid, hey I'm steady, hey I'm true down to the core,
And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price,
I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrafice,
Oh, and I don't want to die for you,
But if dyin's asked of me,
I'll bear that cross with an honor,
'Cause freedom don't come free.
I'm an american soldier, an american,
Beside my brothers and my sisters I will proudly take a stand,
When liberty's in jeopardy I will always do what's right,
I'm out here on the front lines, sleep in peace tonight.
American soldier, I'm an American,
An American,
An American Soldier

Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock was killed in action on 12/03/04.

Marine Lance Cpl. Adam R. Brooks

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Adam R. Brooks, 20, of Manchester, New Hampshire.

Lance Cpl Brooks died as a result of enemy action in Babil Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Associated Press

MANCHESTER, N.H. — A Marine from New Hampshire has died in Iraq after a bomb exploded near his Humvee, the Department of Defense said.

Rose Marois said her son, Lance Cpl. Adam Brooks, 20, was killed Sunday while he was on patrol in Baghdad. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Brooks was a newlywed and a 2003 graduate of Central High School, joining the military right after graduation.

“He wanted to further his education that way. He had all kinds of plans,” his mother said.

Marois said her son was expected home in February and wanted to become a state trooper.

“It’s awful,” she said. “Your kids aren’t supposed to die before you do.”

Brooks and his wife, Ashley, were married over Memorial Day weekend, knowing he was headed to Iraq.

“They married so that when he was in battle, he’d have something to hold onto,” said Fatima Deek, a close friend of the couple.

Those who knew Brooks at Central High School recalled his love for the Marine Corps and his enthusiasm for joining the service.

“The minute he decided what he wanted to do, there wasn’t any stopping him,” said Joy Canny, a support professional at Central.

Brooks was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force. He died in Iraq’s Babil province.

He was one of eight service members from the base killed in recent fighting in Iraq.

Marine Lance Cpl. Adam R. Brooks was killed in action on 11/28/04.

Marine Lance Cpl. Demarkus D. Brown

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Demarkus D. Brown, 22, of Martinsville, Va.

LCpl Brown was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed Nov. 19, 2004 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

Marine killed in Iraq was ‘outstanding young man’
By Tom Patterson
Martinsville Bulletin / Associated Press

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Lance Cpl. Demarkus D. Brown will be remembered as always having a smile on his face and proud of his service to his country.

And, of course, as “Chicken.”

Brown, 22, who was killed Nov. 19 while serving in Iraq’s Anbar province, earned his nickname as a two-sport athlete at the former Laurel Park High School, according to his wrestling coach, Curtis Gore.

“I gave him the nickname his first practice in the ninth grade,” Gore said. “Everything he did, he would just flop around like a chicken with his head cut off.”

Some people might have tried to shrug off the name, but Brown added it to his trademark grin to form an immutable identity.

“I recall that when he first introduced himself he referred to himself by his nickname, ‘Chicken.’ We would kid about that,” said former Laurel Park Principal Ben Gravely.

“No one will ever forget that he was ‘Chicken,”’ said former Laurel Park Booster Club President Ardys Winslow. “I had to look up in an annual to find out that he was Demarkus Brown.”

But Brown’s actions, not his nickname, are what people remember most about him.

“He was always a person you could turn to to make a gray day bright. He was an outstanding young man — someone you could count on,” Winslow said.

Winslow and Frank Scott, Brown’s former track coach at Laurel Park, said Brown was the type of man any mother and father would be proud to call their son.

“First of all, I’m devastated. He’s one of the finest student-athletes I had the opportunity to coach,” Scott said.

“He always wanted to please you. He’d take on any event or any challenge. Even though he was short, he took on distance running where he had to work extra hard. I can see him right now hitting the last turn on a final lap running hard to the finish. That’s the type of kid he was,” Scott said.

His inauspicious start in wrestling aside, Brown blossomed into a crowd favorite by his senior year, Gore said.

“He could constantly roll people” whenever he was on his back, Gore said, and the crowd would cheer for him to do it.

Brown also won the Ironman Wrestling Tournament his senior year, which is one of the more prestigious awards in the area, he added.

“He came out of nowhere and beat everybody,” Gore said.

Brown enlisted in the Marines after graduating from Laurel Park in 2000, and was enthusiastic about his chosen profession.

“I saw him right before he enlisted. He was very excited about joining the military,” Scott said.

“It was something he was proud to do. He always gave it his all,” Winslow said. “ ... This makes this war even more a reality. It hits our community — it hits our home. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, we were a village at Laurel Park. It’s a great loss.”

Local Marine recruiter Sgt. Kathy Perdue said Brown was the epitome of what a Marine is and loved his job.

“He chose to be in the infantry,” Perdue said. “I talked to him two weeks ago because he requested to come home to do recruiter’s assistance. He was in good spirits. He was glad to have been over there but was ready to come home.”

Brown previously had worked with Perdue as a recruiter’s assistant, she said, and he always came by the recruiter’s office when he was home.

Being a recruiter’s assistant was “a way for him to stay at home longer and talk about being a Marine,” Perdue said. “He enjoyed talking about the Marines. He came in quite often on the weekends to help me any way that he could.

“He’s definitely going to be missed,” she added. “He was the type of person you wanted to be around. He was very positive, never sad and had a great smile. He will be missed by friends, family and the Marine Corps.”

Hundreds honor Martinsville native slain in Iraq

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Hundreds of friends, relatives and former classmates turned out Sunday to remember Lance Cpl. Demarkus Brown.

“He brought hope, loyalty and friendship to all who knew him,” the Rev. William Lowery said at Brown’s funeral at Greater International Pentecostal Holiness Church. “To Lance Corporal Demarkus Brown, I say, ‘Semper Fi.”’

A machine gunner with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Brown, 22, was killed Nov. 19 as the result of enemy action in Iraq’s Anbar province, according to the Department of Defense. Anbar province includes the city of Fallujah, where more than 100 American soldiers have been killed in fighting since the beginning of November.

At a graveside service, a military honor guard presented Chynita Belcher with the two Purple Hearts awarded to her son posthumously for combat wounds suffered the day he died.

Brown was remembered by his coaches and teachers at Laurel Park High School, where he wrestled, ran track and cross country, played football and participated in the ROTC program before graduating in 2000.

“He always wanted to please you. He’d take on any event or any challenge. Even though he was short, he took on distance running where he had to work extra hard,” said Brown’s track coach, Frank Scott. “I can see him right now hitting the last turn on a final lap running hard to the finish. That’s the type of kid he was.”

Brown was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., before being deployed to Iraq in June. Family members said they feared for his safety when he left, but at his going-away party, they recalled Brown was calm and eager to serve his country.

His other medals included the Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

“He was such an inspiration to people,” said Ardys Winslow, Laurel Park High’s former booster club president. “Demarkus will be remembered for his love, laughter and great personality.”

Marine Lance Cpl. Demarkus D. Brown was killed in action on 11/19/04.

Marine Lance Cpl. Shane E. Kielion

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Shane E. Kielion, 23, of La Vista, Nebraska

Lance Cpl. Kielion was assigned 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Nov. 15, 2004 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

Marine killed in Iraq just hours after son's birth
OMAHA (AP) — Marine Lance Cpl. Shane Kielion was killed in action in Iraq not knowing that his first child had been born just hours before.

April Kielion, the Marine's widow and high school sweetheart, gave birth to a boy in Omaha on Monday, said Kielion's old high school football coach, Jay Ball.

"She's hanging in there," Ball said. "She's a strong woman. She's got a terrific family and lots of supportive friends."

The baby was named Shane Kielion Jr., said April Kielion's father, Don Armstrong. He said his daughter was "doing as well as to be expected under the pressure."

Shane Kielion, a rifleman in the 1st Marine Division of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, was killed Monday in Al Anbar Province, the military said.

Officials at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he was stationed, refused to comment on how he was killed. Anbar Province includes Fallujah — which American forces now control after a lengthy offensive — as well as other guerrilla strongholds.

The family is numb, said Ball. "It's time for them to do some healing," Ball said.

Kielion joined the Marines on Dec. 3, 2002, and this was his second tour in Iraq.

Ball said Kielion had come home to visit in August, and bragged about his family.

"He was excited about his baby on the way and he always told me how beautiful his wife was," Ball told KMTV News in Omaha.

He started at quarterback for Omaha South High School in 1997 and 1998. He went to Peru State College for a short time on a football scholarship, but when that didn't work out he returned to Omaha to work and joined the Marines, Ball said.

"He wanted to improve his life for his family," Ball said.

Students shower slain Marine’s son with gifts

OMAHA, Neb. — The children at St. Bernadette School last Christmas held a baby shower for the baby Jesus. This Christmas, it was a shower for another baby.

The students decided this year to focus their attention on Shane Edward Kielion Jr. —born Nov. 15, the same day hisMarine father, Shane Kielion Sr., was killed in Iraq.

On Monday, the baby’s grandfather, Roger Kielion, drove his Jeep up to the doors of St. Bernadette to receive the gifts for his first grandchild.

“I was amazed at how much the students had collected,” he said, filling the entire back seat and cargo area of the vehicle with gifts.

The gifts included disposable diapers, baby wipes, baby clothing, blankets, bedding, gift cards and certificates and more than $700, said school counselor Linda Reese, who well understands losing a loved one in war. Her brother was killed in the Korean War.

The infant’s mother, April Kielion, was equally appreciative of the children’s efforts.

“So much has happened that I’m not celebrating Christmas this year,” she said, “but my son is because of so many people.”

The Kielion family has received gifts from strangers around the country who heard of their loss, but local efforts have been especially touching, the Kielions said.

“The St. Bernadette children had so many questions about the baby that I’m planning to bring him and his mother to visit early next year,” Roger Kielion said.

— Associated Press

Marine Lance Cpl. Shane E. Kielion was killed in action on 11/15/04.

Marine Lance Cpl. Justin M. Ellsworth

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Justin M. Ellsworth, 20, of Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

Lance Cpl Ellsworth died as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to Combat Service Support Battalion 1, Combat Service Support Group 11, 1st Force Service Support Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California.

Ellsworth grew up in Wixom and Mount Pleasant, where he has relatives.

John Ellsworth said his son's life was "fun-filled and adventurous." "He was always up to a challenge," his father said. "He wasn't afraid to try something to see if he could do it. He was a wonderful son and brother.

"He will be a hero to the thousands of lives he touched on this earth."

Justin Ellsworth had always wanted to be a Marine, his father said, and arranged to join the Marine Corps before he graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in June 2003. Shortly after graduation he enlisted.

Ellsworth was assigned to Combat Service Support Battalion of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

In recent weeks, Ellsworth, who was trained in handling explosives, was part of a reconnaissance force that helped to evacuate civilians from Fallujah, his father said. "He was going into the night with a group of other soldiers to (rescue civilians)," said his father.

"He was actually saying lives. He would say he could see the look on their faces (that they were relieved to see them). That made me very proud."

The last time John Ellsworth talked with his son was on Nov. 3 when Justin Ellsworth called him on a telephone.

"He called to say `Dad I love you,'" his father said.

Besides his father, the Marine is survived by mother Tracy; who lives in Colorado, his step-mother Deborah and three brothers and a sister.

Marine Lance Cpl Justin M. Ellsworth was killed in action on 11/13/04.

Army 1st Lt. Edward D. Iwan

Remember Our Heroes

Army 1st Lt. Edward D. Iwan, 28, of Albion, Neb.

Lt. Iwan was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Vilseck, Germany; killed Nov. 12 when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq.

TheOmahaChannel -- ALBION, Neb. --

The Albion native and 28-year-old Army chaplain died Friday when his Bradley vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade in the battle for Fallujah.

Iwan's parents, Donna and Kenneth Iwan, said that as a young leader in Future Farmers of America, he talked them into raising sheep. It was a whole new lifestyle for the family, but it was something Edward really wanted to do.

After high school, Iwan joined the Army, then went to college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and joined the ROTC program. He graduated with a degree in criminal justice.

To show how optimistic Iwan was, he asked his parents to send seeds to Iraq so he could grow a garden in the middle of a war zone.

"He always wanted to see if things would grow in the desert," Kenneth Iwan said.

"This child was a gift," said Donna Iwan. "You'd always (want to) keep your gifts longer but the days were good."

Edward Iwan saw the military as a career, and after serving as an enlisted man he earned a college degree and returned to Army life as a commissioned officer.

"It was a service and dedication thing to him," said his mother, Donna Iwan. "He felt there were people in need, who needed to be helped."

Iwan, 28, of Albion, Neb., died when a grenade struck his vehicle on Nov. 12. He was stationed in Germany.

Iwan had joined the Army after graduating from high school in 1994. He served three years as an enlisted man and then studied criminal justice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After graduation, he rejoined the Army in December 2001 as a 2nd Lieutenant.

Iwan, who previously served in Kosovo, felt the army's goals were essentially humanitarian -- to ensure safety and peace, Donna Iwan said.

"He believed in the career of a soldier in protection and peace -- protection of the weak," she said.

Army 1st Lt. Edward D. Iwan was killed in action on 11/12/04.

Marine Sgt. Lonny D. Wells

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Sgt Lonny D. Wells, 29, of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania.

Sgt Wells died as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Sgt Wells had been in the Marine Corps for eight years and served in Kosovo, France, Spain and Germany, said his mother, Yvonne Lynn Wells. He had been in Iraq since June and was scheduled to come home in January, his family said.

Wells’ wife, Jennifer, and the couple’s 7-month-old daughter, Jade, live at the Marine base in Camp Lejeune, N.C., his family said. The 1994 graduate of Kiski Area High School also had three children — Marissa, Lonny Jr. and Daylon — from a previous marriage who live in Apollo, his mother said.

“He was a great father,” Yvonne Lynn Wells told the Valley News Dispatch of Tarentum. “He would do anything for his kids.”

His mother remembered her son as a man who loved the Dallas Cowboys, sang Kenny Rogers songs in the car and loved the Marines.

“He was committed,” she said. “He was all-military.”

Marine Sgt Lonny D. Wells was killed in action on 11/09/04.

Marine Sgt. Kelley L. Courtney

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Sgt. Kelley L. Courtney, 28, of Macon, Ga.

Sgt Courtney was assigned to 3rd Intelligence Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan; killed Oct 30, 2004 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

Georgia Marine warned of ‘hornets nest’ before death
Associated Press

MACON, Ga. — A Marine from Georgia who was among eight Marines killed in Iraq outside the city of Fallujah had confided to his brother that he was entering “a hornets nest,” The Macon Telegraph reported.

Sgt. Kelley Courtney, a counterintelligence officer, had been in Iraq about six weeks when a car bomb exploded next to his truck on Saturday.

Lance Cpl. Michael P. Scarborough, 28, of Washington, Ga., also was among the Marines killed Saturday.

“Don’t tell Mom, but I’m scared,” Courtney said in his last e-mail to his older brother, Joey Fernandez, in Macon. “We are about to stir up a hornets nest here shortly and I’m going to be right in the middle of it.”

Courtney apologized for any past disagreements with his brother, the newspaper reported in its Tuesday editions.

“I thought he was homesick,” Fernandez told The Telegraph. “But he knew that he was going to die.”

Courtney, 28, and his wife, Cindy, had been sweethearts since fourth grade. They were married in 1999 and had two children, Kellie Marie, 4, and Logan, 1. They all joined him in March when he was stationed in Japan. She will return to Macon this week after a memorial service in Okinawa.

Courtney dropped out of high school and completed his GED. He worked as a tire retreader and attended Central Georgia Technical College before enlisting in 1998.

Brother Donny Courtney, 26, joined the Marines days later, their mother, Gena Courtney, said. Donny is stationed in Maryland and does not expect to serve abroad, said his father, Bob Courtney.

Courtney wrote e-mails home as he traveled to Iraq from Okinawa. He read newspapers and Christian, Jewish and Muslim holy books, concluding that major religions shared basic truths twisted by extremists.

“So are we at war with an enemy? No,” he wrote. “We are at war with false prophets and... humans spreading death and lies throughout the earth.”

Courtney was sent to Fallujah for an alliance offensive against the Iraqi insurgents. A member of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Force, he carried only a handgun as he followed a combat company from Hawaii. He was to gather information and interrogate prisoners.

Gena and Cindy Courtney e-mailed each other Saturday night after learning that Marines had been killed in Iraq.

“I said, ‘We just have to pray,’ but I started crying and I could not stop,” Gena Courtney said.

Fernandez said he never believed his brother would be among those killed.

“We think: This is our turf. That is theirs. Like it’s so different,” he said. “But it’s really just a walk across the railroad tracks.”

Marine Sgt. Kelley L. Courtney was killed in action on 10/30/04.