2004
Staff Sergeant Shawn M. Clemens
Hometown: Allegany, New York
Age: 28
Died: January 9, 2004 in Operation Enduring Freedom
Unit: Army-2nd Battalion-87th Infantry Regiment-10th Mountain Division-Fort Drum
New York
Incident: A weapons cache near the troops exploded outside Ghazni, Afghanistan.
Born April 1, 1975, Army SSG. Shawn M. Clemens, 28, had been in the military for
eight years. The father of a 3-year-old boy, he arrived in Afghanistan in August and was
squad leader of a sniper unit. He had previously been deployed in Kosovo. A hunter and
fisherman, he was a catcher for Allegany Central School's baseball team.
Besides his son, Gavin, his wife, April; a stepdaughter, Alexis; his father, William; and
two younger sisters, Michelle Clemens and Kristen Keenan, also survive Clemens.
Clemens was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division,
based at Fort Drum, N.Y.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 05, 2004
For a Soldier's Soldier Shawn Clemens
I ordered my bracelet after I saw a Memorial Bracelet at the re-naming of the Cuba, NY
Amvets Post #1 on September 18, 2004. The Amvets Post #1 was re-named the S/SGT
Shawn M. Clemens Memorial Amvets Post #1.
My Memorial Bracelet has this inscription:
SSG Shawn M. Clemens NY Army
Enduring Freedom 29 Jan 04 KIA
A Memorial Bracelet was given to Shawn’s father Bill Clemens, by a friend of Shawn’s.
I saw the bracelet on Bill’s wrist and asked him to show it to me. Bill Clemens is my son
Kyle’s father-in-law. That would make Bill’s daughter Kristen my daughter-in-law. I
first met Shawn when Kyle and Kristen were dating. I have several family members who
have served in the armed forces of this great nation. My father was a Col. in the U.S. Air
Force. My older brother was a Col. in the U.S. Army. My sister was a Brig. Gen. in the
U.S. Army (also department chair for the Phys Ed. Department at West Point Military
Academy); her husband was also a Col. in the U.S. Army. I also had two other sisters
and a younger brother serve in the U.S. Army. I think partially because of my family’s
involvement in the military, I naturally liked and admired Shawn Clemens.
Through his family, I was able to follow his career. In my opinion Shawn was a soldier’s
soldier. I won’t list his entire (I think) eight year career, but Shawn was a sniper and a
member of the 10th Mountain out of Fort Drum, NY. He had been deployed to
Afghanistan, and was serving there at the time of his death. Although Shawn was my
son’s brother-in-law, it still hurts me to think of Shawn in terms as final as death. Shawn
had talked with my son about going on motorcycle rides with us when he returned to the
states. We (my two sons’ and I) also recently have taken up the sport of paintball, and I
am certain Shawn would have played that with us when he was able to. I would have
loved to have him on our team! Shawn also left behind a three year old son who is so
much his image. When I think that this little boy will grow up without his father makes
me think of how lucky I was to have had my father for 49 years of my life…and what a
terrific sacrifice Shawn made for his country.
Having lived with this since last January, the news reports of the KIA in the war in Iraq
has a different meaning. These KIA are heroes, they are not nameless young men and
women. They are sons and daughters of American families who now have to come to
grips with their worst fear. I always think what a family must now experience when they
have an unknown visitor, a representative of the U.S. military come to their home to
notify them of their son or daughters death.
I lost my father-in-law, my mother-in-law and father in a nine month span of time. It was
the single most difficult period of my life. Shawn was killed two years and two days after
my dad passed away. I think about these four most wonderful people on a daily basis. I
have my bracelet on my right wrist in memory of Shawn and of a life that could have
been. I will always think of him, and of the other Military personnel who serve this
nation so gallantly.
Robert
Army Staff Sergeant Shawn M. Clemens
1975-2004
Born April 1, 1975, Army SSG. Shawn M.
Clemens, 28, had been in the military for eight
years. The father of a 3-year-old boy, he arrived in
Afghanistan in August and was squad leader of a
sniper unit. He had previously been deployed in
Kosovo. A hunter and fisherman, he was a
catcher for Allegany Central School's baseball
team.
Besides his son, Gavin, Clemens also is survived by his wife,
April; a stepdaughter, Alexis; his father, William; and two
younger sisters, Michelle Clemens and Kristen Keenan. Clemens
was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th
Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y.
Private 1st Class Luis A. Moreno
Hometown: Bronx, New York
Age: 19 years old
Died: January 29, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-Battery A-4th Battalion-1st Field Artillery-1st Armored Division-Fort
Riley- Kansas
Incident: Died at a hospital in Lakenheath, England, after being shot while
guarding a Baghdad gas station on Jan. 23, 2004.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 044-04
March 2, 2004
MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG PRESENTS CITIZENSHIP CERTIFICATE TO
FALLEN SOLDIER'S FAMILY
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today presented the family of Army Private First Class
(PFC) Luis A. Moreno, 19, with their son’s citizenship certificate. A Bronx resident, PFC
Moreno died on January 29th after being shot while guarding a gas station in Baghdad,
Iraq. The ceremony, which took place this morning in the Governor’s Room at City Hall,
included several members of the soldier’s family, along with United States Army Major
General Richard Colt and other members of the Army, Congressman Jose Serrano and his
son, Councilmember Jose Serrano.
“It is my honor to present Luis’s family with papers, signed by his commander-in-chief
making Luis a citizen of the United States,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Citizenship is
something that Americans sometimes take for granted. Luis did not and I hope that
because of his example, others will cherish citizenship and all it represents more dearly.
We will not forget Luis or the sacrifices that he made for his adopted home. The courage
of our men and women in uniform, like Luis, are what continue to protect our nation and
freedoms.”
PFC Moreno moved to the Bronx from the Dominican Republic when he was 13. He
joined the Army shortly after graduating from Taft High School. PFC Moreno served
with Battery A, Fourth Battalion, First Field Artillery, stationed out of Fort Riley,
Kansas. He was shot in Baghdad on January 23rd and he died from his injuries six days
later at a Lakenheath Medical Treatment Facility in the United Kingdom on January
29th.
He was the youngest of four children, and had dreamed of becoming a police officer after
completing his service in the Army. PFC Moreno leaves behind, his father, Mr. Manuel
Moreno, his mother, Ms. Francisca de la Cruz, his brother, Manuel Moreno Jr. and his
sisters, Michelle and Flora.
Last month, Mayor Bloomberg wrote a letter to President Bush requesting that this
soldier be granted citizenship posthumously. The Mayor stated that granting PFC Moreno
citizenship, it would reinforce the ideals of freedom that United States soldiers are
making the ultimate sacrifice to preserve. The request was granted in late February and
the Mayor presented the family with the certificate this morning.
Private 1st Class Thomas Robbins
Hometown: Schenectady, New York
Age: 27 years old
Died: February 9, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-A Troop-1st Squadron-14th Cavalry Regiment (Stryker)-Fort LewisWashington
Incident: Killed while defusing unexploded ordnance in Sinjar.
Thomas D. Robbins
DELMAR Staff Sergeant Thomas D. Robbins, 27, died Monday, February 9,
2004 in Mosul, Iraq, where he was a cavalry scout with the Stryker Brigade's
1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, U.S. Army. He was born in Albany,
the son of the Reverend Charlene Robbins and Douglas B. Robbins. Thomas
had resided in Delmar for many years. He was a graduate of Bethlehem
Central High School, 1994, and Morrisville State College. He had also
attended State University of Agriculture and Technology, Cobleskill. Tom was a talented
artist, played soccer, ran track and also played the trumpet while at Bethlehem Central.
He loved nature and the environment and was a life scout in Boy Scout Troop 89,
Clarksville, N.Y. Thomas is survived by his wife Gina Robbins; his daughter, Marisa
Hanul Robbins; grandparents, Judge Joseph P. Dean and the late Helen A. Dean, Barbara
M. Robbins and the late Ralph W. Robbins; siblings, Joseph D. Robbins, Deborah M.
Robbins and the late Sarah A. Robbins; uncles, Peter J. Dean, Alan J. (Patricia) Dean,
Lawrence J. (Elaine) Dean, James J. (Jeanine) Dean and David (Martha) Robbins;
cousins, David, Amanda, Julie, Sarah, James and Isabelle Dean, Elizabeth (Robbins)
Austin and Meg (Robbins) Desposorio. A funeral service will be held Wednesday,
February 18, 2004, 10 a.m. at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Mountain View Avenue,
Colonie, N.Y. Relatives and friends are also invited to call at the Tebbutt and Frederick
Memorial Home, 633 Central Avenue, Albany Tuesday 4 to 9 p.m. Interment will be in
Saratoga National Cemetery, Schuylerville, N.Y.
Published in the Albany Times Union from 2/15/2004 - 2/16/2004
Thomas D. Robbins loved the outdoors, and after camping and hiking in the woods,
always returned home with trash he picked up on the trail. His mother said Robbins was a
talented artist and had been in Iraq less than three months when he died. "He believed he
was helping people and was working at learning the Iraqi language, just as he had learned
Korean and studied the culture when he was stationed in Korea," said Charlene Robbins.
Sgt. Robbins, 27, of Schenectady, N.Y., died Feb. 9 when rocket-propelled grenades and
mortar rounds blew up while being moved to a detonation site in Sinjar, Iraq. He was
assigned to Fort Lewis Wash. Robbins earned an associate degree in environmental
sciences at Morrisville State College. In the Army, he resumed his college studies and
was two credits short of a bachelor's degree. Robbins is survived by his wife, Gina, and
their infant daughter, Marisa.
Specialist Roger G. Ling
Hometown: Douglaston, New York
Age: 20 years old
Died: February 19, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-C Company-1st Battalion-34th Armor Regiment-1st Brigade Combat
Team- Fort Riley-Kansas
Incident: Killed in a small arms fire and makeshift bomb attack in Khalidiyah, Iraq
When a homemade bomb struck Spc. Roger G. Ling’s Humvee in October, he survived the
attack, and he worked to keep his superior officer alive. "It almost killed me. From what I've
been told, (Roger) helped keep me awake until my medic arrived," said Lt. Matt Homa. "Ling
was a good kid. You could count on him to do anything." The 20-year-old from suburban New
York City was killed Feb. 19 by hostile fire in Khalidiyah, Iraq. He was stationed at Fort Riley,
Kan. Leona Ling said she was grateful her brother came home in August just before leaving for
Iraq. "He had to have his tonsils taken out," she said. "It was a blessing in disguise because we
got to see him again." In phone calls home, the soldier spoke wistfully of returning to New York
and going to college. "He wanted to hear about what was going on at home and all the latest
family gossip," Leona Ling recalled. Survivors include his father, Wai Ling, a U.S. Army
veteran.
Specialist Doron Chan
Hometown: Highland, New York
Age: 20 years old
Died: March 18, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army Reserves-411th Engineer Brigade-Army Reserve-New Windsor-New
York
Incident Location: Near Balad, Iraq
Cause: Convoy vehicle was cut off by a civilian vehicle, causing his to swerve into
oncoming traffic and flip over.
Doron Chan was born in New York City in 1983. He moved with his family to Highland
in 1985 and graduated from Highland High School in 2002. Chan was an avid musician,
who enjoyed playing in bands, and riding his bike with friends in the nearby Mohonk
Preserve. Last fall, Chan enrolled at the State University of New York at New Paltz,
studying architecture and engineering.
Doron Chan had always excelled in school and was well on his way to becoming an
engineer when he left for Iraq. I remember one of our awards assemblies for sixthgraders, he won almost all of the awards, said Charles Peter Watkins, a retired teacher
and athletic director in Highland, N.Y. Spc. Chan, 20, of Highland, died March 18 in a
vehicle accident near Balad, Iraq. His Army Reserve unit was based in New Windsor,
N.Y. Chan was studying engineering and architecture at the State University of New
York at New Paltz when he was called to active duty. Chan's father, Tung Kwong Chan,
said through a translator that his son was respectful to the elderly, played the drums and
enjoyed bicycling and jogging. He said his only son loved the Army and was a good
shooter.
Staff Sergeant Anthony S. Lagman
Hometown: Yonkers, New York
Age: 26 years old
Died: March 18, 2004 in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Unit: Army-2nd Battalion-22nd Infantry Regiment-10th Mountain Division (Light
Infantry)-Fort Drum-New York
Incident: Their team came under small-arms fire while clearing a village of
guerrillas in the Hindu Kush Mountains.
Anthony S. Lagman moved with his family to the United States from the Philippines in
1982, when he was 4. According to various memorial Web sites, he was the third of
Joaquin and Ligaya Lagman's four children. His older brother Chris called him
"TonTon." He was a quiet boy but always had a sense of adventure.
He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Yonkers and enlisted in the Marines when
he was 17, after his parents signed papers allowing him to enter the service early. About
four months after his four-year tour with the Marines, he joined the Army; as a staff
sergeant, he was assigned to an infantry regiment based at Fort Drum, N.Y.
Sergeant Lagman's unit was deployed to Afghanistan during the summer of 2003. He was
supposed to return the following February, but his regiment was ordered to stay until
May. He was killed on March 18, 2004, in small-arms fire in an Afghan village.
The Lagman family did not return calls seeking comment about their son. Sergeant
Lagman's mother had gained unwelcome news media attention immediately after his
death, when as a noncitizen she was denied membership in the American Gold Star
Mothers, a Washington-based group established after World War I to support the mothers
of America's war dead. Ms. Thompkins, Corporal Gooden's mother, was also denied
admission.
Last year the American Gold Star Mothers revised their charter to allow Mrs. Lagman,
Ms. Thompkins and other noncitizen mothers who have lost children in the military to
become members.
On a memorial Web site, various soldiers described Sergeant Lagman as a "Marine's
Marine," an "outstanding leader and a better friend" and "well respected by those who
served under him." One comrade wrote: "I knew Anthony from the first day he came in
the Army from the Marine Corps. Nobody throughout my Army career has taught me
more and been a better mentor." A Marine corporal wrote: "He was one of the best
N.C.O.'s the Marine Corps had. He could run, shoot and was a born leader."
Sergeant Michael J. Esposito Jr.
Hometown: Brentwood, Mew York
Age: 22 years old
Died: March 18, 2004 in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Unit: Army
Incident: Unit came under enemy fire in the Hindu Kush Mountains Dehrawood,
Afghanistan
Funeral held for first Long Island soldier killed in Afghanistan
By Frank Eltman
Associated Press
BRENTWOOD, N.Y. — Two weeks after he telephoned his mother to warn her he was
going out on a “bad mission,” Army Sgt. Michael J. Esposito Jr. was remembered at his
funeral Monday as a fiercely loyal soldier who had already served in Kuwait when he reenlisted after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Esposito, 22, was the first soldier from Long Island to be killed in the fighting in
Afghanistan; two other Long Islanders — also from the Brentwood-Bay Shore
community — have died in the war in Iraq.
“Both Mike and his family knew why he was there,” the Rev. Gerry Twomey told
hundreds of mourners at St. Luke’s Catholic Church. Citing a conversation with
Esposito’s father, Michael Sr., Twomey added: “They’re there because of what happened
on 9/11. They’re there, and they know why they’re there.”
Esposito and Staff. Sgt. Anthony S. Lagman, 27, of Yonkers, died when their unit came
under fire on March 18 in the Hindu Kush Mountains. Both men belonged to the 2nd
Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, stationed at
Fort Drum in upstate New York. They were participating in a mission to drive out
remnants of Taliban and al-Qaida forces in the area.
‘These soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who are deploying are making an extreme
sacrifice,” Brig. Gen Byron Bagby, assistant division commander for the 10th Mountain
Division, said after the funeral Mass. “They are in danger each and every day and they
are doing an absolutely phenomenal job.”
Twomey explained that Esposito announced to his parents a month before his 18th
birthday that he had enlisted in the Army. He served three years, including a six-month
stint in Kuwait, and was eligible to spend three years in the reserves, but decided to reenlist because of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Michael found himself cast in a drama of good and evil,” Twomey said. “He faced the
hard, clean questions. He chose good over evil and did well. He was well-loved, and we
feel his loss profoundly.”
Cathy Heighter, whose son, Cpl. Raheen Tyson Heighter, was killed in northern Iraq last
July, noted that both her son and Esposito were graduates of Brentwood High School.
Pfc. Jacob Fletcher, of nearby Bay Shore, was killed Nov. 13.
“It’s always important for me to be at any soldier’s funeral service that I’m able to be at,”
Heighter said after the service. “My heart goes out to each and every family. I try to
understand, only from my own experience, what they are going through because of what I
have gone through.”
Heighter, who wore a photograph of her son on her lapel, added ominously: “As I sat this
morning ... it kept coming to me that more will die, more will continue to die, and what is
there that we can do about it as a people of our nation?”
Master Sergeant Timothy Toney
Hometown: New York, New York
Age: 37 years old
Died: March 27, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines-Headquarters Battalion-1st Marine Division-1st Marine
Expeditionary Force-Camp Pendleton-California
Incident: Died after collapsing at Camp Wolverine, Kuwait.
7th Comm loses father figure as non-combat related death claims Marine
communicator
Marine Corps News
Release Date: 4/6/2004
Story by Cpl. Ryan D. Libbert
CAMP HANSEN, Okinawa, Japan (April 5, 2004) -- Despite its inevitability, the loss of
a loved one is something no one wants to experience. The 7th Communication Battalion
family recently lost a leader, father and a friend in Master Sgt. Timothy Toney.
Thirty-seven-year-old Master Sergeant Timothy Toney, communications chief from
Transmission Platoon, Company B, 7th Communication Battalion, III Marine
Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group died unexpectedly on March 27 while serving
in Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. Although the cause of his death is
still under investigation, Marine Corps officials said it was not combat related. Toney
collapsed that afternoon in the vicinity of his billeting area at Camp Wolverine, Kuwait.
Originally serving as an individual augmentee for I MEF in Kuwait, Toney's
communication skills were quickly noticed and he was assigned as the communications
chief for Communication Company, 1st Marine Division.
Before joining the ranks at 7th Comm, Toney had served in numerous communications
billets at Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Quantico,
Va.; and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. Toney also served three years as a
Drill Instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C.
Standing at 5 feet 6 inches tall, Toney may not have been the biggest Marine in the ranks
but according to those with whom he served, Toney's caring attitude, professional
character and deep love for Corps, family and community were that of a giant.
"He was very people oriented. What he enjoyed most about being a Marine was being
around young Marines," said Lt. Col. James B. Miller, battalion commander for 7th
Comm. "The last conversation he and I had was the day before he left for Kuwait. He was
the most senior enlisted of the group we sent to the Middle East and he told me 'Sir, don't
worry about anything, I'll make sure the Marines get home safely.'" While serving under
Miller, Toney brought an optimistic approach to the work environment.
"He always maintained his composure," Miller continued. "When everything was in
disarray around him he was the calming force. He was always the eternal optimist, he's
the guy who always saw the glass half full instead of half empty."
Aside from his duties with the battalion, Toney also put in much of his time for volunteer
work as well.
"He was very involved with the Masons and the Shriners," Miller mentioned. "He was
involved in maintenance and grounds keeping work at local cemeteries, nursing homes
and elementary schools. He was also the driving force in the Special Olympics every
year." As a hobby, Toney also served the battalion by coaching their basketball team,
which won numerous Commanding General's Cup Tournaments since 1999.
"Almost every day at lunchtime you would see him at the House of Pain playing
basketball," Miller added. "His fellow competitors would describe him as a guy that
would compete with you to the limit. He would give you an elbow in your chest and
when you looked around he'd have a smile on his face. Even in the heat of competition
he'd have a smile on his face." As a leader, Toney cared for his junior Marines like a
father would his children. His inspiration made a lasting impression on them.
"I have served under many Staff NCOs since I've been with 7th Comm and he was one of
the best," said Pfc. Christopher J. McMillian, field radio operator. "He was just an allaround great person. You could go to him for anything, personal problems or not, it didn't
matter, he was always helping people." All who served with him agree that Toney's care
for his Marines ran deep in his veins, with his actions reflected in his attitude.
"Whenever he was here everyone was happy, we all loved working for him," McMillian
said. "He was a good person to be around. He was always smiling and joking around with
us. He even spoke up for me at my NJP hearing where he said the greatest things."
His teachings did not only affect his junior Marines, his fellow Staff NCOs also benefited
from his knowledge as well, according to Staff Sgt. Orlando Nieves, platoon sergeant and
radio chief for terrestrial platoon, Company B, 7th Comm.
"The thing I learned best from him was to always take care of your Marines, always look
out for their welfare and keep them technically proficient," Nieves said. "He was a stellar
Marine, definitely someone that you would want to emulate. He was a man of good
character and was both professional and personal. He definitely made me look forward to
coming to work everyday."
As a friend to Toney for nearly nine years, Nieves now reflects on what his platoon will
be missing now that it no longer has Toney's smiling face to adorn it.
"The Marines here will be missing so much but the one thing that stands out the most is
his good attitude," Orlando said. "I've never known anyone quite like him that brought
fun into the work environment."
Memorial services have been held in Kuwait, Okinawa, his home in South Carolina and
in California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that capitol flags would be
flown at half-mast March 29 in Toney's honor.
His wife Delores, stepdaughters Tiwana S. Jenkins and Jamie L. Jenkins, stepson James
Jenkins III, and twin daughters Ti’ana and Ti’ara Toney survive Toney.
Toney leaves behind a legacy in the Marine Corps for all who knew him to model their
careers after. For those he followed he never let them down, for those he led he cared
deeply for, and for those he befriended he taught and groomed them well.
"The battalion will miss his enthusiasm most of all," Miller concluded. "You never saw
him when he didn't have a smile on his face. Every photograph I've seen of him proves
that. The Marines responded to his enthusiasm, they knew he loved what he was doing
and that he loved being around them. He showed them that they could be professional
and still have a good time doing your job."
Master Sgt. Timothy Toney, USMC, 37 Columbia, S.C.
Master Sgt. Timothy Toney, USMC, assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine
Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif., died March 27, 2004,
as a result of a non-combat related incident at Camp Wolverine, Kuwait. A 19-year
veteran of the Marine Corps, Timothy coached a Marine basketball team as well as youth
basketball, baseball and softball. He was also active in helping Marine peers above and
below and was called “a great humanitarian, a great person, a loving husband and also a
Marine,” by Master Sgt. Guy Williams. He is survived by his wife, Delores Baise, twin 4year-old daughters, Tiara and Tiana, and three stepchildren.
Specialist David M. McKeever
Hometown: Buffalo, New York
Age: 25 years old
Died: April 5, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-1st Brigade-1st Armored Division-Giessen-Germany
Incident: Killed when individuals using a rocket-propelled-grenade ambushed his
unit in Baghdad.
Sgt. David M. McKeever
While serving in Iraq, April 5, 2004 of Buffalo, NY, beloved husband of Niki (Trew)
McKeever; loving father of Dylan McKeever; cherished son David T. McKeever of
Springville and Carol McKeever; brother of Colleen, Pam, Heather, Carol Lynn and
Thomas McKeever; grandson of Irene McKeever; nephew of Barbara Sikorski and John
Paszkiewicz; also survived by nieces, nephews and cousins. Family will be present to
receive friends on Wednesday from 9-11 AM where funeral services will immediately
follow at the O'CONNELL-MURPHY FUNERAL HOME, 2286 South Park Ave.
Flowers gratefully declined. Donations may be made in Sgt. David M. McKeever's name
at Charter One Bank. Sgt. McKeever was with the US Army First Armor Division
Second Platoon. Interment Kearney Cemetery, Nebraska. Online condolences may be
sent to the family at www.oconnellfh.com
David M. McKeever joined the military straight out of high school and met his wife
while he was stationed at Fort Carson in 2002. Two months later, the couple were
married. Three months after that, they went to Germany. Their son Dylan was born in
February 2003, and McKeever went to Iraq in May. Sgt. McKeever, 25, of Buffalo, N.Y.,
was killed April 5 when his unit was ambushed while guarding a hospital in Baghdad.
He just been promoted from specialist the week before, and was set to leave Iraq 15 days
later. "He was counting down the days," said his wife, Niki McKeever. She said she will
remember her husband as a fun-loving person who would do anything for her. The last
time she saw him, he was preparing to get on a plane to return to Iraq, and he cried, she
said. "David doesn't cry," she said. "I knew he didn't want to go back. He was afraid to go
back. He didn't want to leave his son."
Specialist Isaac Michael Nieves
Hometown: Unadilla, New York
Age: 20 years old
Died: April 8, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-82nd Engineer Battalion-1st Infantry Division-Bamberg, Germany
Incident: Killed by a makeshift bomb and small arms fire while on patrol in Bani
Saad.
When Isaac Michael Nieves was in fifth grade, his big sister persuaded him to invite a
girl named Amy to a dance. The night of the event, Amy had the flu. She still went with
him, but she spent most of the night in the bathroom, and the party ended before they
could dance. "He grabbed me and started dancing," she said. "I said, `You can't dance
without music.'" He sang, "Stand by Me" in her ear. Soon after finishing high school in
2001, Nieves proposed. Spc. Nieves, 20, of Unadilla, N.Y., was killed April 8 when his
detachment came under fire from small arms and a homemade bomb while patrolling
northeast of Baghdad.
He was based at Fort Hood, Texas. He wanted to be an architectural engineer, but instead
he followed the family's tradition of military service _ his father is a Vietnam veteran, his
brother a West Point cadet. Though he was proud of his work as a demolitions expert, he
had some regrets, his wife said. "He wished he had gone to college and done things
differently," she said.
Private 1st Class Nathan P. Brown
Hometown: South Glens Falls, New York
Age: 21 years old
Died: April 11, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army National Guard-2nd Battalion-108th Infantry-1st Armored DivisionGlens Falls-New York
Incident: Killed when his patrol was ambushed in Samarra. Iraq
Pfc. Nathan Brown wanted to become a lawyer and was preparing to enroll in
Adirondack Community College in January when his Army National Guard unit was
deployed to Iraq. The 21-year-old had joined the Guard shortly after graduating from
high school in South Glens Falls, about 45 miles north of Albany, N.Y. His mother,
Kathy Brown, said her son e-mailed her twice a week, saying he missed friends and
family and wanted to come home. Upon his return from Iraq, he planned to marry. Brown
_ who loved paintball, war games, adventure and fantasy novels _ died April 11 after he
and others were attacked while patrolling Samarra in Iraq. "A mother's worst nightmare
obviously came true for me," Kathy Brown said.
Nathan Patrick Brown
SOUTH GLENS FALLS PFC Nathan Patrick Brown, 21, of South Glens Falls went
home to our Lord on Sunday, April 11, 2004 in Samarra, Iraq. Born on June 13, 1982, in
Glens Falls, he was the son of Ricky L. and Kathy J. (Ryan) Brown. Nathan enjoyed
paint ball, computers, he played and enjoyed his base guitar, music and video games. He
also liked fantasy novels, being with his family and friends and the National Guard.
Nathan was always a history enthusiast. Family always said that he would have been a
politician someday. Survivors besides his parents include his brother, Christopher L.
Brown of South Glens Falls; two sisters, Megan R. Brown and Victoria L. Brown of
South Glens Falls; half-brother, Matthew Secor of South Glens Falls; half-sister, Sarah
Secor of South Glens Falls; his fiancee, Sara Grace Hill of Queensbury; maternal
grandmother, Beatrice I. Ryan of South Glens Falls; grandfather and World War II
veteran, Paul H. Ryan Sr. of Dothan, Ala.; paternal grandparents, Raymond and Josie
Brown of Glens Falls; great-grandmother, Lillian Wooley of Queensbury; greatgrandfather, Amarante Chavez of Albuquerque, N.M.; several aunts, uncles and cousins;
and his special friends, Bobby Brooks, Andrew Cormier, Josh Tucker, Greg O'Malley,
Rob Havens, Keith Stewart and all his buddies who were with him and served with him
in Iraq.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 at St.
Alphonsus Church, Broad Street, Glens Falls. Burial will follow at Gerald B.H. Solomon
Saratoga National Cemetery, Duell Road, Schuylerville, N.Y. with full military honors.
Family and friends are invited and may call from 4 to 8 p.m. on Monday, April 19, 2004
at Regan & Denny Funeral Home, 53 Quaker Road, Queensbury. Those who wish may
send a remembrance in Nathan's honor and memory to The Family Readiness Group 2nd
108th Army National Guard, 147 Warren Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801 or to Pioneer
Savings Bank, 1208 Route 146, Clifton Park, NY 12065, funds will be used to send care
packages to the troops that are currently serving in Iraq.
Published in the Albany Times Union on 4/17/2004
Corporal Kevin T. Kolm
Hometown: Hicksville, New York
Age: 23 years old
Died: April 13, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines-3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion-1st Marine Division-1st Marine
Expeditionary Force-Camp Pendleton-California
Incident: Killed by enemy fire near Fallujah.
Kevin T. Kolm worked as a carpenter and attended classes at a community college before
joining the Marines four years ago. In enlisting, he became a third-generation Marine,
following the path of his grandfather, who served in World War II, and his father, who
fought in Vietnam. Cpl. Kolm, 23, from Hicksville, N.Y., was killed April 13 from
hostile fire in Anbar province. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. "My son was
where he wanted to be, doing what Marines do," said his father, Thomas Kolm. "He was
with his brothers, defending other Marines." He spoke to his son shortly before he was
killed. "He said 'Dad, I just have a moment. Love you guys. Don't know when I'll be able
to call back,'" Thomas Kolm said. "Twenty-four hours later, he was dead."
Kevin T. Kolm
Friday, April 16 2004 @ 08:12 AM EDT
Contributed by: tomw
His grandfather, a corporal, had survived a World War II amphibious landing on a bloody
speck of Pacific Ocean coral known as Peleliu.
His father, also a corporal, had made it out safely after fighting in Vietnam's jungles near
Danang.
But luck did not smile upon Cpl. Kevin T. Kolm, the third generation of Kolm men to
serve in the Marines.
The Hicksville High School graduate was killed Tuesday as Marines struggled to quell
the two-week uprising in Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
"My son was where he wanted to be, doing what Marines do," said Kevin T. Kolm's
father, Thomas Kolm, yesterday from his Hicksville home. "He was with his brothers,
defending other Marines."
Kevin T. Kolm, who was killed Tuesday in Fallujah, is the third Long Island resident to
be killed in Iraq since President George W. Bush sent troops there one year ago. Pfc.
Raheen T. Heighter, who was posthumously promoted to corporal, was killed July 24.
Pfc. Jacob Fletcher, who was posthumously promoted to specialist, was killed Nov. 13.
Both were from Bay Shore.
Another Islander, Sgt. Michael J. Esposito Jr., of Brentwood, was killed March 18 in
central Afghanistan while trying to suppress resurgent Taliban activity.
Thomas Kolm said he believes his son, who was a member of the 3rd Assault Amphibian
Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, was part of an effort to
rescue a group of Marines who were pinned down in Fallujah when his own vehicle came
under attack. He said one other Marine was killed in the incident.
Kolm's death came during what has been the deadliest period for American troops since
the war began. As of Saturday, 64 service people had been killed over the previous seven
days. At least eight more service members, including Kolm, had been killed between
Sunday and Wednesday, according to the Defense Department.
In all, 687 soldiers have been killed in Iraq as of 10 a.m. yesterday, according to Defense
Department figures.
Thomas Kolm said his son enlisted in the Marines four years ago, when he was 19, and
that his tour of duty was to be over this September.
After graduating from Hicksville High School in 1998, he had worked as a carpenter and
had taken classes at Nassau Community College. But always, his father said, there were
thoughts of joining the Marines.
"I never said to him, 'I want you to join,' but it was always around the house," said
Thomas Kolm yesterday, as he sat near the folded American flag that had adorned the
coffin of his father, Ralph Kolm, who died in 1978.
Kolm, 23, served as a crew chief for an amphibious assault vehicle, a lightly armored
troop carrier capable of landing on a beach and then driving on shore, his father said. He
landed in Iraq on March 20, as part of the Marine contingent that replaced the Army's
101st Airborne Division in the Fallujah area.
He called home three times from the battlefield. On April 4, as Marines were massing
around Fallujah, he telephoned with a cryptic message, saying something big was about
to happen and urging his family to "watch the news."
Thomas Kolm said he last heard from his son at dawn Monday. "He said 'Dad, I just have
a moment. Love you guys. Don't know when I'll be able to call back,'" his father said.
"Twenty four hours later, he was dead."
Word of Kolm's death spread sadness through Nassau yesterday. County Executive
Thomas Suozzi said all flags at area buildings will be flown at half-staff from today to
Sunday in Kolm's honor.
"Kevin gave his life protecting the freedom of others," Suozzi said in a release yesterday.
"My deepest sympathies go out to the entire Kolm family for their loss."
In Hicksville, flags also flew at half-staff at the school district's nine school building,
including at Hicksville High, where Kolm was known as a gregarious comic.
"Kevin is fondly remembered by his teachers and administrators as an enthusiastic and
energetic student," Hicksville School Superintendent Maureen Bright said in a statement
yesterday. Bright said flags would remain at half-staff throughout the district until after
Kolm's funeral, which so far has not been scheduled.
Several of his grieving friends chose to honor him by having the word "Release" - the
title of a song by the rock group Pearl Jam - tattooed on their arms. Kolm had worn the
same tattoo on his back.
"You can tell the kind of person he was by the support we have been getting," said Bob
Rutigliano, 35, of Holtsville, who is engaged to Kolm's only sibling, Christine.
As his family grieves, Thomas Kolm said he was particularly comforted yesterday by a
telephone call from Marlowe Fletcher, of Island Park, a veteran who also lost a son to the
fighting in Iraq.
"We bonded immediately," Kolm said. "He just said all the right things. He was very
emotional, very supportive. It's good to speak to someone who comprehends."
Kolm said he felt "consummate pride, consummate grief" and hoped people who support
the war or oppose it would not use his son’s death for partisan advantage.
Asked what he wants the world to know about his fallen son, his voice broke, but he did
not hesitate: "That I'm proud of him."
Authored by: anonymous on Friday, April 16 2004 @ 08:36 PM EDT
I went to HS with Kevin and will always be proud of him and all the other young men
and women who have given their lives protecting others. My prayers are with his family.
Authored by: anonymous on Saturday, April 17 2004 @ 05:36 PM EDT
Kevin was my son's best friend. Besides my son he was the last Marine my family said
good-bye to the day they left to go back to Iraq it was his second tour with my son. When
Chris called to tell us our whole family grieved he was a considerate and polite man. We
loved him, as one of our own. He will be greatly missed. Our most heart felt condolences
to his family.
Authored by: anonymous on Monday, April 19 2004 @ 06:01 PM EDT
I never knew Kevin, but i attend the same high school that he did. (Hicksville high
school) coming back from spring break last week, during our 3rd period class, when we
were all informed of the horrible news. It really hits home when you hear that, knowing
that it could be some one you know. He’s our hometown hero, and will always be. The
flag a few blocks from his home is a half staff, every time I pass it, I think about how he
died fighting for his country. What a great person, god bless you Kevin and rest in peace.
Park to Be Dedicated in Honor of Marine Corporal Kevin T. Kolm
Hicksville Illustrated News, NY
Marine Corporal Kevin T. Kolm of Hicksville who was killed in the line of duty in
Fallujah, Iraq, will have a town park dedicated to his memory on Sunday, Oct. 21. The
Town of Oyster Bay will conduct a public ceremony at 1 p.m. at the park, which is home
to the Hicksville American Soccer Club and located at the corner of Old Country Road
and Plainview Road (one block west of South Oyster Bay Road). As part of the
ceremony, inscribed tablets will be unveiled at the park. The tablets will stand as a
permanent tribute to a man who played on the ball field as a youngster and later died on
the battlefield while defending this nation's freedom.
On April 13, 2004, 23-year-old Corporal Kolm was killed by hostile fire in Fallujah. He
was serving in the First Marine Expeditionary Force, having volunteered for a transfer
from the Third Assault Amphibian Battalion's Bravo Company to Alpha Company
because he knew Alpha was bound for Iraq. He was the crew chief of an amphibious
assault vehicle who volunteered his vehicle for an assault on an insurgent stronghold.
Corporal Kolm, who was well-liked by all who served with him and often gave
nicknames like "Jungle Jam" and "Shaky Jake" to his fellow Marines, was posthumously
awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor in combat. He was proud to stand side by side
with his fellow Marines in battle.
Corporal Kolm was the third generation of Kolm men to serve in the Marines. His father,
Thomas, served as a corporal in Vietnam and his grandfather, Ralph, served as a corporal
in Japan during World War II. They are a family of heroes. Corporal Kolm was a
graduate of Hicksville High School and enjoyed playing in local youth sports leagues
with his friends and played in the Hicksville PAL lacrosse program. Just as he was on the
battlefield in Iraq, Corporal Kolm was known by his peers as a team player and good
friend.
"Kevin is a 'True American Hero.' He paid the ultimate price serving his country. This
park, in the community where he lived for many years, will serve as reminder to all
residents of his sacrifice," said Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto. "The Marine
Corps motto, 'Semper Fidelis,' which means always faithful, signifies the dedication and
loyalty Marines are expected to have for Corps and country. Kevin cared about this
country, his friends, the community and everyone with whom he came in contact. This
park dedication is the town's way of showing how much we cared about him."
Ellie
IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 14, 2004
DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were
supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Lance Cpl. Brad S. Shuder, 21, of El Dorado, Calif., died April 12 from hostile fire in Al
Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine
Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Cpl. Kevin T. Kolm, 23, of Hicksville, N.Y., died April 13 from hostile fire in Al Anbar
Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division,
I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
For further information related to this release, contact the Marine Corps Base Camp
Pendleton Public Affairs Office at (760) 725-5044.
ONLINE EDITION FRIDAY January 07, 2005
Hicksville Illustrated News
April 2004
Cpl. Kevin Kolm Remembered
Throughout Hicksville, flags were flown at half-staff in honor of local hero Cpl. Kevin T.
Kolm, a member of the United States Marine Corps who was killed on April 13 while
fighting in Iraq on behalf of his country. At the time of his death, Cpl. Kolm, 23, was
serving in the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine
Expeditionary Force.
Cpl. Kolm arrived in Iraq on March 20, 2004 as part of the Marine contingent that
replaced the Army's 101st Airborne Division in the Fallujah area. He served as a crew
chief for an amphibious assault vehicle, a lightly armored troop carrier capable of landing
on a beach and then driving on shore. Cpl. Kolm was killed while part of an effort to
rescue a group of Marines pinned down in Fallujah, just west of Baghdad, when his own
vehicle came under attack.
Cpl. Kolm was the third generation of Kolm men to serve in the Marines. His father,
Thomas, served as a corporal in Vietnam and his grandfather, Ralph, served as a corporal
in Japan during World War II.
Corporal Jason L. Dunham
Hometown: Scio, New York
Age: 22 years old
Died: April 22, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines-3rd Battalion-7th Marine Regiment-1st Marine Division-1st Marine
Expeditionary Force-Twentynine Palms-California
Incident: Died at Bethesda Naval Hospital from injuries sustained while fighting in
Krabala on April 14.
First Long War Marine to receive Medal of Honor (Marine Corps News, Nov. 10,
2006)
A Salute to Duty and Sacrifice (The Washington Post, Nov. 11, 2006)
Locally based Marine earns Medal of Honor posthumously (North County Times,
Nov. 11, 2006)
Twentynine Palms Marine named first Corps recipient of Medal of Honor in Iraq
(The Desert Sun, Nov. 10, 2006)
Medal of Honor awarded to fallen area Marine (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle,
Nov. 11, 2006)
President Bush's Remarks at Medal of Honor Ceremony (The White House, Jan.
11, 2007)
Medal of Honor citation announcement (washingtonpost.com, July 9, 2007)
Parents dedicate Marine's Medal of Honor to all service members
By Staff Sgt. Scott Dunn, Headquarters Marine Corps
WASHINGTON (Jan. 20, 2007) -- The Medal of Honor awarded Jan. 11 at a recent
White House ceremony belongs to all service members, according to the parents of the
man who earned the honor.
Cpl. Jason L. Dunham of Scio, N.Y., posthumously received America's highest military
decoration two years and nine months after succumbing to a mortal brain injury while
fighting in Iraq. He served with K Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, based in
Twentynine Palms, Calif.
"We're accepting this honor for Jason, but we're also accepting this in all the servicemen
and women's names," said mother Debra Dunham. "Jason believed that all men on this
earth should be free," said father Dan Dunham. "He also believed in his friends."
The Navy Medal of Honor, shared with the Marine Corps, is a bronze medallion hanging
from an anchor sewn to a sky-blue ribbon. Presented posthumously, it is encased in oak
and glass; otherwise, its bearer would wear it around his neck. But the latest Marine
bestowed with the honor was not present in the flesh. In spirit, on the other hand,
Dunham filled every corner of the White House. "We wish that Jason would have been
able to be here so we could watch him," said Deb. "But we know he's watching."
In a lively reunion of sorts, more than 80 Marines from Dunham's unit soaked up their
stately surroundings – many with digital cameras.v Lounging about the White House and
bedecked in dress blues, the men laughed and cried as a band of brothers, a bond forged
in combat, according to Maj. Trent Gibson, who was Dunham's company commander.
Six venerable Medal of Honor recipients attended the ceremony, as well as some of
America's highest military and government figures.
Seated among others in the East Room were Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of
Defense Bob Gates, Sen. John McCain, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Peter Pace,
and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway.
Before the citation was read, President George W. Bush gave personal praise to Jason:
"He had a natural gift for leadership, and a compassion that led him to take others under
his wing. The Marine Corps took the best of this young man, and made it better."
Bush said Jason represented the best of young Americans.
The room came to attention as the president took his position beside the mother. The
narrator began reciting: "The President of the United States, in the name of the Congress,
takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to …"
Hearing her son's name, Deb's body began wrenching slightly, apparently trying to
contain her emotions. With a tearful president at her left and Dan at her right, Deb held
their hands throughout the citation – or they held hers. Dan and Deb's three children
stood behind them.
The citation went on: "By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering
devotion to duty, Cpl. Dunham gallantly gave his life for his country …"
With the citation given, Bush presented the encased medal to the family.
Acknowledging all service members afterward, the father said, "Their names are all
attached to this medal. They're all courageous. They all have valor. It's something that I
want them all to know: They're part of this medal. It's as much theirs as it is Jason's."
Wall Street Journal reporter Michael M. Phillips, who covered the war in Iraq alongside
Dunham's unit, also attended the ceremony. Phillips first introduced Dunham's story to a
mass audience with a front-page article published May 25, 2004. He later wrote the
unabridged story in "The Gift of Valor; A War Story," which narrates Jason's life and
death, from growing up in Scio, to giving his life in service to country, to an eight-day
journey home battling his wounds.
On April 14, 2004, in Iraq near the Syrian border, the corporal used his helmet and his
body to smother an exploding Mills Bomb let loose by a raging insurgent whom Dunham
and two other Marines tried to subdue.
The explosion dazed and wounded Lance Cpl. William Hampton and Pfc. Kelly Miller.
The insurgent stood up after the blast and was immediately killed by Marine small-arms
fire.
After the grenade exploded under Dunham's helmet, he lay face down with a few tiny
pieces of shrapnel lodged in his head. The hard, molded mesh that was his Kevlar helmet
was now scattered yards around into clods and shredded fabric. Dunham never regained
consciousness and died eight days later at the National Naval Medical Center in
Bethesda, Md., with his mother and father at his bedside. He was 22.
Dunham, buried in Scio, is the second warrior and first Marine to earn the medal since
the war in Iraq began. On April 4, 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Army Sgt. 1st
Class Paul R. Smith posthumously earned the medal for organizing a defense that held
off a company-sized attack on more than 100 vulnerable coalition soldiers.
In the defense, Smith manned a .50 caliber machine gun in an exposed position until he
was mortally wounded.
Before Dunham, the last Marine actions to earn the medal happened May 8, 1970, in
Vietnam, according to Marine Corps History Division records. A Medal of Honor citation
details Lance Cpl. Miguel Keith's machine-gun charge that inspired a platoon facing
nearly overwhelming odds: Wounded, Keith ran into "fire-swept terrain." Wounded again
by a grenade, he still attacked, taking out enemies in the forward rush.
Keith fought until mortally wounded; his platoon came out on top despite being heavily
outnumbered.
The last Marine to receive the Medal of Honor was Maj. Gen. James L. Day, who
distinguished himself as a corporal in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. On Jan. 20, 1998,
more than half a century later, President Bill Clinton presented the medal to Day, who
passed away that year. Locally based Marine earns Medal of Honor posthumously
By: JOE BECK - Staff Writer
NORTH COUNTY ---- The Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration,
will be awarded posthumously to a locally based Marine for actions in Iraq that his fellow
Marines believe saved the lives of two men in his unit, President Bush announced Friday.
Cpl. Jason Dunham will become the second American in Iraq to receive the Medal of
Honor and the first Marine to do so for actions performed since the Vietnam War.
Dunham, of Scio, N.Y., was based at Twentynine Palms and served with 4th Platoon,
Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expedition
Force, which is headquartered at Camp Pendleton.
Bush announced the awarding of Dunham's Medal of Honor at the dedication of the
National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., part of the Marine Corps 231st
birthday celebration. Dunham's father and mother who both live in upstate New York
were among 10,000 people who attended the ceremony.
Dunham threw himself on an insurgent's grenade and used his helmet to shield at least two other
Marines from the blast, an eyewitness based at Camp Pendleton told the North County Times.
"He pretty much gave his life to save the Marines around him," said Sgt. Jason Sanders, a
combat instructor at Pendleton. Sanders, a lance corporal at the time, said he was on patrol with
Dunham's unit in the Iraqi city of Karbaliah in Anbar province when they stopped a line of cars
in an alleyway.
He gave this account of what happened next:
An Iraqi in the second or third car jumped out and grabbed Dunham by the throat.
"The only course of action Cpl. Dunham could take was to take the guy down," Sanders said.
"They were struggling and two other Marines ran up to help, and when they got there, I heard
Cpl. Dunham say, 'No, no, no, watch his hand.' "
Dunham was apparently referring to a grenade that the insurgent dropped as they continued to
struggle. Dunham threw himself on the grenade, also using his helmet to smother the blast.
Sanders said he saw all four men ---- Dunham, the Iraqi and two other Marines ---- motionless on
the ground and believed all were dead. Then the two Marines, both injured from shrapnel but still
alive, got up and starting walking away from the scene. The Iraqi also got up and began running
away. Sanders aimed his rifle and fired 25 shots at the Iraqi, hitting him in the back and killing
him.
He turned back to the injured Dunham and dragged him away to safety as other insurgents in the
cars shot at them. Other Marines in the unit killed the remaining insurgents. Sanders summoned
a Humvee that carried Dunham to a landing area where a helicopter picked him up. That was the
last time Sanders saw Dunham.
Sanders, of McAlester, Okla., called Dunham "a great leader," who was respected by everyone
who knew him. "He never told anybody to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself," Sanders
said.
Sanders, who met Dunham at Twentynine Palms, said Dunham was on his first deployment in
Iraq at time he died. Various media accounts, including "Gift of Valor," a book written about
Dunham by a Wall Street Journal reporter, said he had extended his enlistment shortly before he
died so he could continue helping his comrades in Iraq.
Bush's announcement that Dunham had earned the Medal of Honor came on the day he would
have turned 25. The president is the last person who must give his approval in a long process that
is required for someone to win the Medal of Honor. Another locally based Marine, Lance Cpl.
Christopher Adlesperger, formerly stationed at Camp Pendleton, and has been nominated to
receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for actions in Iraq.
The Medal of Honor is usually presented by the president at an Oval Office ceremony in the
White House, but no announcement has been made about where Dunham's family will receive
the award on his behalf.
The names of Medal of Honor recipients have been associated with feats of battlefield
bravery above and beyond the call of duty since the first of the awards was presented
during the Civil War. Dunham's award will bring the total number of Medals of Honor to
3,461. Before Friday's announcement, there had been only three recipients for combat
action since the end of the Vietnam War, two of which were earned in Somalia and one in
Iraq.
In deciding whether someone has earned the Medal of Honor, the armed forces require
clear evidence supported by two eyewitnesses of the prospective recipient's valor. The
nominating process usually begins with a recommendation from one or more of the
nominee's commanding officers or other uniformed military members who were at the
scene.
Contact staff writer Joe Beck at (760) 740-3516 or jbeck@nctimes.com.
Petty Officer 1st Class Michael J. Pernaselli
Hometown: Monroe, New York
Age: 27 years old
Died: April 24, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Navy-USS Firebolt-Manama-Bahrain
Incident: Killed in a suicide attack when a small boat carrying bombs exploded as
they stopped the craft to inspect it in the Northern Persian Gulf.
Although they hadn't seen each other for almost three years, Michael Pernaselli, a Navy petty
officer, and his elder brother, John, an Army captain, never passed up a chance to rib each other
about their military career choices. "It was a big joke between the two of them as to who was the
better, the Navy or the Army," said their father, John, his voice wavering with emotion.
Michael Pernaselli, 27, was one of three Navy and Coast Guard servicemen killed April 24 in a
waterborne suicide attack on an Iraqi oil terminal. Pernaselli grew up in Brighton, N.Y., and
joined the military after high school. He had previously toured the Persian Gulf and Kosovo and,
in January, was sent back to the Gulf to serve on the USS Firebolt.
He once excelled at splatball and was a devoted pro wrestling fan: "That was kind of like his
release," his father said with a laugh. Pernaselli, who was divorced, had custody of his daughters,
ages 3 and 4, who are living with their grandparents. When he called home a few days before his
death, "he just wanted to talk to his two girls and see how they're doing," his father said.

10NBC / WHEC TV-10 - [Cached Version]
Published on: 3/14/2006
Last Visited: 3/15/2006
John and Cathy Pernaselli have taken over the job of raising their son's daughters,
6 year old Dominique and 5 year old Nicole.
...
His older brother John is in the Army and will soon head to Iraq for his fourth
tour of duty.For their father, the President had a message."He says your sons, he
said your son that passed away your son now, he says that are doing he says this is
not going to go in vain and that to me was just…I was like...I didn't know what to
say" John Pernaselli explained.
Sincere, genuine, and straight from the heart, that is how the Pernaselli family
describes their 15 minutes with the President.He communicated a message even
the Pernaselli girls picked up on."You could see that they had a look on their face
like they were so happy that they knew that their dad was really a hero," John
Pernaselli said.
Every night in their prayers, the girls talk with their dad, and John talks with
son."Tonight I'll say we said hello to your boss, you know," John said.Despite
Tuesday's excitement Dominique ended her prayers as always, with the song she
sings to her dad.
Democrat & Chronicle: Iraq ship attack kills local...
Published on: 4/28/2004
John Pernaselli of Brighton clutches his favorite photo of his son, Michael, who
was killed Saturday in a ship attack in Basra, Iraq.
...
John and his wife, Cathy, take care of their 27-year-old son's two daughters. [Day
in Photos]
...
(April 27, 2004) - John Pernaselli felt a stab in his stomach when he checked the
news online Saturday evening.
...
It's not going to happen," John Pernaselli said.
...
Pernaselli's older brother, John, entered the Army after graduating from the
Citadel in Charleston, S.C.John, a captain in the Army's chemical corps, returned
three weeks ago to Fort Hood in Texas from a year-long stint in Iraq.
...
"Don't cry, Nanna," John Pernaselli recalled Nicole saying."Daddy's looking
down for you, too."
John Pernaselli said having Michael's daughters with them has helped his wife
and him deal with the loss, but the shock still hasn't worn off.
Democrat & Chronicle: Local News Published on: 10/24/2005
To contribute, send to: Pernaselli Trust Fund, c/o Canandaigua National Bank &
Trust, 2075 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618 Click on this story to see
more photos and hear from Cathy and John Pernaselli.
...
Army Capt. John is headed back overseas.
...
Since the night a Navy commander appeared on their Brighton doorstep to tell
them the terrible news, the lives of Cathy Pernaselli, 50, and her husband, John,
53, have changed in countless ways.
...
John Pernaselli, a retired shift worker from Eastman Kodak Co., has come to
realize he no longer supports U.S. involvement in Iraq.
...
Their other son, Capt. John Pernaselli, 30, is a company commander with the U.S.
Army Chemical Corps 4th Infantry Division.He and his wife, Julia, have three
children, ages 8 and younger.He just returned from his third tour of duty in the
Middle East, but is scheduled to return to the Middle East in January.
...
"The last thing I said to him was, 'Be careful,'" said John.
...
It should have been me," Capt. John Pernaselli, 30, told his father when he came
home for his brother's funeral. "It shouldn't have been anybody," his father
replied.
As the brothers crisscrossed the globe, nearly three years passed without them
seeing one another.But they were close, their parents said, and kept in touch by
phone.
Pernaselli now wears a bracelet bearing his brother's name.
When he was home for Michael's funeral, the Army captain told his father there
was little time for his men to rest or even sleep in Iraq.
"In one area, the people will cheer you.In another village, they will be throwing
rocks and shooting at you," he said.
It was always John, not Michael, who family members worried might be injured
or killed. He was on foot patrols while Michael was at sea.John was the one they
didn't hear from for long periods of time, while Michael's calls came with
reassuring regularity.
People ask the Pernasellis why John was permitted to return to Iraq after
Michael's death.The answer, they say, lies with John, a 1997 graduate of the
prestigious military school The Citadel.
"We have to continue for Mike and all the others who have passed away," he told
his parents.
...
But with one son dead and one due to go on his fourth tour of duty in the Middle
East, John has turned against the war and his president.
"I'm no longer a Bush supporter," he said.
...
"It's his job," Pernaselli said.
...
John is addicted to CNN's Iraq coverage and surfs the Internet for military
updates, while Cathy avoids the news.
...
"The pain never goes away," said John."You just try to deal with it."
He draws some comfort visiting the memorial bench erected for his son last year
behind Brighton Town Hall.
R News: As It Happens, Where It Happens Published on: 10/27/2005
Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan B. Bruckenthal
Hometown: Smithtown, New York
Age: 24 years old
Died: April 24, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Coast Guard-Tactical Law Enforcement Team South Detachment 403
Incident: Killed in a suicide attack when a small boat carrying bombs exploded as
they stopped the craft to inspect it in the Northern Persian Gulf.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan B. Bruckenthal always went in for the active approach. In high
school he was a volunteer firefighter and spoke of either making that his profession or becoming
a police officer. "He would come to almost all the (fire) calls that he could," said Michael
Gabbianelli, a friend and fellow volunteer firefighter. "He was always there to help people."
Bruckenthal, 24, of Smithtown, N.Y., died April 24 when suicide bombers in boats attacked
pumping stations in the Persian Gulf.
He was based at the Coast Guard Air Station in the Miami suburb of Opa-Locka, Fla. The
Ridgefield, Conn., native was the first member of the Coast Guard to die in battle since Vietnam.
Bruckenthal played football in high school and was involved with a club that helped students
who were new to the school adjust. Bruckenthal was a month away from finishing his second
stint in Iraq returning home to his wife, pregnant with their first child. Survivors also include his
parents and sister.
Nathan B. Bruckenthal
BRUCKENTHAL-Nathan B., DC3, USCG of Dania Beach, FL,, on Saturday, April 24,
2004 at Armed Forces Hospital, Kuwait City. Beloved husband of Patricia Bruckenthal;
son of Laurie Bruckenthal Bullock of Ashburn, VA and Eric Bruckenthal of Northport,
NY; stepson of Pat Bruckenthal; brother of Noabeth Bruckenthal of Ashburn, VA,
Matthew and Michael Bruckenthal, both of Northport, NY; grandson of Elaine and Rudy
Bruckenthal of Queens, NY. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 PM and 6 to 8
PM, with a Memorial Service to be held at 7 PM, on Thursday, May 6, 2004 at AdamsGreen Funeral Home, 721 Elden Street, Herndon, VA. Graveside Service will be held on
Friday;, May 7, 11 AM at Arlington National Cemetery with Military Honors. (Friends
please gather at the Administration Building at 10:30 AM). In lieu of flowers, memorials
may be made to the Nathan Bruckenthal Memorial Fund, 39 Schooner Road, Northport,
NY 11768.
Published in Newsday on 5/2/2004
Below: Nathan Bruckenthal’s Bio Graciously Provided by his Family:
Nathan B. Bruckenthal lost his life while serving his country. He was 24 years old. His
heroism stemmed from a long history of sense of service in his short life.
Nathan was born on July 17, 1979 and grew up in Stony Brook, New York. This sense of
service was instilled in Nate at a very young age. He joined the Junior ROTC while
attending high school in Herndon, VA. He was later a member of the Ridgefield
Connecticut Volunteer Fire Department. He moved back to Long Island and
subsequently joined the Coast Guard in 1998.
His first duty station was on the Coast Guard Cutter Point Wells based in Montauk, NY.
During his service on that cutter he awarded the USCG Pistol Marksman Ribbon, USCG
Rifle Marksman Ribbon and he received a Unit Commendation Award. Later he
requested and was sent to Yorktown, VA., for training as a damage control officer. This
led to his next assignment in Neah Bay, Washington.
It was there at Neah Bay he met his wife Pattie Bruckenthal nee Rombo. The station
was located on the Makah Indian reservation. There, Nathan volunteered as a police
officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, and assistant high school football
coach on the reservation. During his tenure in Washington he received the Coast Guard
Sea Service Ribbon.
His decision to extend his enlistment was based on his desire to continue to serve his
country in an even more challenging position in the Coast Guard. He was accepted to the
elite tactical law enforcement program and assigned to TACLET South, housed at the
Coast Guard’s Miami Air Station.
He was recognized as a leader by his commanding officers and received numerous
awards for drug extradition operations in Caribbean and eastern Pacific including the
National Defense Service Medal and Coast Guard Merit Team Commendation.
It was because of his unique skills and ability to train others that he was deployed to Iraq
during Operation Iraqi Freedom in early 2003. While there he received the Armed
Forces Expeditionary Medal and a Combat Action Ribbon for his action in and around
the port of Um Qasar. He volunteered for a second request for deployment to Iraq in
March 2004.
Only weeks after discovering that his wife was carrying his unborn child, Nathan
Bruckenthal and two U.S. Navy sailors were killed when a suicide bomber attacked their
rigid hull inflatable boat. Nathan had been chosen to become a part of the TACLET’s
training unit and his job that afternoon was to instruct navy personnel how to conduct
maritime intercept operations. The team observed a suspicious vessel, which did not
heed their commands. The team intercepted the vessel. This selfless act of courage
protected the sailors aboard the U.S.S. Firebolt, the off-shore oil platform and the oil
terminal itself at Khawr Al Amaya, in the northern Arabian Gulf. For this action,
Nathan was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with
Valor, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary
Medal, and his second Combat Action Ribbon. He was laid to rest with many of
America’s best at Arlington National Cemetery.
Nathan Bruckenthal will always be remembered for his kindness to others, sense of
humor, devotion to his family, and service to his country. Nathan’s daughter, Harper
Natalie was born on November 19, 2004. Pattie and Harper have moved to Ashburn,
Virginia. Pattie will be attending nursing school at George Mason University. It is her
desire to serve in a military or veterans’ hospital…in a small way she can give back to all
those who have helped her and Harper.
Nate has been remembered in many ways. The barracks at Station Montauk, where he
first served have been renamed Bruckenthal Hall; Nate’s Open Door Baby Pantry &
Exchange, is a not-for-profit baby pantry that assists military and civilian employees who
work in the greater Baltimore area; Taclet South has permanently placed a plaque bearing
his likeness at their facility; his brothers spearheaded a community service project while
serving in their local junior fire department and an Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Enduring Freedom monument honoring those who served now stands in
Northport: it too bears his likeness. Two coins have been minted acknowledging his
sacrifice. These are just a few of the testaments to Nate. But his greatest legacy is his
daughter, Harper. We are so fortunate to have a little piece of Nate within her.
When Nate first died a fund was established to ensure Pattie and Harper would be cared
for and that they both could be granted a higher education. Because of the generosity of
so many, the Fund has been able to donate some of its resources to others, including the
Coast Guard Foundation, the Wounded Warriors Project, Center for the Intrepid, just to
name a few.
Nathan B. Bruckenthal July 17, 1979 – April 24, 2004
Specialist Phillip L. Witkowski
Hometown: Fredonia, New York
Age: 24 years old
Died: May 1, 2004 in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Unit: Army-7th Field Artillery-25th Infantry Division (Light)-Schofield BarracksHonolulu
Incident: Died in Homberg, Germany, from gunshot wounds suffered when an
automatic weapon discharged while he was trying to mount it on a Humvee on April
30 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Spc. Phillip L. Witkowski
was such a prankster that nobody could take him seriously. "He was a goofy jokester guy
and when he tried to be serious, he couldn't," said family friend Carolyn Jenkins. She said
she and her family would often barbecue at their Pearl City home with Witkowski and his
wife, Tina, and he would salivate over Korean marinated steaks. The 24-year-old, of
Fredonia, N.Y., died May 1, in Homberg, Germany, from noncombat-related injuries
suffered on April 30, in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Witkowski was assigned to the Army's
7th Field Artillery Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (Light) from Schofield Barracks.
Tina Witkowski said the Army told her that he was the victim of an accident while he
was placing a machine gun onto a Humvee. Witkowski also left behind two young boys,
3-year-old Kaleb and Kyle, 4 months.
Sources: Associated Press, Advertiser reports.
Schofield soldier killed in week 1 of Afghan duty
Spc. Phillip Witkowski is remembered for being a "jokester"
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com
Army Spc. Phillip Witkowski had been in Afghanistan just a week when he became the
25th Infantry Division's first fatality there while mounting a machine gun on a Humvee.
Friends described the Army cook as "open-hearted," a "jokester" who was proud to be
serving in Afghanistan. His mother called him "the Pied Piper."
Family friend Carolyn Jenkins said yesterday that she last saw Witkowski April 21 at
Schofield Barracks "before he got on the bus to go to the airport. "I gave him a big hug
and told him I would see him in a year," Jenkins said. "The whole idea of him not coming
back was never in my mind."
"Phil was 24 years old," she added. "He would have been 25 in two weeks."
Meanwhile, the death toll for island-based Schofield Barracks soldiers stationed in Iraq
continued to mount with three killed over the weekend. As of last night, five 25th
Infantry Division soldiers have died in Iraq since January.
The Pentagon said last night that Staff Sgt. Oscar D. Vargas-Medina, 32, of Chicago, and
Spc. Ramon C. Ojeda, 22, of Ramona, Calif., were killed about 7 p.m. Saturday south of
Al Amarah in southern Iraq when their convoy was attacked. Both soldiers were assigned
to the 84th Engineer Battalion.
The two Tropic Lightning soldiers were killed and six others were wounded when their
convoy was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. The wounded were
transported to nearby military medical facilities.
On Sunday morning another Schofield Barracks soldier was killed and 10 wounded
during a suspected explosive-device attack and exchange of small-arms fire near the
northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
The name of the soldier killed is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Including Sunday's fatality, 11 people with Hawaii ties have died in Iraq since the war
began last year. One was a civilian.
There are more than 5,000 Schofield soldiers in Afghanistan and 4,500 in Iraq on yearlong deployments.
The Pentagon said yesterday that Witkowski, of Fredonia, N.Y., died Saturday from an
abdominal injury in Homberg, Germany, from non-combat-related injuries sustained
Friday in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Witkowski was undergoing emergency surgery in a
German hospital when he died.
He was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's 7th Field Artillery and had been in
Afghanistan for a week. Witkowski was undergoing emergency surgery in a German
hospital when he died. His wife, Tina, said the Army told her that her husband was
loading his M-249 squad machine gun on his Humvee when it went off and that the
accident is under investigation. The couple was married for four years and has two sons:
Kaleb who is 3; and Kyle, 3 months.
Tina Witkowski said she talked with her husband the day before the accident.
"He said he was enjoying the experience," she said. "He had been out on patrol. He
thought it was an awesome experience, and proud that he was there. He sounded really
happy."
The couple met through a mutual friend four years ago when Witkowski was stationed at
Fort Lewis, Wash. Witkowski enlisted in August 1998, two months after his high school
graduation. He worked as an Army cook, first at Fort Lewis, then at Schofield Barracks,
where he was sent in February 2003.
Funeral services will be held in Tacoma, Wash., and Witkowski will be buried with full
military honors in a military cemetery in Kent. He had been in the Army for five years.
Jenkins said Tina Witkowski lived in Aliamanu when her father was stationed here for
two years with the Navy. She said Tina Witkowski left Moanalua High School in the
ninth grade when her father was transferred.
The family lived at Schofield Barracks, where Phillip Witkowski was assigned two years
ago, but his wife and their two sons moved to Gig Harbor outside Seattle the day before
he was sent to Afghanistan for a year.
"He was a very open-hearted, lovable guy," Jenkins said. "He had no problem making
friends. He was the jokester in our group. "He loved to work on his car."
His widow added: "He never took anything seriously. He really just loved to laugh."
Witkowski's death "was kind of like a punch in the stomach to the teachers who had him
in class," Fredonia High School Principal Todd Crandall told the Associated Press. "He
was a truly special young man."
Witkowski and his children returned last month to Dunkirk in upstate New York to visit
with family before going overseas. During his visit he gave his family no hint that he
was heading into a dangerous area. "To tell you the truth, I don't think he wanted us to
think it was a big deal," his older brother, Christopher Witkowski, said. "He didn't show
any fear. He was happy and proud to serve the Army over there."
COURTESY PHOTO
Schofield soldier Phillip Witkowski, 24, who died Saturday from injuries suffered in Afghanistan,
is shown in this recent photo with wife Tina and sons Kaleb and Kyle.
Schofield soldier killed in Afghanistan
Associated Press
DUNKIRK, N.Y. — A 24-year-old Hawaii-based soldier serving in Afghanistan died
from wounds he suffered when his weapon fired accidentally, U.S. military officials said.
Spc. Philip Witkowski, a 1998 graduate of Fredonia High School here in upstate New
York, died May 1 from an abdominal injury he suffered the night before in Kandahar. He
had been in Afghanistan for only a week.
Witkowski was undergoing emergency surgery in a German hospital when he died. He
was assigned to the Army’s 7th Field Artillery, 25th Infantry Division in Honolulu.
An Army cook, family members described Witkowski as a jovial man who could put
smiles on the faces of his school teachers, family and friends. His mother called him the
Pied Piper.
Witkowski’s death “was kind of like a punch in the stomach to the teachers who had him
in class,” Fredonia High School Principal Todd Crandall said. “He was a truly special
young man.” Witkowski, his wife, Tina, and their two young sons, Kaleb, 3, and Kyle, 2
months, lived in Gig Harbor, Wash. They came back to Dunkirk last month to visit with
family before going overseas.
During his visit he gave his family no hint that he was heading into a dangerous area.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t think he wanted us to think it was a big deal,” his older
brother, Christopher Witkowski, said Monday. “He didn’t show any fear. He was happy
and proud to serve the Army over there.”
Witkowski enlisted in August 1998, two months after his high school graduation. He
worked as an Army cook, first at Fort Lewis, Wash., then at Schofield Barracks, where he
was sent in February 2003, according to Army records.
Soldier killed in Afghanistan accident remembered
AMHERST, N.Y. — Two days before Sgt. Philip L. Witkowski was mortally wounded
in Afghanistan, he called his mother to tell her he was in Afghanistan and not to worry.
Marleen Brutcher wasn’t at her Buffalo home, but Witkowski said, “I love you,” on Brutcher’s
voicemail. It was the last time he spoke to his mother.
About 200 people gathered to mourn the 24-year-old in St. Stephens-Bethlehem United
Church of Christ in Amherst on Saturday. Witkowski died May 1 while undergoing
abdominal surgery in Germany. Another soldier had asked Witkowski to help with a gun
that malfunctioned. The weapon, which supposedly had been repaired, needed to be
mounted on top of a Humvee before the squad could patrol.
“In a strange confluence, a perfect storm of defective government equipment, flawed
procedures and fate, this loaded weapon that shouldn’t have been loaded at the time let
out by itself a three-round burst as Philip was steadying it,” the soldier’s uncle John
Witkowski said. “And that is how it happened and why we are here today.”
Philip Witkowksi joined the Army after graduating in 1998 from high school and
advanced from cook to gunner.
His wife, Tina, and their two sons, Kaleb and Kyle, live in Washington State, where
Witkowski was buried last week in a military cemetery.
On Saturday, an Army honor guard presented Philip Witkowski’s mother with an
American flag and played “Taps”. Amherst is 7 miles northeast of Buffalo.
Associated Press
Sergeant James G. West
Hometown: Watertown, New York
Age: 34 years old
Died: July 11, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-1st Battalion-94th Field Artillery Brigade-Baumholder-Germany
Incident: Killed in a head-on collision with another vehicle near Hillah.
Last December, James West wrote a letter to his local paper hailing his countrymen's
support. He had been in Iraq for seven months and was home on a two-week vacation.
"The welcome I got from complete strangers was amazing. The thank you's, the hugs, the
handshakes, all made me feel like the last seven months wasn't for nothing," he wrote.
West, 34, of Carthage, N.Y., was killed July 11, 2004, when the vehicle he was riding in
collided head-on with another vehicle near Hillah in Iraq.
He was stationed in Baumholder, Germany. One of five brothers, West moved with his
family from Seattle to Watertown, N.Y., where he graduated from Jefferson Community
College with a degree in criminal justice. He joined the Army in 1989 and served as a
reservist from 1992-2000, when he re-enlisted. He married Jennifer Holder in 1996 and
the couple had two sons, Michael and Joshua. West also had a daughter by a previous
marriage. He wrote to the Watertown Daily Times that although people made him feel
like a hero, he had his own heroes to thank _ "those people who shake our hands, those
who say thank you to a complete stranger, the hugs given out of appreciation, these are
my heroes."
Gunnery Sergeant Shawn A. Lane
Hometown: Corning, New York
Age: 33 years old
Died: July 28, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines-Headquarters Battalion-1st Marine Division-1st Marine
Expeditionary Force-Camp Pendleton-California
Incident: Killed in an attack in Anbar Province, Iraq
Shawn Lane started wearing his father's Air Force hat as a child and wanted to be a
soldier by the time he was 8. When he looked into branches of service, the Marines were
the quickest to return his calls. Through the first Gulf War and two tours of duty in the
second, the Marine kept his sense of humor. "He was really quirky and kept everyone in
stitches," said his wife, Jennifer. The 33-year-old from Corning, N.Y. was killed in an
attack on July 28 in Anbar province, Iraq. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
When he left for a second tour in Iraq in February, the gunnery sergeant's father, John
Lane, recalls the Marine's mother saying: "I don't think he's coming back." But Coralee
Lane said her son had told her not to worry. "It's what I've trained to do. And if I don't
come back, I'll know I did my duty," she recalls him saying. Lane also leaves behind a 4year-old son, Jonathan.
Shawn A. Lane
Gunnery Sergeant Shawn A. Lane-USMC, age 33, of Camp Pendleton,
California, passed away July 28, 2004. GySgt. Lane served in the U.S.
Marine Corp. Memorial services will be Wednesday, August 4, 2004,
1:00 PM, at the Marine Memorial Chapel, Camp Pendleton, CA. A
gathering to honor GySgt. Lane will follow at the Staff NCO Club. In lieu of flowers,
donations may be made to the Gunnery Sergeant Shawn A. Lane Memorial Fund at the
San Diego County Credit Union by calling 1-877-732-2848.
Published in The Arizona Republic on 8/4/2004.
Private 1st Class Kevin A. Cuming
Hometown: North White Plains, New York
Age: 22 years old
Died: August 21, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-1st Squadron-7th Cavalry Regiment-1st Cavalry Division-Fort HoodTexas
Incident: Killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack while on patrol in Baghdad.
Kevin A. Cuming never had a girlfriend, but his mom was working on that. While he was
in Iraq, his mother, Yolanda, would tell him on the phone that she was scoping out
prospects while walking through New York. "I used to say to him, 'I'm checking out all
the girls for you for when you come home,'" she said. Cuming, 22, of White Plains, N.Y.,
died Aug. 21 while on patrol in Baghdad when a rocket-propelled grenade hit a Humvee
he was driving. He was based at Fort Hood, Texas, and wanted to be a cook after serving.
His room at home displays his collection of shells and rocks, his uniform from cooking
classes at Westchester Community College, his Lego collection, his mountain biking
magazines and a drawing of Spider-Man that he had done several years ago. Friends and
neighbors remembered Cuming as a good-natured guy who liked to mountain bike, cook
and listen to rock 'n' roll. "The saddest memory now is when I am older and I look back
and think of my best friend as a 22-year-old boy," said Paul Recchia. "That is what is
going through my mind. He will forever be 22."
Private 1st Class Luis A. Perez
Hometown: Theresa, New York
Age: 19 years old
Died: August 27, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army Reserve's-223rd Transportation Company-Norristown-Pennsylvania
Incident: Killed when his convoy vehicle hit a makeshift bomb in Fallujah.
Luis Perez, a tall and lanky youth, was raised by his grandmother for many years because
his father, a career military man serving in the Army, made frequent moves. Perez
followed his father into the service. Perez, 19, of Theresa, N.Y., was killed Aug. 27 when
his convoy hit an improvised explosive device in Fallujah. He was a member of the Army
Reserve in Norristown, Pa. Perez grew up in East Chicago, Ind. He later moved to
northern New York, where he graduated from high school. Perez's family was extremely
concerned when he shipped out for the Middle East. On Aug. 25, five days after turning
19, Perez sent an e-mail from Kuwait that he was shipping out for Iraq. "I still can't
believe he died in that way because he was just a little boy, not a soldier," said his
grandmother, Clara Madrigal. Other survivors include his wife, Molly.
1st Lieutenant Ronald Winchester
Hometown: Rockville Center, New York
Age: 25 years old
Died: September 3, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines
Incident: in Anbar Province, Iraq
In 2000, Ronald Winchester played in Navy's biggest football game of the season, against
Army _ and his best friend. There were no hard feelings when Navy beat Army 30-28.
"He was like my brother. We had a lot of fun together," said former Army defensive
tackle and pal Doug Larson. "He was independent, but we were both dependent on each
other." Winchester, 25, of Rockville Center, N.Y., was killed Sept. 3 by a roadside bomb
in Anbar province, Iraq. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 2001 and was on his
second tour. "Ron was a very gregarious type of individual who was always in the middle
of things," said his father, also named Ronald. "He was a true leader, always respected by
his peers and dedicated to what he was doing." His mother, Marianna, also survives
Winchester. "When he came home last time, he sat in the dining room telling stories,"
family friend Maureen Chiaramonte said. "He said, 'Aunt Mo, you know what it's like.
You get a choice to sit on the bench or play the game. I don't want to sit on the bench.'"
Ronald Winchester
WINCHESTER-Ronald, of Rockville Centre, NY. 1st Lieuteant US Marines. Heroically
in the line of duty to our country on September 2, 2004 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
Loving son of Marianna and Ronald. Cherished brother of Kristine. Dear grandson of
Dominick Gatta. Reposing at St. Agnes Parish Center, 99 North Village Avenue,
Saturday and Sunday 2-4pm, 7-9pm. Funeral Mass St. Agnes Cathedral, Monday 10am.
Interment Long Island National Cemetery, Pinelawn, NY. In lieu of flowers, donations to
the Ronald D. Winchester Burse c/o Chaminade High School, 340 Jackson Avenue,
Mineola, NY, 11501 or US Naval Academy, Athletic Association for Ronald D.
Winchester c/o Football Office, 566 Brownson Road, Annapolis, MD, 21402 or The 1st
Marine Division, Scholarship fund in memory of Lt. Ronald D. Winchester, 410 Pier
View Way, Oceanside, CA, 92054 would be appreciated.
Published in Newsday on 9/10/2004.
Lance Corporal Ramon Mateo
Hometown: Suffolk, New York
Age: 20 years old
Died: September 24, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Unit: Marines-Headquarters and Service Company-7th Marine Regiment-1st
Marine
Division-1st Marine Expeditionary Force-Marine Corps Air Ground Combat
Center
Incident: Killed by enemy action in Anbar Province, Iraq
August 28, 2005
A High School Counts Its War Dead
By PATRICK O'GILFOIL HEALY
BRENTWOOD
CHRIS CHAMBERLIN is the war guy at Brentwood High School. He is the English
teacher who once manned an M-60 machine gun as a corporal in the Marines, and now
pastes Marine Corps stickers onto his hatchback truck and lectures about the literature of
Vietnam and World War II.
For years, when Brentwood students considered enlisting, Mr. Chamberlin, 38, has been
the man to see. He would talk about his loyalty to the Marines, and about how four years
in the service could offer discipline and structure, a chance to travel, money for college
and the seeds of a career for teenagers with few options.
But in the last two years, four Brentwood High School graduates have died in Iraq or
Afghanistan, most recently Specialist Jose Ruiz, who was killed Aug. 15 during an Army
security operation in Mosul. No other high school in America, apparently, has suffered so
high a toll in the two conflicts, in which about 2,100 Americans have died.
And Mr. Chamberlin has been torn apart. He loves the military and still believes it can
transform his students' lives. But he reviles the Iraq war and the mounting casualties. As
the new school year approaches, Mr. Chamberlin struggles to articulate his feelings when
students ask about the war and about enlisting.
"I know some of them are going to die," Mr. Chamberlin said. "But I can't say no to them
when they come to me and say, 'I want to do this.' It tears me up."
First was Raheen Tyson Heighter, class of 2000, an Army private killed in an ambush in
Iraq in July 2003. Then Michael J. Esposito, class of 1999, an Army sergeant, was killed
in March 2004 while patrolling in the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan. Last September,
Ramon Mateo, class of 2002, a lance corporal in the Marines on his second tour of duty
in Iraq, was killed in an attack on a convoy west of Baghdad. Then Specialist Ruiz this
month.
The Department of Defense lists war deaths by unit and hometown, but not by high
school, so there is no definitive listing of the hardest-hit schools. A review of newspaper
archives around the country found two, Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School in South
Carolina and Simi Valley High School in California, that have each lost three graduates
in the current conflicts. In Florida, five students who attended different high schools in
the Hillsborough County school district have died. But no reports were found of any high
school having lost as many as Brentwood has.
Administrators at the school, whose 3,600 students make it one of the largest on the
Island, said the war deaths were both personal and collective losses. The four young men
once strolled the same hallways, cheered the same teams and learned from some of the
same teachers.
And now, Brentwood High School remembers them the same way, with a memorial
service that has become painfully familiar for the principal, Thomas O'Brien. Family
members and administrators praise the dead graduate. Politicians talk about patriotism
and sacrifice. The choir sings. "We're practiced at this," Mr. O'Brien said.
Later, a plaque with a laminated photograph is hung on the school's new Wall of Honor.
Corporal Mateo, Sergeant Esposito and Private Heighter are there now; the school still
needs to order a plaque for Specialist Ruiz.
Mr. Chamberlin walks by that wall every day, to and from the classroom where he
teaches 11th- and 12th-grade English and an advanced-placement literature class.
"Those faces haunt me," Mr. Chamberlin said. "The sacrifices are immediate. They're
right there in front of me. I couldn't stop thinking about it."
Mr. Chamberlin, who grew up in Stony Brook, said that when he turned 15, he asked his
parents, who had often struggled financially, how much they had saved for his college
tuition. They burst out laughing, he said, and told him to join the service.
So he enlisted in the Marines after high school, hungry for a macho life where he could
play Clint Eastwood and John Wayne for a living. He served on an aircraft carrier during
the Iran-Iraq war, guarding tankers full of Iraqi oil as they left the Persian Gulf.
He was ready to leave after four years, and in 1989 he took his $14,000 veteran's
education stipend and enrolled at San Diego State University. He took the teaching job in
Brentwood in 1996.
Mr. Chamberlin takes an enthusiastic approach to teaching, occasionally dancing and
making up rap songs for his classes as he teaches the work of Toni Morrison, Mark
Twain and Sandra Cisneros. But he sizzles like a Roman candle when he covers the war
novels that fit in his lesson plans - Tim O'Brien on Vietnam, Erich Maria Remarque on
World War I, Stephen Crane on the Civil War.
Whichever English teacher a Brentwood student gets, though, the military is always in
close reach. Army and Marine recruiters visit the school about 25 times a year, said Mr.
O'Brien, the principal; the school also has an active Air Force R.O.T.C. program with
about 150 students taking part.
When the district surveyed the class of 2004 about their plans, 8 percent of the students
said they planned to join the military. In more affluent Long Island districts, like Great
Neck, Three Village or Roslyn, fewer than 1 percent of students typically enlist.
For workaday Brentwood, though, joining the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines is equal
parts pride and parachute, teachers and administrators said. In many families, parents and
siblings who have served encourage the next generation to follow suit. Graduates like
Ryan Ramkissoon, who is to ship out to the Marines next month, count multiple friends
who have joined up.
The district is also home to large numbers of recent immigrants whose families have little
savings and who are excluded from federal college aid by their immigration status.
Thirteen percent of Brentwood students, many of them from El Salvador and the
Dominican Republic, do not speak English proficiently, according to state figures.
"There's not a lot going for these kids after they finish high school," said Alan J. Lazarus,
a district administrator. "The desire to serve brings pride. It's the available option for
students."
All kinds of students seek Mr. Chamberlin out. Some are gung-ho, bent on fighting
terrorists and seeking revenge for the Sept. 11 attacks. Some are "legacies," the children
and grandchildren of soldiers. Some want to shoot guns and send ordnance flaming into
the sky. Some burn with a solemn sense of duty. Others just want a college scholarship.
Mr. Chamberlin could always give advice, he said, but when the casualty reports began
drifting home from Iraq, hitting Brentwood again and again, he came to realize that every
conversation about the war and military life carried mortal consequences.
"Five years ago, I'd take some of the kids aside and say, 'You should really think about it,'
" Mr. Chamberlin said. "At the time, I felt the benefits far outweighed the risk. I had no
problem promoting the military."
One recent afternoon, Mr. Chamberlin recalled how he used to talk with Ramon Mateo
about the Marines and about how service could imbue the affable, goofy student with a
sense of purpose and discipline. He related how Ramon had married, graduated, found
him - and then Mr. Chamberlin halted in midsentence. He realized that he had been using
the name of Jose Ruiz, the latest death, in place of Ramon's. "There are so many of them
now," Mr. Chamberlin said. "I'm beginning to lose my mind."
When a Brentwood student named Jesus Jimenez came to him last year wanting to join
the Marines, Mr. Chamberlin tried to dissuade him, offering to work with other teachers
to find college scholarships for him instead. But when Jesus insisted, Mr. Chamberlin
supported the decision, and offered advice on matters like contract length and daily
details of military life.
Corporal Jimenez went to Iraq and made it back, though he came under fire and saw his
share of killings and dead bodies. "He'll be carrying that for the rest of his life," Mr.
Chamberlin said. "I'm always going to feel a little guilty about playing a small part in
that."
So he sends care packages to soldiers, and raises money to send them body armor. He
sends e-mail messages to former students in the military, and prays at night for Pat and
Ryan and Jose and Guadalupe and the others. And when students come into his 12thgrade English class and announce plans to join the Army, he halts the class and holds a
Socratic intervention. Why are they enlisting? Are they willing to die, or be crippled? Are
they enlisting simply to feel macho? What do they know about Sunnis and Shiites,
Saddam and desert combat?
Last year, after the school's moment of silence to mark Ramon Mateo's death, Mr.
Chamberlin walked into his class and told his students to start talking. Ramon had been
one of them, he said. What did it mean to lose one more Brentwood graduate?
"It's the most important issue I can talk about right now," he said. "I have to educate them
as much as possible. If I could do anything for Ramon, I could do that."
MATEO-Ramon, Lance Corporal, of Bay Shore, NY, on September 24, 2004, while in
Iraq faithfully serving his country in U.S. Marine Corps, in his 20th year. Beloved
husband of Concetta. Cherished son of Pedro Mateo and Luz Estelle Rivera (Miguel).
Loving brother of Andrea Mateo, Sonia, Miguel and Angel Rivera. Reposing, Moloney's
Hauppauge Funeral Home, 840 Wheeler Rd. (Rte. 111), Hauppauge, NY, where
Religious Services will be held Sunday 7:30PM. Funeral Mass, Monday 10AM at St.
Luke's RC Church, Brentwood, NY. Interment following, Calverton National Cemetery,
Calverton, NY. Visitation, Saturday and Sunday 2-4PM and 7-9PM.
Published in Newsday on 10/1/2004.
My dearest son,
One more birthday has come. I am wishing you were here. I still have a hard time with
you not here…still miss you. Wish that I could see you talk to you. It does not get any
easier with the passing of the years. Just a few words to say that I love so much. Loving
you always, mommy
Sergeant Michael A. Uvanni
Hometown: Rome, New York
Age: 27 years old
Died: October 1, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Unit: Army National Guard-2nd Battalion-108th Infantry Regiment-Army National
Guard-Morrisonville-New York
Incident: Killed by a sniper while conducting combat operations in Samarra, Iraq
The El Chico's restaurant in upstate New York had advertised itself as a place to go to
escape war news. But tragedy left the eatery adorned in bouquets, cards, candles and an
American flag. Michael A. Uvanni, whose father runs the restaurant, was shot dead by a
sniper Oct. 1 in Samarra. The 27-year-old, from Rome, N.Y., was based in Morrisonville,
N.Y. "Pray for our family and pray for those soldiers still over there," a sign outside El
Chico's said. "He was a great guy and a great person.
It was very easy to bond with Mike," said Sgt. Frank Gonyea. Gonyea said Uvanni, a
1996 high school graduate, always had a smile on his face, even when being made to do
push-ups, and showed as much enthusiasm for hard military work as he did for the
motorcycle or snowmobile he rode in his free time. "He led by example," said Gonyea.
"He wouldn't make anyone do anything that he wouldn't do first. That's how he earned
respect." He is survived by his parents, Kevin and Janet Uvanni.
Private 1st Class James E. Prevete
Hometown: Whitestone, New York
Age: 22 years old
Died: October 10, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Unit: Army-1st Battalion-506th Infantry Regiment-Camp Greaves-South Korea
Incident: Killed in a vehicle accident in Habbaniya, Iraq
Pfc. James E. Prevete, left; Fabian Pelaez, with headband, a friend; and David Pelaez, in
sunglasses, a Marine reservist headed for Iraq. Private Prevete was killed in a vehicle accident.
Queens Family Hears Worst: A Private Is Dead in Iraq
By COREY KILGANNON
Published: October 13, 2004
The Army officers arrived before church last Sunday at the Prevetes' house in
Whitestone, Queens. They were there to deliver grim news about the couple's son, James,
a 22-year-old private in Iraq.
Friends and relatives rushed to the side of his parents, Vincent and Jean. His younger
sister, Laura, 17, summoned the strength to invite his fiancée, Diana, over.
When Diana arrived, Laura handed her a sealed envelope that her brother had given to
her when he returned to duty in August after a brief visit home, with instructions to
deliver it only "if something happens to me."
Now, something had happened: Pfc. James E. Prevete had been killed that day in a
vehicle crash while on patrol in Iraq.
"She asked Laura, 'What's going on?' " recalled Fabian Pelaez, 19, a close friend of
Private Prevete's who gave the account yesterday at his house across the street but
declined to identify the fiancée any further, saying he wanted to respect her privacy.
"Laura gave her the envelope and she just broke down." Mr. Pelaez said he did not know
what the letter said.
Perhaps Private Prevete's sense of foreboding is not so strange - he was, after all, going
off to war - but friends said yesterday that he might have sensed that he would wind up
giving his life for his country.
"We talked online a little when he was still in Kuwait, and the one thing he always said
was that no matter what happened, he didn't want us to ever forget about him," Mr.
Pelaez said. "I remember dropping Jimmy at the airport, and he turned to me and said,
'Just watch over my sister.' ''
James E. Prevete was a private first class with the First Battalion, 506th Infantry of the
Second Division's Second Brigade, an Army official said yesterday. He was initially
stationed in Korea, but sent to Kuwait in August and then to Iraq. Private Prevete died in
Habbaniya, about 50 miles west of Baghdad, when the vehicle he was riding in ran into
what appeared to be a sandstorm. The vehicle ran into "whiteout conditions and the driver
apparently lost control of the vehicle" and crashed, an Army spokeswoman said
yesterday.
He had returned to New York from Korea for a week in August, and during that time, he
and his fiancée had argued, Mr. Pelaez recalled. In a moment of dejection, he
contemplated spending the money he had saved for her engagement ring.
"He got upset and said, 'Let's take the money and all get tattoos,' " Mr. Pelaez said.
"We never did it, but he left without ever saying goodbye to her."
Fifth Avenue in Whitestone, where Private Prevete lived, is a quiet street lined with
single-story brick homes, many with American flags and posters and stickers supporting
the troops. It is still largely Italian and Roman Catholic and white, which makes it in
some sense a minority neighborhood in Queens, a borough enfolded with ethnic diversity.
From his front porch, Jimmy Prevete could see the top of the Whitestone Bridge over the
rooftops. He loved Whitestone, particularly his block, but he aspired to a life of heroism
and action beyond it, Mr. Pelaez said.
Three doors down from the Prevetes, Kim Bedosky, 32, stared at their house yesterday
and contemplated the death of Private Prevete, one of the most recent of the roughly
1,070 American soldiers who the Department of Defense says have died since the start of
the Iraq war.
"He died so that me and my kids could be free," said Ms. Bedosky, who has two children,
Samantha, 5 and Stephen, 2. "Is it right? Is it wrong? It's not for me to say."
Yesterday morning, Private Prevete's mother, Jean, answered the door in her bathrobe but
said the family was in no condition to speak.
Their American flag flew proudly on their porch, and although the shades in their big bay
window were drawn, the blue "Support Our Troops" sign in the window remained
prominently displayed. A patriotic banner was tacked to the door and a yellow "Support
our Troops" ribbon was stuck to the back of the car in the driveway. Even in the flower
beds, a statue of the Virgin Mary was surrounded by red, white and blue flowers. Down
the block stood a star-spangled fire hydrant.
Queens Family Hears Worst: A Private Is Dead in Iraq
Published: October 13, 2004
Jean Prevete taught her son to love his God, and his father, Vincent, taught him to love
his country, friends said. His mother is a librarian in the nearby Holy Trinity School, and
Laura volunteers in the parish office of Holy Trinity Church next door. His father
instilled a strong sense of patriotism in his son and got him interested in war movies,
neighbors said.
Private Prevete attended St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens and played center on
the football team. He liked watching Giants games and old films of his high school
football games. He tried college - briefly attending Sacred Heart University in
Connecticut and then Queens College - but it held little interest for him because he
aspired to something "exciting, something heroic," said Mr. Pelaez, a student at
Queensborough Community College.
Private Prevete liked to work out at the nearby Powerhouse Gym and could lift startling
amounts of weight, Mr. Pelaez said, but he also liked lifting cans of Coors Light. He had
developed a modest beer belly by the time he went off to boot camp in Georgia earlier
this year.
"He weighed 220 when he left, but he came back ripped and a lot tougher," Mr. Pelaez
recalled. "He had lost his gut and he had some Japanese characters tattooed on his
shoulder. I think it meant 'honor.' " He also came back a decorated sharpshooter and
would argue about weapons and trade boot camp stories with Mr. Pelaez's brother, David,
20, a reservist in the Marines.
Janice Hengle, a teacher at the Holy Trinity School, said she clearly remembered having
Private Prevete in her first-grade class. "Jim always stood out," she said. "He was bright
and very patriotic, even at a young age. He stood perfectly straight and tall when he said
the Pledge of Allegiance, and he was aware of the elections. I used to have my students
write letters to the president, and I remember he knew a lot about where the letters would
go." Private Prevete was the center on more than the football field, friends said. He would
organize a boys' outing to the local bar, Shenanigans, or invite them to his house, where
he had a large bookcase full of videos of war movies old and new, including "Full Metal
Jacket," in the basement. They would drink beer, play cards and watch movies, Mr.
Pelaez said.
"He liked Bush," Mr. Pelaez said, adding that after another friend criticized the president
with an expletive, "Jimmy got so mad, he just went home." "He explained to me that he
wanted to fight for what this country believes in," he continued. "He said that if he was
born and raised in another country, he'd be fighting for what that country believed in."
Mr. Pelaez said his friend would rather have died fighting than in a vehicle accident.
"He was a tough kid," he said. "I'm sure right now he's angry about the way he went out,
because he wanted to be in combat."
Mr. Pelaez pulled a slip of paper off the refrigerator and stared at it. It was Private
Prevete's mailing address in Korea. Mr. Pelaez also looked at a child's drawing of his
brother, David, dressed in a Green Beret's uniform. David Pelaez, who joined the Marines
about the same time that Private Prevete joined the Army, recently received word that he
would be shipped to Iraq in the coming months. "I don't know," Mr. Pelaez said. "I
always planned what we'd do when Jim came back."
Specialist Michael S. Weger
Hometown: Rochester, New York
Age: 30 years old
Died: October 12, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Unit: Army-20th Engineer Battalion-1st Cavalry Division-Fort Hood-Texas
Incident: Killed when a makeshift bomb exploded near their patrol vehicle in
Baghdad
Once an avid art student, Michael Spencer spent his final day in Iraq handing out school
supplies to Iraqi children. Ever since, his family has been compiling a scrapbook of his
life to give to his own young son. "Someday, Damian is going to want to know who his
dad was," said Weger's father, Gregory. Weger, 30, died Oct. 12 along with two other
soldiers when an improvised explosive device hit their Humvee.
Weger was based at Fort Hood. Born in Pascagoula, Miss., Wegner moved to Texas and
studied art and computer graphics at North Harris Community College before moving to
the Atlanta area and working as a real estate agent. He joined the Army after the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks. "Only the good die young, and Mike Weger was definitely one of the
good ones," said his friend and former commander, Capt. David Woodruff. A smart man
with many interests, Wegner enjoyed landscaping, cooking and playing guitar and had
numerous exotic pets. But family members said his most cherished role was as a father to
6-year-old Damian. Weger is also survived by his mother, Patricia, and ex-wife, Danielle
Eames.
MICHAEL SPENCER WEGER
ARMY SPECIALIST MICHAEL SPENCER WEGER, 30, died Tuesday, October 12,
2004, in Baghdad, Iraq while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Specialist Weger was
a member of B Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. Spec. Weger is
survived by a son, Damian Gregory Weger, age 6; his parents Gregory Andrew Weger
and Dr. Patricia Delancey Weger of Hattiesburg, MS and Houston, TX; his brother 1Lt
Mark Andrew Weger and his wife Keriann Schreiber Weger of Houston, TX and
Navarre, FL; and his former wife Danielle Eames of The Woodlands, TX. Spec. Weger
was born in Pascagoula, MS on December 4, 1973.
He attended the Oak Grove Schools, Presbyterian Christian School, and the Center for
Gifted Studies in Hattiesburg, MS and Westfield High School in Spring, Texas. He later
attended North Harris Community College where he studied art and computer graphics
art. He moved to the Atlanta, GA area where he became a real estate agent and milliondollar producer and then transferred to Charlotte, NC. He joined the Army following the
9-11 World Trade Center attack, fulfilling an earlier desire to enter into military service
to his country.
Michael was a handsome, charismatic, intelligent personality who filled a room with
energy and lively conversation. He was knowledgeable about many things and passionate
in his beliefs. He was a cherished son, brother, friend and support to many, having never
met a stranger. In Hattiesburg, he attended Temple Baptist Church, and in Charlotte, NC
he joined the Unitarian Church once attended by Thomas Jefferson.
In Spring, TX he joined the Boy Scouts and the Junior Engineering and Technical
Society, lettered as a member of the Westfield High School Debate Team, and was an
avid art student. Michael touched the lives of many of his friends and the soldiers with
whom he served in battle. He was a brilliant young man who became proficient in
landscaping, animal care, art, cooking, computer skills, guitar, health and nutrition,
exercise, leadership, and real estate. He was an inventor and enjoyed independent
learning. Additionally, he was an animal lover who owned numerous exotic pets.
As a member of the Army, he was proud to be a Sapper (Combat Engineer) and a
decorated soldier in Bravo Company. Spec. Michael Weger was awarded both the Bronze
Star and Purple Heart for his extraordinary service and bravery in battle. Throughout all
of his achievements, his most important and cherished role was being a good and active
father to his son. Specialist Weger was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents,
J.C. and Joyce Delancy and his paternal grandfather, Stanley M. Weger, Sr.
In addition to his immediate family Specialist Weger is survived by his 99-year-old greatgrandmother Mary Bell Brooks of Clinton, MS and his grandmother Lola Weger of
Helena, MS. He is further survived by his great-aunts Audell Brooks and Dorothy
Hembree of Clinton, MS. Specialist Weger is also survived a number of aunts and uncles
including Ervin and Elizabeth Jessup of Cape Girardeau, MO; Betty Dugas of
Germantown, TN; Stanley Weger, Jr. of Texarkana, AR; and James and Jan Delancey of
Hattiesburg, MS. Cousins include Michelle Pennington of Ft. Walton Beach, FL; Kelly
Dugas and David Dugas of Germantown, TN; Jim Delancey and Amanda Delancey of
Hattiesburg, MS; Dr. Joaquin Jessup of Cape Girardeau, MO; Tracy Jessup of
Indianapolis, IN; Lauren Brown of Jackson, MS; Shane Gentry of Moss Point, MS;
Brandi Tisdale of Gautier, MS; Dara Coburn of Fayetteville, AR; and Heather WegerGunthrop of Arlington, VA.
He had numerous other relatives and friends who loved him very much. Visitation will be
from 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Friday, October 22, 2004 at Earthman Resthaven Funeral
Home, 13102 North Freeway. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM, Saturday,
October 23, 2004 at Champion Forest Baptist Church, 15555 Stuebner Airline Rd.,
Houston. Full Military Honors will follow at Houston National Cemetery. In lieu of
flowers, contributions may be made C/O Whitney National Bank - Champions Branch,
6767 FM1960 W., Houston, TX 77069 to the Michael S. Weger Memorial Fund.
Memorial for 20th Engineers dedicated Posted On: Saturday, Nov. 22 2008
Herald/Steven Doll
Teresa Weger touches the memorial stone for her son,
Spc. Michael Weger, who was killed Oct. 12, 2004, as
she places it during a Memorial and Building Dedication
Ceremony by the 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer
Brigade on Friday.
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily Herald
FORT HOOD – Brig. Gen. Robert B. Abrams went to West Point Cemetery in 2006,
looking for the gravesite of a soldier who fell while serving with him in Iraq.
He searched for Capt. Dennis L. Pintor in a section reserved for recent graduates who fell
in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and noticed a large headstone that stood out from
the rest. Stones lay atop many of the markers – signs that visitors had come to pay their
respects – but this large one was completely covered with stones.
"It was obvious a lot of people came to see him," Abrams said Friday.
The large marker piled with stones and a tattered Silver Star medal belonged to Pintor, a
20th Engineer Battalion soldier who died from a roadside bomb blast Oct. 12, 2004, in
Iraq. The headstone clearly reflected Pintor's personality and spirit, Abrams said.
Spc. Michael S. Weger and Spc. Jaime Moreno also died from the blast.
The three men, along with eight other 20th Engineer soldiers who died in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom, were honored at a memorial dedication Friday at Fort Hood.
Stone bricks with each soldier's name were placed near the entrance to the battalion's
headquarters. The memorial is a lasting tribute to the soldiers' lives, service and sacrifice,
said Lt. Col. Peter B. Andrysiak, battalion commander.
Also at the ceremony, the headquarters building was named in honor of Pintor.
The captain enlisted in the Army as a combat engineer in 1992 before attending the U.S.
Military Academy a year later.
He arrived at Fort Hood in January 2003 and took over as assistant brigade engineer for
the battalion, which supported the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team.
Abrams served as the brigade's commander at that time. He is the deputy commander for
the Combined Arms Center-Training at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Nine of the 11 20th Engineer soldiers honored Friday died while serving with the 1st
Cavalry.
Pintor was an example of what right looked like, the general said Friday. He, of course,
was hard-working and had the technical and tactical competency, but he "had intangibles
you can't put value on," Abrams said.
Pintor's incredibly sharp wit and sense of humor made him stand out. He led by example
– from the front.
"He loved soldiers," Abrams said. "(He) loved being a soldier and wore it on his sleeve.
"Dennis could take a punch and come back from it a better man."
Pintor's goal was to command an engineer company in combat, and he got that chance
when Bravo Company deployed in 2004 to Iraq. Pintor's vehicle was leading a
reconnaissance patrol on a dangerous route the night of Oct. 12 when a roadside bomb
detonated.
Pintor died doing exactly what he was supposed to and what he wanted to do, Abrams
said, "and that was leading his company in combat."
Leading Bravo Company brought Pintor complete fulfillment in his military career, his
wife, Stacy, said Friday at the ceremony. That position was his most fulfilling,
challenging time in the Army, she said.
"This is truly, truly an honor," Stacy said.
Pintor's family, including his daughter, Rhea; his brother and sisters; and his parents, who
came from the Philippines, attended the ceremony. The families of Weger and Boatright
also attended.
Stacy acknowledged the soldiers on patrol with her husband, recognizing their quick
actions in retrieving him following the blast.
"From the depths of my soul, thank you for your bravery and your courage," she said.
Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at astair@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7547.
20th Engineer Battalion soldiers honored at the memorial
Staff Sgt. Abraham D. Penamedina, died April 27, 2004
Sgt. James D. Faulkner, died Sept. 8, 2004.
Capt. Dennis L. Pintor, died Oct. 12, 2004.
Spc. Michael S. Weger, died Oct. 12, 2004.
Spc. Jaime Moreno, died Oct. 13, 2004.
Sgt. Michael L. Boatright, died Dec. 4, 2004.
Spc. Joshua D. Sheppard, died Dec. 22, 2006.
Cpl. Jason J. Beadles, died April 12, 2007.
Staff Sgt. Alicia A. Birchett, died Aug. 9, 2007.
Spc. Johnathan Lahmann, died Dec. 10, 2007.
Pfc. Theron V. Hobbs, died Nov. 6, 2008.
The 20th Engineer Battalion falls under the 36th Engineer Brigade. Units in the battalion
are the Forward Support Company, 510th Engineer Company (Sapper), 59th Engineer
Company (Mobility Augmentation) and 572nd Engineer Company (Mobility
Augmentation).
The 59th and 572nd are currently in Iraq and are set to return to Fort Hood in the coming
months.
Their soldiers deployed in November 2007, the same time other elements of the battalion
returned to Fort Hood.
Lance Corporal Brian K. Schramm
Hometown: Rochester, New York
Age: 22 years old
Died: October 15, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines-2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion-2nd Marine Division-2nd Marine
Expeditionary Force-Camp Lejeune-North Carolina
Incident: Killed by enemy action in Babil Province, Iraq
When Brian Schramm returned to his high school to answer questions about Iraq, he
joked about the lousy food and was upbeat about the Iraqis he'd met. "I never saw him
down," said his uncle, Eric Schramm. "He loved life. Every day was an adventure." But
privately, Schramm had reservations about returning for a second tour of duty. "He didn't
want to go back," said his father, Keith Schramm. "He saw a lot the first time." Schramm,
22, of Rochester, N.Y., was killed by enemy fire on Oct. 15. He was based at Camp
Lejeune. An honor roll student in high school, Schramm was known by friends and
family for a contagious sense of humor and a depth of decency.
He loved camping, hiking and playing soccer. "He was the most genuine person you'd
ever meet in your entire life," said his close friend, Jon Zodarecky. Keith Schramm said
his son realized a "lifelong dream" by becoming a Marine. He was planning to become a
police officer after his second tour. "They told him a year," Keith Schramm said. "We
were hoping he'd come home sooner. But not this way." His mother, Mary Ellen, also
survives him.
Marine Lance Cpl. Brian K. Schramm 22, of Rochester, N.Y.; assigned to 2nd Assault
Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp
Lejeune, North Carolina, killed October 15, 2004, by enemy action in Babil province,
Iraq.
Friends remembered a 22-year-old Marine killed in Iraq last week for his sense of humor.
Lance Corporal Brian K. Schramm, of Rochester, New York, died Friday in Iraq’s Babil
province, a hotspot south of Baghdad where the U.S. military launched a major offensive
this month to try to quell insurgents. He was serving his second tour of duty in the
country.
The Defense Department did not release details about Schramm’s death, but his father,
Keith Schramm, said his son was killed by shrapnel, the Rochester Democrat and
Chronicle in New York reported.
Schramm, who was assigned to the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine
Division, Second Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina,
was described by friends and family as a decent person with a sense of humor.
“He was the most genuine person you’d ever meet in your entire life,” said friend Jon
Zodarecky, who graduated high school with Schramm in 2001 and later enlisted in the
Army.
Keith Schramm said his son decided as a youngster that he wanted to become a Marine.
“It was a lifelong dream,” he said. Schramm spent five months in the Middle East and
Iraq last year during and after the invasion, and was deployed again in June.
Keith Schramm had hoped his son’s second tour would not stretch out extensively. “They
told him a year,” Keith Schramm said. “We were hoping he’d come home sooner. But not
this way.”
Friend of Marine killed in Iraq gets call from president
GREECE, NEW YORK — Lance Corporal Nathan Clarke was granted a highly unusual
10-day leave to attend the funeral of his best friend, Brian Schramm, a fellow Marine
killed in combat in Iraq last month. On Thanksgiving Day, Clarke got a call of
condolence from President Bush.
“He thanked Nathan three times for his service to his country and expressed his very
deepest sympathies for the loss of his very good friend,” Clarke’s father, Allan, said
Friday.
Clarke, 21, was serving with the 8th Tank Battalion in Djibouti in eastern Africa when he
learned that Schramm, 22, had been fatally wounded by shrapnel in an attack south of
Baghdad on October 15. The pair, who had been friends since kindergarten in the
Rochester suburb of Greece, spent a summer together as high school exchange students in
Germany.
Schramm’s parents asked the Marines to allow three of his friends in the military —
Clarke and two others stationed at U.S. bases — to attend the funeral. The Marines
normally grant such requests only to immediate family members.
Getting the telephone call from the president was humbling but also bittersweet.
“Nathan still can’t get over Brian being gone,” his father said. “He wondered, ‘Why me,
what have I done to deserve this?’ Where he is in Africa is not a hotbed and they’re
thinking all the time about their brother Marines in Iraq getting hammered and taking
casualties.”
Clarke, who joined the Marines out of high school, returned to his unit earlier this month
and expects to remain on tour until February. On Thursday morning, Bush called 10
members of the military representing all five branches of the service.
“As the men and women of America’s armed forces are sacrificing for the liberties we all
enjoy, the president wanted to express his gratitude for their service and sacrifice, and to
wish them a happy Thanksgiving,” White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said.
Lance Corporal Schramm was assigned to the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd
Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Since he was a
youngster, his lifelong dream had been to join the Marines, his family said.
He spent five months in the Middle East and Iraq last year during and after the invasion,
and was deployed again in June. “He was the most genuine person you’d ever meet in
your entire life,” said friend Jon Zodarecky, who graduated from high school with
Schramm in 2001 and later enlisted in the Army.
(reprinted from the DemocratAndChronicle.com, October 19, 2004)
Community honors Marine, Olympia grad killed in Iraq
(October 19, 2004) — GREECE — American flags flew at half-staff at Greece schools
and town buildings Monday in honor of a Greece man who was killed Friday in Iraq.
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Schramm, 22, who was serving in his second tour of duty
in Iraq, was killed by shrapnel in Babil Province, south of Baghdad.
A 2001 graduate of Greece Olympia High School, Schramm was known by friends and
family for his contagious sense of humor and depth of decency.
That's why Olympia English teacher Donna Murano is establishing a scholarship in
Schramm's memory. After hearing that her former student had died, Murano said she
wanted to do something special to honor him.
"We're not far into the planning stages, but I thought this would be a positive way to
remember Brian," Murano said. "This is something that would've pleased him. This is
exactly who he was. He placed others' needs before his own."
It will be named the Brian Schramm Service Above Self Memorial Scholarship. Brian's
aunt, Sandy Schramm of Greece, said she couldn't imagine a more appropriate tribute.
Olympia students and staff paused for a moment of silence Monday morning. Counselors
at the school are available for students who need to talk to someone about Schramm's
death, said Keith Imon, Greece's assistant superintendent of communication and
technology. Family members said the outpouring of community support touches them.
The Schramm family has had a rough few months. Brian's cousin, Kory Schramm of
Rochester, died in July after a car in Athens, Greece struck him. Kory, who was 23, had
gone to Athens to work in food service for the Olympic Games.
Brian's father, Keith Schramm, said family members have relied on each other for
support.
Brian Schramm spent five months in the Mideast and Iraq last year during and after the
invasion of the country. He returned in June after having been back in the United States
for a year. Eric Schramm, Brian's uncle, described his nephew as a leader and a
motivator.
"I never saw him down," Eric Schramm said. "He loved life. Every day was an
adventure." Brian Schramm enjoyed camping, hiking and playing soccer. He was
planning to become a police officer.
Keith Schramm said his son's body is back in the country and will be returned to Greece
on Thursday. A memorial service will take place Saturday.
"He laid down his life for all of us," said Pastor Vince DiPaola of Lakeshore Community
Church.
The Schramm family has attended Lakeshore Community Church for more than two
years. The service will be at Greece Assembly of God, though, because it can
accommodate the large crowd that is expected.
"He's my hero," Keith Schramm said. "He knew so clearly what he wanted to do and he
did it."
May 11, 2008
Rochester Gold Star moms cope with loss
James Hawver | STAFF WRITER
This is a club to which no mother wanted to belong. Members often avoid the news.
They can't bear to hear another has joined. "I don't want to know," said Mary Ellen
Schramm, sitting in her Greece home, her voice weak, her face flush, her eyes wet. "I
can't do anything about it. It's a heartbreak for me. I cry. I can't imagine another family
going through what we've gone through."
Schramm became a Gold Star mother in October 2004. Since then, nearly 3,000 more
American mothers have suffered through the same.
To be given a gold star means a son or daughter has been taken away.
And while most mothers today will receive a card, a phone call, maybe flowers or a visit,
those like Schramm, whose children have died during military service, can only cling to
memories.
"Holidays are tough," said Schramm, who will spend her fourth Mother's Day without her
eldest son, Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Schramm, who died at age 22 in a mortar attack in
Iraq.
'Can't wake up'
This is a club of weak eyes and strong bonds. "Our bond is loss," said Georgian Davis,
sitting at Schramm's kitchen table on a recent Saturday afternoon. "Our bond is grief. Our
bond is that I met someone who knows my feeling, who knows what I'm going through."
Davis, president of the South Buffalo Chapter of the Gold Star Mothers of America, and
fellow member Shirley Weaver traveled along the Thruway to induct the first five local
mothers into the organization as charter members of the Rochester Area Chapter.
The mothers — Schramm, Nancy Cometa-Fontana of Greece, Rita Hasenauer of Hilton
and Marcia Lyons and Cathy Pernaselli, both of Brighton — plucked tissues from a box
in the middle of the table as they listened to Davis talk about her son. On April 19, 1989,
off the coast of Puerto Rico, an explosion aboard the USS Iowa killed 47 sailors,
including Nathaniel C. Jones Jr.
"I always think," said Davis, crying, "would he have gotten married?"
Each told similar stories of young men who went off to war and never came home.
Anthony Cometa was 21 when he died.
Jason Hasenauer was 21.
James Lyons was 28.
Michael Pernaselli was 27.
Brian Schramm was 22.
"We have the right to cry for them and ourselves whenever we feel like it," Davis said.
The five mothers grabbed more tissues, made their way to the back porch, raised their
right hands and took the organization's oath.
They returned to the kitchen table and signed their names to the back of their charter,
officially forming the Rochester Area Chapter of the Gold Star Mothers of America. The
mother of a Rochester man who died during World War I founded the pioneering chapter
of the national organization in 1919.
The five mothers, along with others in the area, have been getting together nearly every
month for the past couple of years. Although they were the first to officially sign up, they
expect more mothers who have lost a child will join their chapter. Their bond is still the
same, they say, just now official.
"We're an organization that understands immediately, immediately, what you're going
through the minute that casualty officer comes to your door," said Davis, wearing the
official Gold Star Mothers white cap with gold lettering and trim.
After the intimate ceremony, Cathy Pernaselli and Nancy Cometa-Fontana slipped out the
front door. They took cover from the drizzling rain under a maple tree, crossed their arms
and held onto their cigarettes.
"There's nobody else that can really help us besides each other," Cometa-Fontana said.
Today marks the third Mother's Day she will be without her son, and the fifth for
Pernaselli.
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Pernaselli was killed April 24, 2004, during an
attack on an oil terminal in Basra, Iraq. Before he died, he wrote a Mother's Day card but
hadn't sent it. One of his buddies found the card and passed it along until it finally
reached home.
"It took me so long to be able to say that Michael was dead," said Cathy Pernaselli, who
raises her son's two daughters, 8-year-old Dominique and 7-year-old Nicole.
Army National Guard Spc. Anthony Cometa didn't have children. "That's what I'm going
to miss," his mother said. "I'm never going to have grandchildren from him." The two
mothers finished their cigarettes and headed back into the house. "It's like a bad dream,"
Cometa-Fontana said. Pernaselli cut in: "And you can't wake up."
Not again
This is a club Rita Hasenauer has joined once; she doesn't want to join again.
On a Tuesday morning early last month, she sat with her husband, Daniel, and her
youngest son, 15-year-old Eric, in the back of a gray waiting room at the Hancock Air
National Guard Base in Syracuse.
She waited for her two middle sons. Jeremy, 18, was taking a physical in preparation for
entering the Air Force this summer after graduating from Hilton High School. Danny, 21,
was filling out paperwork in preparation for entering the Army National Guard that
afternoon.
She had visited the building just a month before, to witness the dedication of the Jason D.
Hasenauer Ceremony Room, named after her eldest son, who died at the age of 21 when
his Humvee rolled over Dec. 27, 2005, in Afghanistan. Twenty-two days after his death,
Jason's fiancée, Collette Kopp, gave birth to their only child, Kayla.
On Feb. 29, the day of the dedication, Danny became the first soldier to take an oath of
military service in the room. "I'm getting empty-nest syndrome already," said Rita
Hasenauer, a 47-year-old software engineer. Danny turned angry after Jason died, his
parents said. His temper grew short. He snapped easily. He wanted to sign up for the
service right away. But the thought of his mother worrying for his safety held him back.
"I said I better hold off," Danny recalled when he returned to the waiting room after
completing the day's first round of paperwork. "Thank you," Rita said, with a sigh.
Danny's call to military service rekindled last summer at a Fourth of July ceremony at the
First Bible Baptist Church in Greece honoring local fallen soldiers, including his big
brother.
As the family waited at the Syracuse air base, they periodically glanced at the television
in the front of the room tuned to CNN Headline News. "Four U.S. soldiers died in
Baghdad yesterday," the anchor said, and went on to talk about Gen. David Petraeus'
testimony to Congress that day.
The news, Rita said, doesn't bother her as much as patriotic country songs. They get to
her. She flips off the radio quickly before they make her cry.
After a couple of hours of waiting, an officer called them into the ceremony room.
Outside, Rita made sure Jeremy tucked in the brown, button-up shirt that she had brought
for him.
Rita snapped photos from the corner of the room as her two sons raised their right hands
as Jeremy was sworn into the U.S. Air Force.
After the ceremony, the half-dozen officers in the room clapped, and the Hasenauers
posed for pictures next to a photograph of Jason and some of his medals hanging on the
wooden wall. "I can't think of a more American family right now," Air Force Capt. John
Valezaquez said.
A half-hour later, Danny was gone, off to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio,
Texas, for at least six months of basic training. If he reaches his goal and is accepted into
the military police, it will be more.
"I want them to do what they want to do," Rita said. "Everybody's got to find their own
way, and if that's part of their life, we've got to back them — with lots of instruction to be
careful." She has given her sons one specific demand. One of their walls at their home is
a memorial to Jason, filled with photographs and keepsakes. "They have orders not to add
to the wall."
Helping others
This is a club where mothers who have lost sons gain new ones. "I'm worried about
Danny Hasenauer," Mary Ellen Schramm said a few weeks after he left for boot camp.
The Hasenauers have since heard a rumor that Danny's unit will be deployed to
Afghanistan in a year. Schramm realizes that her two other sons, 19-year-old Kyle and
17-year-old Mike, are that much closer to signing up for the armed services themselves.
Kyle, a freshman at Monroe Community College, has been talking about joining the
Coast Guard. Mike, a junior at Greece Olympia High School, has been talking about
joining the Marines, like his brother, through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
"He wanted to go into the Marines because it's the hardest," Mary Ellen said of Brian,
who hoped to be a sheriff's deputy or state trooper after leaving the service. "It was in
him."
She said she cried every day for three years after he died. Over the 43 months since he
has been gone, Brian's scent has been lost from his clothes. Mary Ellen often sits on his
bed and buries her face in his old sweatshirts, longing for a piece of her son.
Now, she and other Gold Star mothers have dedicated themselves to helping others,
raising money for organizations like the Veterans Outreach Center.
"We couldn't help Brian, but if we can help other kids coming back, that's our goal," she
said. "This is our cause now."
They help each other. Nancy Cometa-Fontana, who calls Schramm for support, calls her
Greece neighbor her "lifeline." And they help new members, going together to the
funerals of other local fallen soldiers. "If we have to belong to this, at least we're
together," Schramm said. "We're family."
Like Schramm says, holidays are tough on Gold Star mothers. After what they've been
through, after what they've lost, they make sure to appreciate every moment with their
remaining children — no matter how small or how short. Like, today, when Danny
Hasenauer makes his weekly five-minute phone call home from boot camp.
Gold Star mothers now make sure their last words in each conversation are always "I love
you." "I think it's a privilege to be a mother," Schramm said. "I think it's something that
God chose for all of us to be in some way, and it's a gift that shouldn't be taken for
granted."
JHAWVER@DemocratandChronicle.com
Ellie
__________________
IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY LATE HUSBAND, SSgt Roger A. Alfano, USMC
ONE PROUD MARINE
1961-1977
Vietnam 1968/69
Once a Marine...Always a Marine
www.geocities.com/thedrifter001/
http://www.thefontman.com/
http://p089.ezboard.com/bthefontmanscommunity
aka fontwoman
Friends Remember Fallen Crewman
By U.S. Marine Corp Lance Cpl. Zachary R. Frank
24th Marine Expeditionary Unit
Lance Cpl. Brian K. Schramm, a Rochester, N.Y., native and Amphibian Assault Vehicle
crewman with AAV Platoon, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, reads a
newspaper while deployed to Iraq. Schramm was killed during a mortar attack. At a memorial
service Oct. 21, he was remembered by his fellow Marines for his sense of humor, his can-do
attitude and his disciplined work ethic. Photo by: Official USMC Photo
FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq, Nov. 4, 2004— Fellow
leathernecks and friends gathered here Oct. 21 to honor the life of Lance Cpl. Brian K.
Schramm, who was killed a week earlier during a mortar attack in south-central Iraq.
At a memorial service, the Marines of Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine
Regiment, remembered the 22-year-old native of Rochester, N.Y., for his can-do attitude
and his disciplined work ethic.
"He was the best crewman I've ever worked with, probably one of the best I've ever met,"
said Cpl. Justin D. Taylor, an Amphibian Assault Vehicle crew chief from Savannah, Ga.
"We had been together since February, and he was a good guy and a really hard worker.
I've told him to stop working, walked away and came back only to find him working
again."
"He always made the best of a bad situation, and he would've given you the
shirt off his back if you didn't have one,"
Taylor was sitting with Schramm moments before the attack Oct. 15. Taylor had just
walked off to speak with another Marine when he heard what he believed to be outgoing
artillery rounds. The noise turned out to be incoming enemy mortar fire.
Schramm was hit while trying to seek cover in his vehicle as the mortars -- 12 total -continued to fall.
Taylor watched his friend and fellow Marine drop to the ground from 30 feet away. As
another Marine rushed to Schramm's aid, Taylor ran to find medical assistance for him.
The explosion killed Schramm.
Schramm was the fourth member of BLT 1-2 - the ground combat element of the 24th
Marine Expeditionary Unit - killed in Iraq since the MEU arrived in July.
While Schramm was admired for his technical skills and work ethic, fellow Marines will
also miss his good-natured manner.
Lance Cpl. Brian K. Schramm, a Rochester, N.Y., native and Amphibian Assault Vehicle
crewman with AAV Platoon, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, poses for a
picture prior to landing in Kuwait. Schramm was killed Oct. 15, during a mortar attack. At a
memorial service Oct. 21, his fellow Marines remembered him for his sense of humor, his can-do
attitude and his disciplined work ethic. Photo by: Official USMC Photo
"He was goofy, always joking around and enjoying his friends' company," said Taylor,
who reflected about their karaoke singing inside their AAV and the overzealous way he
responded to questions having to do with his work, often yelling responses unnecessarily
loudly to make sure he was heard.
Beyond all else, the loss would be felt deeply by those who would remember him for just
being a good friend.
"He always made the best of a bad situation, and he would've given you the shirt off his
back if you didn't have one," said Cpl. Jesse Wells, an AAV crew chief from Kennett,
Mo. "That's who he was. He helped his friends and fellow Marines out all the time."
In a final tribute, Wells, Schramm's former roommate and friend, pinned the insignia of a
corporal on the fallen Marine as he was transported to medical facilities. Schramm would
have earned the chevrons in a promotion ceremony the following month.
Blue Star Mothers give banners to families of fallen
By Emily McElligott
Webster, N.Y. - The Blue Star Mothers organization held a ceremony at the CottrealWarner American Legion Post No. 942 to give banners bearing gold stars to the families
of 14 men and one woman who had been on active duty during war when they died.
The fallen soldiers were natives of New York or had family in the state.
Due to inclement weather, only five of the 15 families made it to the Legion post on
Ridge Road.
With tears and hugs, parents accepted bags containing Gold Star Banners and honor
memory books. Among them were Berta and Curtis Elseth, the parents of Lt. Cmdr.
Robert R. Elseth, 37, who died in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, after terrorists
commandeered a plane and flew it into the building. Elseth was laid to rest in Arlington
National Cemetery overlooking the Pentagon.
Ronald Shaw comforts his wife, Brenda, as she cries during a ceremony in Webster yesterday for
soldiers who died in wartime. Their son, Daniel J. Shaw, died in November in Iraq.
Also present were Maryellen and Keith Schramm of Rochester, the parents of Marine
Lance Cpl. Brian K. Schramm. The 22-year-old was killed during his second tour of duty
on Oct. 15, 2004, by shrapnel from enemy fire in Babil province, a hot spot south of
Baghdad.
Blue Star Mother member Gretchen Stahlman spoke of the bond of motherhood and duty
to country that joins all Blue Star Moms — those with sons or daughters in the military
— and Gold Star Moms, those who have lost a son or daughter.
“Four years ago, our son turned 17,” said Stahlman. “A recruiter sat at our kitchen table
filling out paperwork. He went from high school senior to enlisted man ... and we never
felt more scared or more proud,” she said.
“There is not a parent here who hasn’t imagined the horror of having a dark sedan pull
into the driveway to deliver the worst possible news,” she added.
Blue Star Mothers of America is a national nonprofit service organization, and its
members support one another and their children who serve. Chapter No. 1 of New York
set up yesterday’s ceremony.
The name refers to flags displayed at homes during times of war. They are simple white
felt banners with red borders bearing stars, and each blue star represents a son or daughter
in active duty. A gold star signifies a son or daughter who died in service.
The ceremony featured Navy veteran Eric Massa, who is a candidate for Congress. He
led the Pledge of Allegiance, and Army Reserves Sgt. Tony Jagla sang “God Bless the
USA.”
Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks spoke of gratitude and support for American
troops as she thanked the Gold Star recipients for their sons’ and daughter’s service.
“Remember your loved ones with pride,” she said.
Students from Bloomfield sang patriotic songs as the Patriot Guard escorted families to
receive their Gold Star Banners. Danica Carlson, Paul Carlson, Rachael Desmond, and
Paige Turnbull provided the music.
Rita and Dan Hasenauer of Hilton accepted the banner honoring their son, Army Pfc.
Jason Hasenauer, 21, who died of head injuries near Kandahar, Afghanistan on Dec. 28,
2005, when the Humvee he was riding in was overturned by a roadside bomb. He had just
become a father four weeks prior.
“It means a lot,” said Gold Star Mom Teresa Covert, who traveled all the way from
Tonawanda with her husband, Dwane, in a snowstorm to receive her Gold Star Banner. “I
will hang it in my window. I want everyone to know that my son was a hero, and what
he did for his country.”
Army Pfc. Dwane Covert Jr., 20, died Nov. 3, 2007, leaving an unborn daughter behind.
“He was on the base ... and he found a bomb on the ground and picked it up,” said Covert
of her son, explaining that at first he didn’t know what it was. “He saved a lot of lives,
but lost his own,” she added.
Brenda and Ronald Shaw braved the weather, traveling from West Seneca — near
Buffalo — to receive their banner. “I am deeply honored, and I’m thankful that people
recognize my son as a warrior and a hero,” said Brenda Shaw of her son, Army Sgt.
Daniel J. Shaw, 23, who taught himself the Iraqi language and died Nov. 5, 2007, in an
explosion in Taji as he was returning from a mission.
Contact Daily Messenger writer Michele Cutri-Bynoe at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 256 or at
messenger@mpnewspapers.com.
The honored
Names of the 14 men and one woman honored at the ceremony in Webster:
- Navy Lt. Cmdr. Robert R. Elseth of Vestal
- Marine Lance Cpl. Brian K. Schramm of Greece
- Army Sgt. Daniel J. Shaw of West Seneca
- Army Pfc. Dwane A. Covert Jr. of Tonawanda
- Army Pfc. Jason Hasenhauer of Hilton
- Army Staff Sgt. Aram J. Bass of Niagara Falls
- Army Staff Sgt. Shawn M. Clemens of Allegany
- Army Staff Sgt. Carletta S. Davis, a native of Alaska who has family in Oswego
- Army Sgt. Jason C. Denfrund of Cattaraugus
- Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham of Scio
- Army Pvt. Robert Gilman of Rochester
- Army Sgt. David M. McKeever of Buffalo
- Army Spc. Jacob M. Pfister of Buffalo
- Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Michael J. Pernaselli of Brighton
- Army Staff Sgt. Steven R. Tudor of Dunmore, Pa., who was stationed in New York and
has family in Watertown
Specialist Segun Frederick Akintade
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Age: 34 years old
Died: October 28, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-2nd Battalion-108th Infantry Regiment--New York
Incident: Killed during a makeshift bomb and small arms fire attack in Abd Allah.
Born: December 24, 1969 in Lagos, Nigeria
Died: October 28, 2004 in Mushada, Iraq
Specialist Segun Frederick Akintade was a student of New York City College of
Technology in Brooklyn. After achieving an Associates Degree, he continued to pursue a
Bachelors Degree in computer science. He was dedicated to supporting his extended
family back home in Lagos.
Akintade had come to America in 1997. He took a job at Bear Stearns. In order to help
fund his education, and because of pride in his country, he joined the New York Army
National Guard. Shortly before September 11, 2001, at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, Segun
Akintade raised his right hand and swore in, enlisting into an infantry company based in
Manhattan.
Upon enlistment he received basic training at Fort Benning in Georgia, and then returned
to New York and continued training with his unit at area basesd, during the weekends.
Like many of New York’s National Guard members, he spent some time helping to
secure local transportation facilities as part of the Global War on Terror.
In the spring of 2003, Akintade took another oath, that of a US citizen. A few months
later, in July, he learned that he would be deploying to Iraq in early 2004. He was
mobilized to active duty in October of 2003 and deployed to Iraq on March 12, 2004.
Segun went by many names. Some called him Fred, some Segun, but in the Army he was
known as Obi-Wan or just Obi. He maintained a positive attitude throughout the entire
deployment. Whether freezing in the Fort Drum winter of upstate NY, or sweltering in
the desert heat of Iraq in August, his platoon mates could always count on Akintade to be
smiling.
Obi-Wan was an excellent soldier, an expert with his assigned machine gun, the 240B.
And he was in incredible physical condition, especially for a man in his thirties. He
routinely aced the Army’s physical fitness test. He loved athletics, and any kind of
games, including video games. But he was still struggling to master the rules and rhythm
of American Football.
Akintade had a deep empathy for the Iraqi people he dealt with. Perhaps because he had
grown up in Nigeria, he could better relate to the frustrations of the impoverished and the
oppressed. He understood their desire for dignity and freedom.
On October 28, of 2004, while returning from a routine patrol to the desert area west of
the city of Dujail in Iraq, Frederick Segun Akintade was killed. His platoon patrol was
moving east on Route Boa when insurgents initiated a complex ambush combining an
IED (roadside bomb) and automatic weapons fire. Akintade was occupying his usual
position in the machine gun turret of his squad’s humvee. The IED, a 155mm artillery
shell went off without warning, and killed Akintade, who was exposed in the turret. He
was thirty-four years old.
Two soldiers Spc. John O’Brien and Spc. Yanko Perez, both with significant first aid
skills, worked furiously under enemy machine gun fire to save Akintade’s life. In the end,
the wound was too grave. The Army, the city, and the university, have lost a great man.
1st Leutenant Matthew D. Lynch
Hometown: Jericho, New York
Age: 25 years old
Died: October 31, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines-2nd Battalion-5th Marine Regiment-1st Marine Division-1st Marine
Expeditionary Force-Camp Pendleton-California
Incident: Killed by enemy action in Anbar Province.
The day Matthew D. Lynch had his wisdom teeth removed _ a standard procedure for
prospective soldiers _ would not be easily forgotten. It was Sept. 11, 2001. "When he
went into the dentist's office, we were at peace," said Lynch's dad, Bill Lynch. "When he
came out of anesthesia we were at war." A roadside bomb near Ramadi killed Lynch, 25,
of Jericho, N.Y., Oct. 31.
He was on his third tour and was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He graduated high
school in 1997, having broken many swimming records and excelled as a catcher for the
school baseball team. Lynch won a scholarship to Duke University and graduated in
2001. A list of 10 things a baseball catcher must know to be a successful field general
still hangs above Lynch's bed, said his brother, Tim Lynch, also a former catcher and a
Marine sent to Iraq. "From being catchers, we were used to being in charge," said Tim
Lynch. "I think that rubbed off on both of us." His mother, Angela Lynch, also survives
him. "Both boys were catchers, and both boys were Marines," said Bill Lynch. "One
came home and the other didn't."
Specialist Brian K. Baker
Hometown: West Seneca, New York
Age: 27 years old
Died: November 7, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-2nd Battalion-14th Infantry Regiment-10th Mountain Division (Light
Infantry)-Fort Drum-New York
Incident: Killed by a car bomb while on patrol in Baghdad.
Brian Baker said he was filled with a warm feeling when he found out that he and his
wife were expecting identical twin girls, due in January. "I hope they look like him
because I need to see him every day," said Baker's wife, Amy Roach Baker. "I just wish I
could feel that right now. I feel so empty." Baker, 27, of West Seneca, N.Y., was killed
when a bomb exploded in a vehicle near his patrol Nov. 8. He was stationed at Fort
Drum, N.Y. Baker often told his wife that he wasn't doing anything dangerous during his
deployment. She said he never complained about serving in Iraq. "The Army is at a loss
without him," his wife said. "He was one of the best." Friends said Baker planned to
make a career of the Army. "You might say it was his calling," said Lori Ploetz, a
longtime family friend. "He was great at what he did. He was respected by his peers."
Sgt. Brian Baker, a soldier in Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 14 Infantry Regiment, 2nd
Brigade, 10th Mountain Division died Sunday, November 7, 2004 while on active duty in
Iraq. Brian was the most wonderful husband, loving son, outstanding father, and was a
great soldier who was proud to serve his country.
Brian was born September 6, 1977 to Greg and Holly Baker in Springville, New York,
and graduated from Springville Griffith-Institute High School in 1996. On October 11,
2003 Brian married Amy Roach in Midland. He enjoyed fishing, playing cards with his
friends, and riding motorcycles. Most of all, Brian loved spending time with his family
and he will truly be missed by everyone who loved him.
He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Quentin Baker. Brian is survived by his
loving wife, Amy Baker and their children, son, Coletin and daughters, Cadence and
Emily, all of Midland, TX; parents, Greg and Holly Baker; brothers, Greg and Jesse
Baker; sisters, Jenni and Michele Baker, all of Springville, NY; father-in-law and motherin-law, Dusty and Barbie Roach of Midland, TX; sister-in-law, Sommer Strong of San
Angelo, TX; brother-in-law, Ross Roach of Midland, TX; grandparents, Evelyn Baker of
East Concord, NY; John and Helen Spengler of North Collins, NY.
Funeral services have been scheduled for 1:00 P.M. Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at
Stonegate Fellowship. Interment will follow at Resthaven Memorial Park. Arrangements
are under the direction of Ellis Funeral Home. To place online condolences, please visit
www.mem.com. Published in the Midland Reporter-Telegram on 11/16/2004.
Lance Corporal Jeffrey Lam
Hometown: Queens, New York
Age: 22 years old
Died: November 8, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines-6th Communications Battalion-4th Force Service Support GroupMarine Corps Reserve-Brooklyn-New York
Incident: Killed during a vehicle accident in Anbar Province.
As a student at a prestigious New York high school, Jeffrey Lam distinguished himself in
math and his second language: English. The son of immigrants from Hong Kong, he had
grown up speaking Cantonese. But he wanted to move up in America, former teachers
say. "He was a first-generation youngster, who was very intent on being upwardly mobile
by educating himself," said Valerie Reidy, principal of the Bronx High School of
Science. Lam, 22, of New York, died Nov. 8 when a bulldozer he was driving rolled into
the Euphrates river.
He had been working just outside of Fallujah in preparation for the U.S.-led assault on
the city. After graduating from Pace University with a degree in information technology,
Lam sought a career in the Marines and was based in New York. He deployed to Iraq in
September, shortly after his wife gave birth to a baby daughter. "He was really patriotic
and wanted to do something meaningful," said his brother, Anthony.
Master Sergeant Steven E. Auchman
Hometown: Waterloo, New York
Age: 37 years old
Died: November 9, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Air Force-5th Air Support Operations Squadron-Fort Lewis-Washington
Incident: Killed during a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Mosul.
Monday, December 11 2006 @ 08:48 AM EST
Buffalo News--A 24-year-old soldier from Cheektowaga, remembered by a former
teacher as having one of the world's great smiles, was one of five servicemen killed last
week when a roadside bomb destroyed their military vehicle in Iraq.
Army Pfc. Travis C. Krege was identified by the Defense Department on Saturday as a
victim of an explosion in Hawijah, near the city of Kirkuk. Authorities said an
improvised explosive device killed the soldiers, members of the 25th Infantry Division
headquartered in Hawaii, on Wednesday. Krege's parents, Michael and Sandra Krege of
Santin Drive, were unavailable to talk about their son late Saturday.
"At this point, the family would like to grieve in private and not make any comment," a
family member told The Buffalo News.
Krege is at least the 26th soldier with Western New York roots to be killed in combat
since 2002.
A 2000 graduate of Maryvale High School, Krege is believed to be the first Iraq War
casualty from Maryvale. "The kids at the school are very, very upset," said Kathleen
Jacques, who had Krege in her global studies class. "Most of the students knew his
younger sister, Shauna." "He had the greatest smile," Jacques said. "I can still see his
smile; he was the nicest boy." Joyce Cougevan, who taught Krege in her English class,
agreed. "He was a very kind young man, very polite," she said.
Krege and the other soldiers who died were part of Task Force Lightning, an operation
responsible for the training of Iraqi troops, according to Kendrick Washington, a
spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division in Oahu, Hawaii.
"Our soldiers were not there in a capacity of looking to actively engage the enemy, or to
look for insurgents," Washington said. "They are over there training the Iraqi forces to
take over when they leave. They have been training the regular Iraq army on such things
as how to shoot, how to patrol, guard duty and how to set up a perimeter."
The Honolulu Advertiser newspaper reported that a "massive bomb tore apart" a Humvee
that Krege and four other soldiers were riding in.
The other soldiers killed with Krege were from Conover, N.C.; Sibley, La.; Pflugerville,
Texas; and American Samoa, the Defense Department said. Krege was assigned to the
2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
Steven E. Auchman never wanted to be left on the sidelines, whether it was high school
athletics, where he never missed a practice for three sports and played even when hurt, or
when his nation needed him, when he volunteered to go to Iraq. "Steve was a dignified
kid. He was one who did the most with his natural ability. The things you want people to
think of you, that's what I thought of Steve," said Don Moretti, who coached Auchman in
football and lacrosse. Auchman, 37, of Waterloo, N.Y., died Nov. 9 during a mortar
attack in Mosul.
The 19-year Air Force veteran was based at Fort Lewis, Wash. He graduated high school
in 1985 and together with his twin brother, John, joined the Air Force. He met his future
wife, Jennifer, while she also was serving in the Air Force, which she left in 1989. "He
was just a very special person. We were best friends first before we started dating," she
said. "He had a wonderful sense of humor and always knew how to make me laugh."
They had been married for more than 16 years. Auchman also is survived by his sons,
Brian, 16, and Eric, 13.
Sergeant James C. Matteson
Hometown: Celoron, New York
Age: 23 years old
Died: November 12, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-2nd Battalion-2nd Infantry Regiment-1st Infantry Division-VilseckGermany
Incident: Killed when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his Bradley Fighting
Vehicle in Fallujah.
SSgt Matteson's dad, Mr. Matteson writes:
He, J.C. as we all called him, because there are so many Jim's in the family, was a high
school stand out athlete. He was the star running back for Southwestern High School $28
and was an inspiration to many of his classmates. J.C. was a Boyscout in grade school,
started wrestling in first grade and by the time he was ten took second in the New York
State Kids' Wrestling Championships. He started playing midget football at ten and every
year until he graduated and ran track and field in high school. He served several months
training with the Egyptians, nine months in Bosnia when he was with the 3rd I.D. 98-01.
Then he re-enlisted with the 1st I.D. at Vilseck, Germany and spent one year in Kosovo.
Then he returned back to Germany and he trained six months with the Special Forces on
urban warfare after which he deployed to Iraq where he always led the way. When he and
his Scouts would do raids he would always go in first; per his Scouts of 2-2, and his acts
of heroism were unmatched. On Nov. 10, when clearing Falluja, Iraq three Scouts were
wounded and pinned down in a building, he stormed the building through smoke lying on
the floor of the building with his wounded and bloody, he laid down fire saving the
Scouts. Then on the 12th of November the D.O.D. gave me the awful news, they said:
"our grateful Nation wishes to inform you Sgt. James C. Matteson while fighting
gallantly from his position in the turret of his Hum-V received a direct hit from enemy
insurgents' R.P.G. and was killed in action for the battle of Fallujah, Iraq 7:12 a.m.
Falluja, Iraq time this November 12, 2004."
J.C. had two sisters Hope Freedom Matteson (who served in Iraq Mar. 19 until Dec. 9-03
when she was medi-vaced out with a broken foot and was on crutches for six months, she
is currently serving with 4th .I.D. Ft Hood, Texas); and, a little sister he adored Micaela
Rose Matteson, six years old. Hope and J.C. were very close all throughout their
childhood as well as adulthood. Hope joined the Army to go to Germany, in part to be
close to J.C. When they were children everyone thought they were twins. They were only
12 months apart, almost exactly to the day; Hope was born on November 21 and J.C. was
born on November 22. They were both born on Thanksgiving. I've given thanks for them
ever since, their father writes.
J.C. also had two step brothers Nicholas Richard Knepshield and Brandon Russel
Knepshield whom he was with since Nick was three and Brandon was born. To him, they
were more then step brothers they were his little brothers he was very fond of.
SSgt James C. Matteson, 23, of Celoron, New York died in Fallujah, Iraq when a rocketpropelled grenade struck his Hum-V. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry
Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Vilseck, Germany. Died on November 12, 2004.
Sergeant Catalin D. Dima
Hometown: White Lake, New York
Age: 36 years old
Died: November 13, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army Reserves-411th Engineer Brigade-U.S. Army Reserve-New WindsorNew York
Incident: Killed during a mortar attack in Baghdad.
Catalin Dima took his oath of American citizenship while serving in Baghdad. A
Romanian immigrant, Dima joined the U.S. Army after the Sept. 11 attacks and became a
citizen three years later, in October. Dima, 36, of White Lake, N.Y., died Nov. 13 in a
mortar attack in Iraq. He was based in New Windsor, N.Y. Dima had called his wife
Florika earlier the day he died to tell her he had been promoted to sergeant. He was proud
of the promotion and "loved" being in the Army, said his mother-in-law Maria Zgrda.
Dima was a soldier in the Romanian army before moving in 1996 to the United States,
where he worked as a truck driver before joining Army. He also leaves behind two sons,
Christian and John Peter and a daughter, Angela Maria. "He was a good man, a very
funny man," said his brother, Bogdan.
Sgt. Catalin D. Dima of White Lake, a member of the 411th Engineer Brigade of the U.S.
Army, died in the service of his country on Saturday, November 13, 2004, in Baghdad,
Iraq. He was 36 years of age. The son of Christina Dima and the late Ino Dima, he was
born June 13, 1968, in Calarasi, Romania. He came to New York City in 1996 and
moved with his wife to Sullivan County in 1999, not wanting to raise his children in the
city.
Shortly after September 11, 2001, he entered the U.S. Army Reserves because of his
great love for his new country. He had served in the Romanian Army and was familiar
with military service. He was working as a truck driver for Central Pet Supply in New
Jersey when he was mobilized with his reserve unit. In October 2004, he was awarded
U.S. Citizenship.
He was promoted to sergeant in October 2004 in recognition of his patriotism, valor and
fidelity, as well as his demonstrated leadership potential and dedicated service. Sgt. Dima
received many military decorations including the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious
Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Army Reserve
Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Ribbon, Global War on
Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces
Reserve Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
In a family statement, it was said, "Sgt. Dima was a hard working family man and a
dedicated soldier who will be greatly missed by family, friends, fellow citizens and
fellow soldiers."
He is survived by his wife of seven years, Florika Zgrda Dima, two sons, Christian Dima
and John Peter Dima, and a daughter, Angela Maria Dima, all at home; his mother and a
brother, Bogdan Dima, both of Romania; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.
Services will be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday at the White Lake Reformed Presbyterian
Church, Route 17B, White Lake, with Fr. Dimitry Musta officiating.
Burial with full military honors will be made in the Evergreen Cemetery in Bethel.
Funeral arrangements were made by the Ramsay's Funeral Home in Kauneonga Lake.
U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1193-04 November 19, 2004
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting
Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Catalin D. Dima, 36, of White Lake, N.Y., died Nov. 13 in
Baghdad, Iraq, when enemy mortar fire landed near his position. Dima was assigned to
the Army Reserve's 411th Engineer Brigade, New Windsor, N.Y.
For further information related to this release, contact Army Public Affairs at (703) 6922000. http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2004/nr20041119-1565.html
The Hardest Way to Become an American
USA TODAY
June 30, 2005
It is the hardest way to become an American citizen: fighting for a country that is not yet
yours, and in some cases dying for it.
Catalin Dima took this path, and his family has no regrets. Born in Romania, where he
served in the military, Dima immigrated to America in 1996 and came to adore his new
country. Living in Queens, N.Y., and later upstate, he married, fathered three children
and worked as a big-rig truck driver.
After becoming a legal resident in 2001, he joined the Army Reserve in response to the
Sept. 11 attacks. "I tried talking him out of the Army because I was afraid, but there was
no talking him out of it," says his wife, Florika Dima. "He said he had to do it."
"He bought the whole package," says his uncle, Peter Danciu. "He loved this country."
While deployed in Iraq last October, Dima, 36, took the oath of allegiance administered
by Eduardo Aguirre Jr., outgoing head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In a
fit of joy, he shouted "USA, USA," as he left the ceremony. Six weeks later, the day he
was promoted to sergeant, Dima died in a mortar attack near Baghdad.
Aguirre says, "The moral of the story for me is he died as he would have liked to have
died: a U.S. citizen and an officer in the U.S. Army."
As the Fourth of July approaches and a nation at war struggles to fill its armed ranks with
volunteers, the United States is doing what it has done in every major conflict since the
Civil War: It is making it easier for legal resident aliens to become U.S. citizens if they
choose to fight.
The result has been mixed in this war. The recruiting of legal residents hasn't changed.
They make up 2% to 3% of the U.S. military, as they have for the past five years. But
legal residents already in the military are becoming citizens in record numbers.
In fiscal 2004, 7,627 alien soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines took the oath of
allegiance. That's nearly 15 times as many as the 518 who became citizens in 2000,
according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In the first three-quarters of the
current fiscal year, 3,397 servicemembers have been naturalized.
President Bush issued an executive order in 2002 making it easier for foreign-born U.S.
troops to naturalize. Congress further modified immigration laws late last year.
As a result, any legal resident who enlists in the military can immediately petition for
citizenship rather than wait the five years required for civilians to start the process. Those
in the military previously had to wait three years to become citizens. And $390 in petition
and fingerprinting fees is waived for service members.
Citizenship applications from service members more than doubled in one year to almost
10,000 after Bush's executive order in 2002. In the first three quarters of the current fiscal
year, the Immigration Service has received more than 11,000 naturalization petitions
from soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen.
In naturalization ceremonies across the country that are geared to the upcoming holiday,
several hundred military service members are among the 15,000 people who will be
sworn in as citizens. Posthumous citizenship
In addition, there are cases in which U.S. citizenship has been granted posthumously to
those killed in combat. According to the Defense Department and the immigration
service, at least 73 non-citizens serving in the U.S. armed forces have died in the
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Historically, the nation has expedited citizenship during war both to reward those who
serve and to recruit other non-citizens, says Marion Smith, an immigration service
historian. "It is a demonstration of good citizenship, is it not, to put your life on the line?"
she says. "And so it just seemed in most people's minds that Congress should do
something for these alien soldiers. This is also when the recruitment needs are higher, and
so maybe you need to add a little more incentive."
Beyond the rights that citizenship confers, such as voting, there are practical career
benefits for service members. Non-citizens are barred from re-enlisting in the Air Force
after four years, and after eight years in the Army. In most cases, commissioned officers
must be citizens. And security clearances, necessary for many military job classifications,
can be granted only to citizens.
"I need to be a citizen if I'm going to serve my country, especially if I'm planning to make
a career out of the Army," says Pfc. Areli Marisa Lopez, 19, a native of Mexico. She took
the oath of allegiance in a ceremony Wednesday in El Paso.
Non-citizens in uniform often speak with a rough-hewn eloquence of how citizenship is a
fitting consequence of their service.
"I choose the citizenship because I believe what the Americans believe, their value
system, their freedoms," says Army chaplain Jin Hee Chang, 41, a native of South Korea
who came to the USA 12 years ago. He was naturalized June 23 in Syracuse, N.Y. "Now
I feel like they are my people."
Birgit Smith, a native of Germany, felt an overwhelming sense of inclusion from
Americans long before she took the oath of allegiance in May. A civilian, she is the
widow of Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith, who died April 4, 2003, while single-handedly
fighting off a counterattack by dozens of Iraqi troops during the invasion. He saved an
equal number of American troops through his actions. He was the first service member to
receive the highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, in more than a decade.
On the Ford Explorer that Birgit Smith drove on shopping trips in Holiday, Fla., she had
a decal with gold lettering that read: "In loving memory of Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith."
People recognizing the name would honk horns, salute or wave to her. Others would
motion for Birgit to pull over so they could give her a tearful hug, or would leave notes of
appreciation on her windshield in parking lots.
She was overwhelmed by the response. "After Paul's death, I definitely wanted to become
an American," she says. "I saw more how the American people are, how grateful they are,
how they care."
Although Birgit Smith's citizenship process was already underway before her husband
died, one of the immigration changes instituted by Congress for servicemembers is
designed to benefit their families. If a servicemember who is a U.S. citizen dies in the
line of duty, foreign-born members of his or her family can now seek citizenship, even if
they are not legal residents. This is also possible in cases in which the servicemember is
made a citizen posthumously.
The naturalization process is still cumbersome. Fingerprints and photographs must be
taken, and eligibility and background investigations completed. Applicants are
interviewed and given a civics test.
However, military petitioners are moved to the front of the citizenship line. A process
that takes a year for average aliens is reduced for non-citizen servicemembers, with the
goal of having citizenship applications processed within 90 days, says Christopher
Bentley, spokesman for the immigration service.
The naturalization process is "much easier and it's free," says Agnieszka Grzelczyk, 24, a
Navy petty officer 3rd class who was born in Poland and naturalized at the Los Angeles
Convention Center last Thursday with more than 8,400 people. She filed for citizenship
in February, responding to the expedited immigration changes.
Last year's changes allow soldiers to be naturalized in war zones. But the war sometimes
gets in the way. The immigration service has sent officials to administer the oath in Iraq
and Afghanistan only once, and that was Aguirre's trip in October. Commonly, applicants
serving in Iraq must wait until they are home.
A commitment
Army Spc. Uday Singh, a native of India who was eager to become a U.S. citizen, wrote
from Iraq last November to a favorite aunt living in Lake Forest, Ill.: "I got some more
good news. My citizenship process has finally gone through."
Singh, 21, had hoped to complete the process by January. But on Dec.1, he was killed in
action when his platoon was ambushed along a highway near Habbaniyah.
Singh was posthumously awarded citizenship. His remains were transported to India for a
Sikh funeral service and cremation. The ashes are interred at Arlington National
Cemetery.
"He was committed to bettering himself," says his aunt, Harpreet Datt. "He felt that being
on his own, with some distance from his parents (in India), would allow him to reach his
potential. And citizenship was very much a part of that potential. It allows you to be what
you can be."
A Defense Department survey of recruits last year found that non-citizens enlist for many
of the same reasons as the native-born: to serve the country, to earn money for education
or to learn new skills.
Army 1st Sgt. Olympio Magofna is a recruiter based in Guam, a U.S. territory in the
Pacific. He says the offer of expedited U.S. citizenship is "icing on the cake" when
Filipinos, Japanese, Australians and Koreans who are legal residents of Guam choose to
enlist. "We use that as a selling tool," Magofna says. "They can join the Army and get all
the benefits. And then on top of that, if they're looking forward to becoming a U.S.
citizen, it will be expedited and acted on quickly. That is an additional incentive."
Aguirre, a naturalized citizen and native of Cuba who is leaving the immigration service
to become ambassador to Spain, says the individual choice to become a U.S. citizen is
difficult to categorize.
"Citizenship is such a private, personal decision. I truly believe that everybody has a
slightly different rationale for doing it. I equate it to getting married," Aguirre says. "It's a
matter of the moment when you are ready."
He remembers administering the oath to a Marine gunnery sergeant who had been
eligible for citizenship for more than a decade. "I said, 'Whatever motivated you to that
right now?'" Aguirre recalls. "He said, 'I'm ready now.'"
A wartime decision
In a number of cases, soldiers who are just now taking their citizenship oaths are veterans
of combat who face a return to the battlefield. This second round of risk somehow
galvanized their decision to finally naturalize.
"I decided before I deploy again, I'd like to do it," says Army Sgt. Paul Falzarano, 25, a
London-born member of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
based at Fort Drum in New York. After seven years as a legal resident here, Falzarano
became a U.S. citizen June 23. His unit is set to go into Iraq in the next few months.
Falzarano says that despite his English accent, his squad mates have long since embraced
him as one of their own. They even show admiration that a foreign national would serve
next to them in combat while the Army is struggling to fill its ranks with U.S. citizens.
"I do more American-patriotic things than most Americans do, by serving," Falzarano
says. "That's been noticed by a lot of people I work with. Swearing in as a citizen is
pretty much a formality."
Army Spc. Nigel Gamble, 28, left the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago for
The US more than ten years ago. Today he is a soldier with the 10th Mountain Division
based at Fort Drum. He became a U.S. citizen June 14. Gamble said he chose to
naturalize after a tour in Afghanistan. His unit is also preparing to deploy to Iraq.
"You're putting yourself on the line for 11 months every day and then you come back,"
Gamble says. "It's like, 'All right, I'm getting ready to do this (combat tour) again, let me
go ahead and be a part of this and do it fully.'"
Copyright 2005 USA TODAY.
Promoted To Sgt. And Killed Same Day
November 18, 2004 The Associated Press
WHITE LAKE, N.Y. -- A soldier from the mid-Hudson Valley was killed Saturday by a
mortar round in Baghdad, his mother-in-law said.
Army Sgt. Catalin Dima, 31, called his wife Florika earlier in the day to tell her he had
been promoted to sergeant.
Dima emigrated from Romania eight years ago and became an American citizen last
month. He worked as a truck driver before joining the Army three years ago, and served
in Iraq since last Christmas. Dima and his wife recently bought a house in Smallwood,
80 miles northwest of New York City.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
New York and Region
Metro Briefing | New York: White Lake: Local Man Killed In Iraq
Published: November 16, 2004
A soldier from the mid-Hudson Valley who emigrated from Romania eight years ago and
became a citizen last month was killed Saturday by a mortar round in Baghdad, according
to a newspaper report. Sgt. Catalin Dima, 31, had called his wife, Florika, earlier in the
day to tell her he had been promoted to sergeant, his mother-in-law, Maria Zgrda, told
The Times Herald-Record of Middletown. She said that Sergeant Dima ''loved'' being in
the Army, which he joined three years ago. He had served in Iraq since last Christmas.
Catalin Dima took his oath of American citizenship while serving in Baghdad. A
Romanian immigrant, Dima joined the U.S. Army after the Sept. 11 attacks and became a
citizen three years later, in October. Dima, 36, of White Lake, N.Y., died Nov. 13 in a
mortar attack in Iraq. He was based in New Windsor, N.Y. Dima had called his wife
Florika earlier the day he died to tell her he had been promoted to sergeant. He was proud
of the promotion and "loved" being in the Army, said his mother-in-law Maria Zgrda.
Dima was a soldier in the Romanian army before moving in 1996 to the United States,
where he worked as a truck driver before joining Army. He also leaves behind two sons,
Christian and John Peter and a daughter, Angela Maria. "He was a good man, a very
funny man," said his brother, Bogdan.
NCOJ
EDITORIAL--Non-citizen Soldiers deserve our highest respect
I want to share a story with you. It is the story of a young, courageous patriot, who came to the United
States seeking opportunity and was so thankful for his freedoms, he chose to join the Army to help defend
them. The Soldier’s name was Sgt. Catalin Dima. He came to this country to work and start a new
life. An Army Reservist with the 411th Engineer Brigade out of New Jersey, Dima felt
compelled to join the service with a desire to give back. The 411th was mobilized to
rotate into Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. I met Dima’s roomate and good
friend, Sgt. Henry Chin-Hong, while visiting troops in Iraq on August 12 of this year.
Dima, aspecialist at the time, had asked his roomate to come see me to express some
issues he was having getting his paperwork through the immigration process to become
an American citizen. He was very anxious to be a U.S. citizen and hoped I could help.
Chin-Hong told me the problems and in the weeks after, my staff worked with
Immigration and Naturalization Services to help the process along.
On October 3, then Spc. Dima, along with numerous other Soldiers, were sworn in as
American citizens in the very palace where Saddam Hussein used to live. Dima was
overjoyed. His roomate tells how he walked into the trailer where they lived that day and
wouldn’t stop screaming “USA, USA.” Chin-Hong wrote to me shortly after the
ceremony to tell me about Dima’s great accomplishment. I was overjoyed and humbled
that my assistance helped this American Soldier become a citizen of the United States.
He deserved it. He was defending the very country and the people he was trying so hard
to be a part of. Dima was the type of individual who followed President Kennedy’s
famous phrase, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your
country.” Chin-Hong told us of the late night stories by Dima and the hardships he
suffered in his native Romania. Dima would talk about how as a Soldier in the Romanian
Army, he would have to deliver pizzas at night and live in a basement with his family.
Dima couldn’t understand why natural-born Americans weren’t just walking on air with
all the opportunities they had available to them. Chin-Hong recalls Dima telling him that
he loved President Bush and would vote for him forever if it were possible because the
President allowed him to become a member of the greatest society the world has ever
known. I received an email from Chin-Hong a few weeks ago. He wanted to inform me
that Dima had been promoted to sergeant on November 11. He also wanted me to know
that Dima died that same afternoon from wounds suffered in a mortar attack on his
convoy. His best friend, Chin-Hong was injured as well but survived his wounds. Dima
left behind his wife Florika and three children, Christian, Angela and John. All are under
six years of age.
He gave more in his 39 days of citizenship than most Americans give in their whole lives.
He is an American hero. He deserves to be remembered and recognized with all the great
heroes of this century. He lived the Soldiers Creed and the Warrior Ethos everyday. He
always placed the mission first, never accepted defeat, never quit, and never left a fallen
comrade. He was an expert and a professional. He was, an American Soldier.
Today, 14,921 of our Soldiers are not U.S. citizens. Many of them are working on their
citizenship. Many of them are also in harm’s way, serving alongside their 280,000
brothers and sisters in arms in more than 120 countries worldwide. These heroes have
chosen to defend their adopted country against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
They’ve committed to serving the people of the United States and living the Army
values. They deserve our highest respect. Those of us lucky enough to be born under the
stars and stripes can learn something from these great Soldiers. For me, Sgt. Catalin
Dima will forever be remembered and honored as a great American hero. I only wish I
had been given the opportunity to meet him face-to-face to tell him so.
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston 13th Sergeant Major of the Army SMA Preston JANUARY
2005
Lance Corporal Dimitrios Gavriel
Hometown: New York, New York
Age: 29 years old
Died: November 19, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines-1st Battalion-8th Marine Regiment-2nd Marine Division-2nd Marine
Expeditionary Force-Camp Lejeune-North Carolina
Incident: Killed by enemy action in Fallujah.
2 Very Different Men, Bound Now at Arlington (Washington Post, Dec. 3, 2004)
Legacy.com Tribute
2 Very Different Men, Bound Now at Arlington
By Rebecca Dana
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 3, 2004; Page B06
The medals and the American flag were almost too much for Kiona Bryant to hold as she
sat yesterday at the grave of her high school sweetheart.
So she bundled them together, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star and the flag that once
draped the coffin of her husband, Jack, and turned her head away from the scene.
One by one, the soldiers who conducted the service touched her arm, whispered
condolences and marched off across an open field at Arlington National Cemetery.
It was a scene that would be repeated later in the day. Bryant's husband was one of two
soldiers killed in Iraq who were laid to rest yesterday in the cemetery, hours apart, in
nearby graves.
Army Sgt. Jack "Jay" Bryant Jr., 23, died Nov. 20 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, about 60 miles
north of Baghdad, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military
convoy, followed by a rocket-propelled grenade attack. Bryant, of Dale City, was
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in
Vilseck, Germany.
Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel, 29, a native of Haverhill, Mass., was killed a day earlier a
result of enemy action in the Anbar province. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th
Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp
Lejeune, N.C.
The men were the 98th and 99th service members killed in Iraq to be buried at Arlington.
The long, slow sound of taps rang out for both men on the crisp, clear day.
Bryant had begged his parents not to worry when he was deployed to Iraq and promised
them he would be fine. "He would often tell us that he's immortal," his father, Jack
Bryant Sr., said in an interview shortly after his son's death.
Just before he was killed, Bryant had a two-week leave in Germany with his wife and
their toddler son, Keshawn James. Together, they celebrated an early Thanksgiving, far
from their home in Dale City, and far from the uncertain battlefields of Iraq. They took a
seven-day tour of Paris, and then Bryant returned to combat.
Bryant graduated from Hylton High School just over five years ago and went straight into
the Army with dreams of seeing the world -- which he did -- and taking some time off
before coming home for college. Recently, he had taken some computer science courses
through the University of Maryland.
Endlessly optimistic, quick with a smile or a joke, Bryant's real passion was music, his
father said. He sang in the choir at Star Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in
Triangle, where his father is an associate minister. Shortly before his death, Bryant had
taken to writing rap songs.
At 10 a.m. yesterday, the soldier's friends and family gathered around his grave. There,
before burying his son, Jack Bryant Sr. somberly received an American flag from Lt.
Gen. Larry J. Dodgen, commanding general of the Army Space and Missile Defense
Command. Kiona Bryant accepted one as well, along with her husband's medals.
An Army firing party fired into the air a final salute of three shots, sharp and quick.
Three hours later, Gavriel's family and friends arrived, as did Massachusetts Sens.
Edward M. Kennedy (D) and John F. Kerry (D), both of whom carried small yellow
flower arrangements to place on the casket. Gavriel's mother accepted a flag from Staff
Sgt. Charles Dorsey of the Marine Corps Barracks in Washington. A Greek Orthodox
chaplain, the Rev. Father Nicholas Manousalas, finished the ceremony.
Two weeks before his death, Gavriel told reporters he was "locked, cocked and ready to
rock," the Boston Globe reported. Like Bryant, Gavriel had a thing for rhymes.
The high school wrestling champion and former Wall Street analyst, began keeping a
journal of poems and thoughts after he graduated from Brown University in 1997, which
his parents, Chris and Penelope, found only recently, according to media reports. In one
piece, published in the Boston Herald shortly before his funeral in Haverhill, he wrote:
And then there are the dreamers
Who see beyond the shroud
Distinct are they among us
They shuffle through the crowd
Hope lives among so few
Yet strong it is I know
For I am still a dreamer
Along the track I go
After he died, friends and family remembered Gavriel as an idealist, a 270-pound giant of
a man who quit a high-profile job in finance to do what he believed was right, according
to accounts in the Massachusetts newspapers. On Sept. 11, 2001, during the moments
before the attacks on the World Trade Center, Gavriel had been on the phone with a
friend working in one of the towers, according to the news stories. That made it clear: He
would go to Iraq. What became clear only later, on two, dark November days, was how
he and Bryant would come home.
So yesterday two families paused, at different times and in different ways, on the same
small patch of grass at Arlington. They said prayers and stood in silence. And they
honored two very different men, a pair of dreamers.
Dimitrios Gavriel was a successful real estate securities analyst working on Wall Street
when two of his friends died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade
Center. The experience haunted him. Resolving to fight terrorism, he joined the Marines
last year after first being rejected because of high school wrestling injuries in both knees.
Gavriel, 29, of New York, was killed Nov. 19 in a hostile attack. He was based at Camp
LeJeune, N.C. "I saw him before he left," said friend and former wrestling teammate Matt
Marino. "He knew it wasn't the popular thing to do. He knew what the right thing was."
Gavriel, originally of Haverhill, Mass., was a heavyweight wrestler who received a
college degree from Brown University before going on to Wall Street. He is survived by
parents Chris and Penelope Gavriel and a sister, Christina.
Specialist David L. Roustum
Hometown: West Seneca, New York
Age: 22 years old
Died: November 20, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army National Guard-1st Battalion-108th Infantry Regiment-Army National
Guard-Tonawanda-New York
Incident: Killed during a small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade attack in
Baghdad.
When National Guard Spc. David Roustum was called to active duty, his concerned
Syrian-born father suggested his son could avoid combat by going to Syria. But Russ
Roustum said his son would have none of it. "I said, 'Son, if you don't want to go to Iraq,
go to Syria,'" Russ Roustum said. "He looked at me and said, `Dad, I would never even
consider it.'" Roustum, 22, of West Seneca, N.Y., was killed Nov. 20 in a grenade attack.
His National Guard unit was based in Tonawanda, N.Y.
Three mothers of soldiers injured in the attack told Roustum's parents, Russ and Jennifer,
that they believe David Roustum saved their sons' lives. Russ Roustum said his son was a
leader, playing quarterback for his high school football team and captaining the club
hockey team the year it went from last place to first. Roustum followed his older brother,
Dan, into the military. He had been months away from finishing an accounting degree at
the University at Buffalo when he was sent to Iraq in March. "David was an outstanding
student, athlete, soldier and human being," said Robert Farwell, principal at Roustum's
high school.
David L. Roustum
deathart,p701 November 20, 2004, killed in action while serving his country in Iraq;
loving son of Roustum G. and Jennifer (Towers) Roustum; dear brother of Daniel
(Rochelle Wnuk) Roustum; dearest uncle of Olivia and Hannah Roustum; beloved
nephew to many aunts and uncles. Friends may call Saturday and Sunday from 2-4 and 79 PM, at the JAMES W. CANNAN FUNERAL HOME, INC., (Southtowns Chapel),
3155 Orchard Park Road. A Funeral Mass will be held Monday at 10:00 AM at St. John
Vianney Church. (Please assemble at church). In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent
to The David L. Roustum Memorial Fund, #7765 OPCS Federal Credit Union, S-4000 N.
Buffalo Rd., Orchard Park, NY 14127. (662-1311). David was a proud member of the
National Guard Honor Guard, a graduate of the Class of 2000 Orchard Park High School,
where he played hockey and football.
Private 1st Class Wilfredo F. Urbina
Hometown: Baldwin, New York
Age: 29 years old
Died: November 29, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army National Guard 1st Battalion-69th Infantry Regiment-Army National
Guard- New York
Incident: Killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
Wilfredo Fernando Urbina
URBINA-Wilfredo Fernando, of Baldwin, on November 29, 2004, age 29 years. Proud
member of Company A of the 1/69th Infantry, 256th Battalion. A Baldwin volunteer
Firefighter of Hose Co. 4. Veteran of the United States Air Force, 436th Medical
Operation. Class of 1994, Cardinal Hayes HS, Bronx, NY Class of 1990, St. Philip Neri
School, Bronx, NY. Killed in action while valiantly serving his country in Iraq. Beloved
son of Agustin and Jeanette (nee Davila). Beloved brother of Arlin and Jeanin. Dear
uncle of Cydney Gamido. The family will receive friends Monday 24PM and 7-9PM at
Weigand-Pensa Funeral Home, 2283 Grand Ave., Baldwin, NY 11510. Firematic
Services, Monday 7:30PM at the funeral home. Mass of Christian Burial, Tuesday 11AM
at St. Christopher's RC Church, Baldwin, NY. Interment with full Military Honors to
follow at LI National Cemetery, Pinelawn, NY.
Published in Newsday on 12/4/2004.
For his mother's birthday, Wilfredo F. Urbina sent fond wishes from Iraq. "He sent me
the last postcard for my birthday and he said everything over there was OK," said
Jeanette Urbina. "It said, 'Don't worry Momma, please take care of yourself.'" Urbina, 29,
died on Nov. 29 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb. He was based in New York and
lived in Baldwin, N.Y., with his parents and younger sister directly behind the firehouse
where he was a volunteer firefighter for six years. Firehouse Capt. Ed Colon said Urbina
was always the first man dressed and ready to go in an emergency. "He took his duties
real seriously and he did what he had to do," Colon said. "But he always made everybody
laugh in the firehouse." Urbina's other passion was the military, and he served about four
years in the Air Force before joining the National Guard around 1999. "He very much
enjoyed the structure, that was my brother," said Urbina's younger sister, Jeanin. "Ever
since he was young he loved helping out people." Urbina is also survived by his father,
Agustin.
Sergeant Christian P. Engeldrum
Hometown: Bronx, New York
Age: 39 years old
Died: November 29, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army National Guard-1st Battalion-69th Infantry Regiment-Army National
Guard- New York
Incident: Killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 1233-04
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 01, 2004
Media Contact: Army Public Affairs - (703) 692-2000 Public/Industry Contact: (703) 4280711
DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers supporting
Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died November 29, 2004, in Baghdad, Iraq, when their
military vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. Both were assigned to the Army
National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, New York, New York.
Killed were:
Sergeant Christian P. Engeldrum, 39, of Bronx, New York
Private First Classs Wilfredo F. Urbina, 29, of Baldwin, New York
For further information related to this release, contact Army Public Affairs at (703) 6922000.
MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND FIRE COMMISSIONER NICHOLAS
SCOPPETTA MOURN THE PASSING OF FIREFIGHTER CHRISTIAN PHILIP
ENGELDRUM KILLED IN ACTION WHILE SERVING IN BAGHDAD, IRAQ
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today joined
the members of the New York City Fire Department in mourning the death of Firefighter
Christian Philip Engeldrum of Ladder Company 61 in the Bronx. Engeldrum, a 5 1/2–
year veteran of the New York City Fire Department and a Sergeant in the Army National
Guard, was killed on Monday while on active military duty in Iraq.
Preliminary reports state that Firefighter Engeldrum was killed when the vehicle he was
riding in came under attack outside of Baghdad. The exact details surrounding the
incident have not been released by the Department of Defense. He is the first City
employee to die in Iraq.
“Christian Engeldrum spent his life protecting the people of this City and protecting
democracy,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “As a Firefighter, a Police Officer and a decorated
member of our military, there was no risk he wasn’t willing to take for his fellow New
Yorkers and his fellow Americans. Christian honored us with his life and commitment to
public service. I join all New Yorkers mourning his loss and pray that his family finds
comfort in the innumerable ways he touched so many lives.”
“My deepest condolences go out to the Engeldrum Family at this tremendous loss,” said
Commissioner Scoppetta. “Christian served his country well in the armed services, as a
police officer and firefighter. His commitment to serving his country sets the example for
all of us. He will be greatly missed by this Department and by all who had the honor of
knowing him.”
Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Scoppetta also joined members in wishing for the
speedy recovery of Firefighter Daniel J. Swift of Ladder Company 43 in Manhattan –
who was riding in the same vehicle with Firefighter Engeldrum. Firefighter Swift
sustained shrapnel wounds and has been transported to Germany for medical treatment.
He is expected to fully recover.
Engeldrum, 39, began his career in with the City of New York as a New York City Police
Officer assigned to the 47 th Precinct. After successfully completing the New York City
Fire Academy in 1999, he was assigned to Engine Company 89 in the Bronx. Firefighter
Engeldrum also served in Engine Company 58 in Manhattan and was most recently
assigned to Ladder Company 61 in the Bronx. Engeldrum received one FDNY unit
citation on July 15, 2000, as a result of his company’s successful rescue of two civilians
at a fire.
As an active member of the U.S. Army from 1986-1991, Christian served in Operation
Desert Storm in 1990 and received many awards for his service to his country, including
Southwest Asia Service Medal with Bronze Service, Army Service Ribbon, National
Defense Service Medal, Army Lapel Button, Sharpshooter Badge, Parachutist Badge,
Army Good Conduct Medal, Army Achievement Medal and the NCO Professional
Development Ribbon.
A resident of the Bronx, Christian Engeldrum is survived by his wife Sharon and their
two sons.
A Las Cruces, New Mexico, family is mourning the loss of their son on Saturday, killed
while on duty in Iraq. Army National Guard Sergeant Christian Engeldrum was also one
of the hundreds of firefighters who raced to the world trade towers.
"There's nothing you can say, other than here's somebody who risked his life every day to
protect us on the streets of New York."
The sign draped outside of 39-year old Christian Engeldrum's New York City's station
has been replaced with a sign of mourning. This after Engeldrum was killed when his
vehicle came under attack outside Baghdad last Monday.
"Chris he was a great fireman, he was 100% soldier, he loved his country, loved what it
stood for. He loved being a fireman, he was a lucky man he got to do what he loved."
"He put 200% into everything he did, it wasn't a little bit, he did everything to its fullest,
he lived life to its fullest, that's why he was there."
Engeldrum's parents call Las Cruces home but this National Guard solider spent most of
his life in New York City. In this well-known photograph you can see him hoisting a U.S.
flag at ground zero. Before joining the fire department, Engledrum was a New York City
police officer. Since 1986, Engledrum has been a highly decorated member of the
military. He will be buried at the Arlington National Cemetery next week.
New York, New York: December 4, 2004 - About 10,000 mourners were expected
Saturday to attend Tuesday's New York wake and funeral for a soldier killed in Iraq, the
New York Daily News reported.
Christian Engeldrum, a firefighter as well as a soldier, will be remembered Tuesday and
Wednesday at a wake and Thursday at his funeral in St. Benedict's Church in the Bronx.
He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Funeral arrangements for the soldier
killed alongside Engeldrum, Spec. Wilfredo Urbina, of Baldwin, Long Island, New York,
have not yet been set.
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - A former New York City firefighter who was killed after
being deployed in the Army National Guard in Iraq was the son of a Las Cruces couple.
Army National Guard Sergeant Christian Engeldrum, 39, was killed Monday outside
Baghdad when a roadside bomb ripped through his Humvee. Engeldrum, who was raised
in California, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
He was among the hundreds of New York City firefighters who raced to the World Trade
Center after two hijacked planes slammed into the buildings in the terrorist attacks in
September 2001.
His mother, Lenora Engeldrum, said her son wanted to go to Iraq because of what he saw
that day. His father, Philip Engeldrum, said the terrorist attack had a big impact on his
son.
Salute Bronx G.I.
BY AUSTIN FENNER
and TRACY CONNOR
Courtesy of the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
In a massive outpouring of grief and respect, 10,000 mourners are expected to honor
fallen firefighter and soldier Christian Engeldrum at a wake and funeral in the Bronx next
week.
The funeral director, James McQuade, will be among them.
"I watched Chris grow up," McQuade told the Daily News yesterday.
"I watched him grow up to be a fine gentleman with a fine family. It was a privilege."
McQuade, who runs Schuyler Hill Funeral Home, met Engeldrum 20 years ago when the
future hero was just a skinny kid working in his grandparents' E. Tremont Ave. gas
station.
Although Engeldrum went on to join the Army, become a cop, join the FDNY, get
married and have children, McQuade can't help thinking of him as that young man.
"It's a shock," he said. "A kid from the neighborhood doing good ...."
Engeldrum, a sergeant in the Army National Guard, was killed in action in Iraq on
Monday. His body was flown home to the U.S. Thursday and his family made funeral
arrangements yesterday.
A wake will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at Schuyler Hill and a funeral Mass will be
offered at 11a.m. Thursday at St. Benedict's Church.
Engeldrum, who worked out of Ladder 61 in the Bronx, will be buried at Arlington
National Cemetery.
Msgr. Ed Whelan called the firefighter's widow, Sharon, this week to say he's praying for
the family - including the baby she's carrying. "There will always be a special
relationship between the unborn child and Chris," he said. "Although they won't see each
other physically, they will see each other with the eyes of the heart." Funeral
arrangements for the soldier killed alongside Engeldrum, Spec. Wilfredo Urbina, of
Baldwin, L.I., has not been set.
By MICHAEL GANNON, BILL HUGHES AND CARA MATTHEWS
COURTESY OF THE JOURNAL NEWS
December 2, 2004)
NEW YORK — The call came over the radio, and the Bronx firefighters quickly pulled
on their equipment and jumped in their rigs, pulling out of the Co-op City firehouse with
sirens blaring.
Life went on yesterday for the heavy-hearted men of Engine 66 and Ladder 61, a day
after news of their friend and colleague Christian Engeldrum's death in Iraq.
Engeldrum, a 39-year-old Bronx resident and sergeant in the Army National Guard's 1st
Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, was killed Monday outside Baghdad when his
Humvee rolled over an explosive.
The attack also killed Pfc. Wilfredo Urbina of Long Island and wounded another New
York City firefighter, Yonkers resident Daniel Swift. Swift, a 24-year-old medic, was
recovering from leg and eye injuries yesterday in a German hospital. Engeldrum, a father
of two and a veteran of the first Gulf War and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is the
first New York City firefighter to be killed in Iraq. "It's still just a bad dream for all of
us," said firefighter Mark Klingner, 32, one of Engeldrum's closest friends at the Bronx
firehouse.
Purple and black bunting hung over the entrance of Engeldrum's firehouse yesterday, and
its flag, at half-staff, flapped violently in the shrill breeze. Inside, memorials to
Engeldrum were everywhere — his firefighter's jacket and helmet attached to a U.S. flag
hung over pictures of him at Ground Zero on Sept. 11 in the back of the house; a table
near the front office held pictures of him flanked by vases of flowers and flickering
candles.
Engeldrum's heartbroken widow and two sons visited the firehouse yesterday but
declined to talk with reporters, said Fire Department spokesman James Long. They
arrived in time to hear the "Four Fives," a tradition in which a fallen firefighter's name is
read over the department's teleprinter for all emergency response agencies to hear, he
said. "She wanted to come see the guys," said firefighter Mike Schiraldi, 39, another of
Engeldrum's close friends.
Firefighter Paul Vitelli solemnly looked over photographs of Engeldrum on the memorial
table, showing him with friends from the firehouse at a 2002 Christmas party and at a
Yankees game in April.
Vitelli said he knew Engeldrum only a short time, but the two bonded because they both
had first served in the New York City Police Department. "He was a great guy," Vitelli
said. "He'd do anything for you." The mood was less somber at Ladder 43 in East
Harlem, where colleagues were relieved to receive a call from Swift about 10:30 a.m. He
told them he expected to be home by the holidays. "We are all just so happy that Danny is
OK. But we also feel horrible for the family of the guy from the Bronx," said friend and
Ladder 43 firefighter John Davies, 25. "Our prayers go out to them."
Davies said "Swifty" told them he was injured when his Hummer drove over a roadside
home-rigged bomb — a 300-pound artillery shell — splitting the vehicle in two. Swift's
first response was to grab his gun, but he quickly started helping another injured soldier,
Davies said. "I told him he was a hero," said Davies, who graduated from the fire
academy with Swift and joined Ladder 43 in July 2002. "He said, 'Don't give me that B.S.
I'm no hero.' "
Engeldrum and Urbina were killed in the front seat, Swift told his mother, Kate Daly of
Kent. There were three soldiers in the back seat, and Swift was the only one who was
conscious. Although he was handicapped by the eye and leg injuries, he cleared another
soldier's airway.
It is typical for opposition soldiers to open fire on anyone who survives an attack, so
Swift thought he was going to get shot in the back and die, his mother said.
"He's a medic, and he had to do what he had to do. But he's that kind of kid," said Daly,
who also called her son a hero.
Swift is receiving intravenous antibiotics to ward off infection. Other than cuts on his
face, the pupil on his right eye was damaged. The good news is that doctors were able to
pry open the eye. Swift couldn't see with that eye after the attack, but he can see colors
now, his mother said.
"I was so terrified that he was going to lose that eye," she said.
Swift was only in Iraq for about a month, Daly said. Before that, he was unloading ships
in Kuwait. Swift's father and Daly's ex-husband, John Swift, was scheduled to fly to
Germany last night and visit his son, Daly said. She will travel to Texas, where the Army
said her son eventually would be transferred.
Daly said she has slept a few hours here and there since hearing the news. Men at St.
Christopher's Inn, a substance-abuse center in Garrison where Daly works as a nurse,
have been praying for her son, she said.
Firefighter Michael Kennedy, who works with Swift at the Manhattan ladder company,
said he spoke to the reservist two weeks ago. Swift told his fellow firefighters that
Baghdad was becoming increasingly dangerous as insurgents fled the U.S.-led assault on
Fallujah.
Funeral arrangements had not yet been set for Engeldrum, but Long, the FDNY
spokesman, said he would be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. No word had come
on when his body would be sent back.
Neighborhood residents were eager to express their sympathies at Engeldrum's firehouse
yesterday. Co-op City resident Lydia Colon stopped by with her sister, Wanda, to drop
off flowers. Both paused briefly and prayed, making the sign of the cross when they had
finished. Colon said the firefighters had assisted her once at her home, when she had
become ill. When she heard of Engeldrum's death, she felt an obligation to pay tribute,
she said. "I was shocked and sad," she said. "It was someone in the neighborhood,
someone we depend on."
9-11 firefighter killed in Iraq had kin in NM
By By Heath Haussamen
December 4, 2004
Army National Guard Sergeant Christian Engeldrum’s experiences on September 11,
2001, convinced him to take the fight against terrorism to the Arab world. Engeldrum, 39,
was among the hundreds of firefighters who raced toward the World Trade Center after
two hijacked planes slammed into the Twin Towers. He spent four days digging through
the wreckage in search of survivors.
On Monday, Engeldrum became the first New York City firefighter to die in Iraq since
the war began. Engeldrum and another soldier, Wilfredo Urbina, 29, died when a
roadside bomb containing 300 pounds of explosives ripped through their Humvee and
threw Engeldrum’s body 30 feet. Three other soldiers were injured in the attack.
Engeldrum’s parents traveled from their Las Cruces home Friday to the East Coast for his
burial. It was his father, Philip Engeldrum, who spoke about the impact 9-11 had on his
son’s life. “He doesn’t want his sons fighting in the streets of New York,” Philip
Engeldrum said. His wife agreed.
“Chris very much wanted to be there (in Iraq),” Lenora Engeldrum said, “because of what
he saw in New York at the World Trade Center.” Engeldrum’s parents spoke at their
Trails West home in Las Cruces Friday morning as they hurriedly packed before
traveling to Virginia. Two American flags waved in the breeze Friday outside their home.
The soldier, who grew up in Ventura, California, was buried later Friday at Arlington
National Cemetery in Virginia.
Engeldrum is survived by his wife, Sharon, and their two teenage sons. Sharon is
pregnant with the couple’s third son. In addition to his recent service in Iraq, Engeldrum
was decorated with medals for his actions as an Army soldier in Operation Desert Storm
in 1990. He was on active duty from 1986-1991. He was a five-year veteran of the New
York City Fire Department who had previously served as police officer. On 9-11, a New
York Daily News photographer captured Engeldrum, as a New York City firefighter,
steadying a ladder that another firefighter climbed to hang a torn American flag from a
bent light pole above the wreckage of Ground Zero.
Engeldrum’s parents said they support the war in Iraq and President Bush, and believe
their son died for a noble cause. Philip Engeldrum said he found comfort in knowing his
son probably died instantly. “This is life,” Philip Engeldrum said. “You can’t change
things.”
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants Engeldrum’s death declared a line-of-duty
death, which must be approved by the New York Legislature. If it’s approved,
Engeldrum’s widow will receive his full pension and benefits — as if he died fighting a
fire in New York, rather than on the battlefields of Iraq.
“Christian Engeldrum spent his life protecting the people of this city and democracy,”
Bloomberg said. “This designation will honor his sacrifice and make sure his family
knows that the city he served so well will never forget his heroism.” Sharon Engeldrum
will also receive full military benefits. “He was the ultimate patriot, my husband,” she
said. “He loved his country, he loved the fire department. He was very brave.”
Two New York Area Firefighters Killed in Iraq
By ALAN FEUER and ROBERT HANLEY
Courtesy of the New York Times
December 1, 2004
Ever since Christian Engeldrum shipped off to the war last month, a yellow sign has hung
from the eaves of Ladder Company 61 in Co-op City in the Bronx. The sign read: "We
support our troops. Ft. Engeldrum, L-61, Now Serving."
Yesterday, the members of his company were forced to remove that sign. In a solemn
ceremony, they replaced it with black-and-blue memorial bunting.
Firefighter Engeldrum, 39, was killed while serving with the New York National Guard
on Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy outside Baghdad. Another
New York City firefighter, Daniel Swift, of Ladder Company 43 in Manhattan, was
riding in the same vehicle and was injured in the attack. He is expected to recover.
In a separate attack on Sunday, a volunteer firefighter from Cranford, New Jersey,
Stephen C. Benish, 20, was killed while on patrol in Ramadi.
The casualties came during one of the deadliest months in the war. According to the
Pentagon, at least 135 United States troops had been killed in November, matching April
as the deadliest month since fighting began in March 2003.
Firefighter Engeldrum was the first New York City employee to die while serving in Iraq,
Fire Department officials said. He was a Sergeant in Company B, First Battalion of the
105th Infantry. He was called up by his unit in May and arrived in Iraq on November 2,
2004, his family said.
Two candles burned beside his photo on a table outside Ladder Company 61 yesterday
afternoon. The men of his unit stood at attention as the bunting was displayed, their hands
cupped at their waist.
Inside the firehouse, a small shrine had been erected in his honor. It included a photo of
Firefighter Engeldrum on September 11, 2001. According to the caption, he had helped
raise the first flag over ground zero after the attack.
"Chris was the core of this house - everybody looked up to him," said Firefighter Mark
Klinger, who had worked with Firefighter Engeldrum for the last five years. "An
excellent firefighter, a good father, a good friend. That's all I can say."
Near the bay of the firehouse, there is another photograph - this one showing Lt. Charles
Gabarini, the only member of the firehouse to have died on 9/11.
Firefighter Engeldrum had completed his service with the National Guard, but reenlisted. He did so, his colleagues said, in outrage at the Sept. 11 attack. "It had an effect
on him," said Lt. Brian Horton of Ladder Company 61. "His country was attacked, he
was a soldier, and he wanted to defend it."
Firefighter Engeldrum is survived by his wife, Sharon, and his two sons: Sean, 18, and
Royce, 16. Royce's birthday, fire officials said, was the day his father died.
The firefighter last spoke with his family the night before Thanksgiving.
"He was glad to hear my voice," Mrs. Engeldrum recalled. "He was tired. He couldn't
talk. He was going out on a mission. He just called to see if everything was O.K. here."
At City Hall, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg praised Firefighter Engeldrum for having
served not only in the Fire Department, but also in the Police Department. "Christian
Engeldrum spent his life protecting the people of this city and protecting democracy," the
mayor said in a statement. "As a firefighter, a police officer and a decorated member of
our military, there was no risk he wasn't willing to take for his fellow New Yorkers and
his fellow Americans."
Thirty city firefighters are on active duty overseas. Since Sept. 11, 2001, 103 have been
called to active duty. Firefighter Swift, who served with A Company of the 69th
Infantry, was sent to Texas for retraining in the summer, his fellow firefighters said. He is
being treated for his wounds in Germany before returning home.
He visited his firehouse in East Harlem for the last time in September.
Firefighter Swift is known around the firehouse as Swifty. He plays on a hockey team
and is an all-around good guy, his colleagues said. Every two weeks, Firefighter Swift
called his buddies from Iraq. Firefighter Swift had even asked his colleagues in New
York to send flame-retardant hoods to him in Iraq. He hoped the hoods could help his
fellow soldiers when they were attacked. "I thought he'd come home without a scrape on
him," Firefighter John Davies said. "He's just one of those guys, you know?"
Private Benish, who served with the Second Infantry Division, had joined the Cranford
Volunteer Fire Department only months after graduating from Arthur L. Johnson High
School in Clark, N.J. He served with the department from the summer of 2002 until he
went to boot camp in March 2003, said Leonard Dolan, the department's chief.
Chief Dolan said he was impressed with the firefighter's resignation letter. It read, in part,
"I have a strong desire to serve my country in these troubling times," the chief said.
In other letters to his colleagues written from Iraq, "He never expressed one bit of
apprehension or fear," Chief Dolan said.
Private Benish wrote in his letters of entering a mosque and finding weapons and
explosives, Chief Dolan said. He also wrote of coming home on leave. "I can't wait," the
chief quoted him as writing. "That's all I think about."
In one of his final letters, Private Benish wrote of combat. According to the chief, he
wrote: "I'm just happy, I guess, at getting a lot more of them rather than them getting
me."
December 7, 2004
President Bush was so moved by the death in Iraq of hero New York firefighter Chris
Engeldrum, he took the time to make a personal phone call to his grieving widow.
Engeldrum — a veteran of the first Gulf War who later risked his life to rescue fellow
New Yorkers on 9/11 — was the first city firefighter to die in the war.
"The president was very kind and called to offer his condolences," Engeldrum's father,
Philip, said of the Saturday call.
"I think the man has some genuine empathy, and I'm glad he's the president. He is
concerned for the people who are over there [in Iraq] and for their families at home," he
said. "Chris was an older person — he didn't have to go . . . He [Bush] felt enough about
it to call." He said his daughter-in-law Sharon, 37, who is pregnant, chatted with the
President for about five minutes, discussing the well-being of her two teenage sons and
the progress of the war that has so far claimed the lives of more than 1,200 American
troops.
Sergeant Pablo A. Calderon
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Age: 26 years old
Died: November 30, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-1st Battalion-5th Cavalry Regiment-1st Cavalry Division-Fort HoodTexas
Incident: Killed by a roadside bomb in Fallujah.
On Thanksgiving, Pablo A. Calderon typed an e-mail to his sister with a cheerful holiday
note from Iraq. "I'm here, still maintaining at the moment. Tell everybody I said hello,"
he wrote to Lilliana Calderon, 25. "I'll holla back later on. Peace out for now and I love
the family."
It was the last message Lilliana Calderon would get from her brother.
Pablo Calderon, 26, of New York City, died Nov. 30 when a makeshift bomb exploded
near his military vehicle in Fallujah. He was based at Fort Hood. An aspiring DJ who
mixed music over the years under the name DJ Wolf, Calderon graduated the George
Westinghouse Vocational School and joined the Army in 1997, longing to become an
engineer.
"He wanted to serve his country, and not fall into that life out there," his sister said,
pointing to the street outside. Both their parents have died.
"I hate to be cliched and say he was a nice person, but if there was such a definition his
picture would be right there next to it in the dictionary: a nice person," said English
teacher Robert Izoo. "Someone who knew nothing about evil, nothing about malice."
Specialist David M. Fisher
Hometown: Green Island, New York
Age: 21 years old
Died: December 1, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-1st Battalion-101st Cavalry Regiment-Army National GuardNewburgh-New York
Incident: Killed when his vehicle rolled over while on patrol in Baghdad.
Sgt. David Michael Fisher 1983 – 2004
WATERVLIET – Sgt. David Michael Fisher, 21, our son of whom we are so proud, died
Wednesday, December 1, 2004, while serving his country in Iraq. Born in St. Peter’s
Hospital in Albany on June 12, 1983, he is the beloved son of John J. (Jennifer) Fisher
and Victoria A. DiMura both of Watervliet. He attended Seton Daycare Center, St.
Brigid’s School and Watervliet Elementary School all in Watervliet. He was a 2001
graduate of Watervliet High School where he excelled on the Cannoneers football and
basketball teams. He was employed by Schanz’s Beverage in Watervliet. He started,
coached and played with the Terminal Tavern flag football team known as the
"Terminals" and was an artist who enjoyed drawing, listening to music, playing playstation and being with all his close friends.
He enlisted in the Army National Guard in November 2001 and was based with the 42nd
Infantry “Rainbow Division” of the New York National Guard in Troy. He was deployed
on May 15, 2004 and trained in Texas and California. He left for Kuwait October 7 and
had been serving with the Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 101st Cavalry Regiment for
about a month. He was promoted to Sergeant from Specialist posthumously on December
5, 2004.
In addition to his loving parents, he is the best brother of Daniel A. Fisher, Andrea Q.
Fisher and Gabriella and Alexandra, paternal grandson of the late John J. Fisher, Sr. and
Joan M. Heleniak Fisher formerly of Cohoes, maternal grandson of Vincent J. DiMura
and Faith J. Renado DiMura of Watervliet, Nephew of Michael P. (Kellie) Fisher of
Clifton Park, Jackie (Joe) Abbot of Cohoes, Vincent J. “VJ” (Maria) DiMura of Grand
Island, NY and Suzanne (John) MacDaniel of Colonie, Cousin of Cameron, Griffin and
Madison Fisher, Joan, Joey and Johnny Abbot, Jacquelyn and Matthew DiMura,
Samantha and Kyle MacDaniel, Special cousin of Donna Patane of Long Island and
special love of Tara Mariano of Watervliet.
The funeral will be Thursday at 10:00 am at St. Brigid’s Church, 7th Street and 4th
Avenue, Watervliet where a Mass of Christian Burial will be con-celebrated. The
interment with full military honors will follow in St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands.
Relatives and friends are invited and may also call at the Parker Bros. Memorial, 2013
Broadway, Watervliet on Wednesday from 3-8 pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions may
be made to the David M. Fisher Memorial Fund in care of the funeral home. For
directions and condolence book, www.parkerbrosmemorial.com.
"David Michael Fisher is and always will be our little boy, but he is also a man, a
soldier, an American!"
Corporal Joseph O. Behnke
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Age: 45 years old
Died: December 4, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army National Guard-1st Battalion-258th Field Artillery Regiment-Army
National Guard-Brooklyn
Incident: Killed in a vehicle accident in Baghdad.
Army Guardsman From Brooklyn Dies in Humvee Crash in Baghdad
By MICHELLE O'DONNELL and ANN FARMER
Published: December 8, 2004
When Cpl. Joseph Otto Behnke, of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, found himself living in a
tent in Iraq this year with other Army National Guard soldiers, he did what came
naturally to him: He used his expertise in carpentry to build the other soldiers bed frames,
closets and bookcases, his family said. But he did not build any for himself.
On Saturday, Corporal Behnke, 45, was killed in Baghdad in a car accident, the Defense
Department reported yesterday. A son, Joseph Behnke Jr., 21, said his father had suffered
a massive head injury after being ejected from a Humvee that crashed into a barrier.
"His whole life, he always put himself last," his brother-in-law, Nelson Torres, said last
night at the Prospect Avenue home that Corporal Behnke gutted and had been in the
process of remodeling. "He just gave and gave and gave."
Relatives recalled how, after being sent to Iraq in March, he had asked his family to send
care packages - for the Iraqi children.
Corporal Behnke was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery Regiment of
Brooklyn. He joined the National Guard in 1982, after serving four years with the 82nd
Airborne, and worked as a carpenter at the Veterans Administration Hospital in
Manhattan for 17 years, his family said. He also owned his own construction company.
His wife, Miriam, and children learned of his death on Sunday. Yesterday they put up a
Christmas tree at the hospital where Corporal Behnke had taken charge of putting one up
every year.
Last night, his four grown sons gathered at a table in the home to show reporters photos
of their father. They said he never distinguished between his two stepsons, Patrick
Limage, 29, and Jason Limage, 28, from his wife's first marriage, and his biological
children, Desiree, 25, Joseph Jr. and Travis, 19.
Corporal Behnke had dropped out of high school in Queens but loved reading, evidenced
by the stacks of books in his home. He came home for a two-week visit in October. At
the airport, he cried as he enveloped his family in his arms, they recalled.
"He didn't want to leave his family," Travis Behnke said. "It was the only time I've seen
him cry."
Sergeant Cari A. Gasiewicz
Hometown: Depew, New York
Age: 28 years old
Died: December 4, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-202nd Military Intelligence Battalion-513th Military Intelligence
Brigade- Fort Gordon-Georgia
Incident: Killed when two makeshift bombs exploded near her convoy in Baqubah.
Military interpreter from upstate New York killed in Iraq
Associated Press
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A military interpreter from western New York died
Saturday in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded on the convoy that was starting her on
the journey home, church officials said Sunday.
Sgt. Cari Anne Gasiewicz, 28, of Cheektowaga, spoke fluent Arabic and served as an
interpreter in a military intelligence unit of the Army. Military officials informed her
family of her death Saturday, said her uncle, Marty Gasiewicz. Gasiewicz died outside of
Baghdad on Saturday afternoon while she was traveling to Kuwait, where she would have
spent Christmas before being shipped home after the first of the year.
She graduated from Depew High School and attended Canisius College before enlisting
in the Army eight years ago, according to Gwen Mysiak, a spokeswoman for the family’s
church, St. Philip the Apostle in Depew. She was deployed to Iraq a year ago.
She is survived by her parents, Paul and Kathleen Gasiewicz of Cheektowaga, and her
brother, Paul Gasiewicz Jr., 24.
“She loved the military, and she loved working as an interpreter,” said her uncle. “She
thought she was making a difference over there. She thought she was helping people.”
Mourners remember soldier’s compassion
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A military interpreter killed in Iraq was remembered
Monday for the compassion she showed others, from stray pets to Iraqi children.
Sgt. Cari Anne Gasiewicz, 28, of Depew, died Dec. 4 when her convoy was struck
outside Baghdad by two improvised explosive devices. The convoy was traveling to
Kuwait, where Gasiewicz would have spent Christmas before being shipped back home
in January after the yearlong assignment.
“No matter where Cari was, she always found time to help others,” the Rev. Joseph H.
Penkaul told about 600 mourners Monday in St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church.
When she was stationed in Korea, Gasiewicz gave free English lessons and brought home
a puppy named Sabre that she had rescued.
“It reminds us of Cari all the time,” said her father, Paul Gasiewicz. “That was her puppy,
and she brought her home to us. She was always caring and looking out for everybody
else. “Cari wouldn’t want us to be mourning. She’s looking down on us and keeping an
eye on all of us.”
Fluent in Arabic, Gasiewicz had been a soldier for more than eight years and hoped to
work for the FBI or CIA after leaving the military. She was stationed at Fort Gordon, Ga.,
and was attached to the Army’s 202nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 513th Military
Intelligence Brigade in Iraq. Her family said Gasiewicz would take lunch to Iraqi
contractors and teach them English if they would teach her another Arabic dialect.
“We will try to think of this as your last deployment,” her aunt, Barbara Funk, said in a
eulogy. “One more place you wish to serve, one more group of people you want to know,
an additional foreign language you desire to learn. And Sgt. Cari Anne Gasiewicz, when
you do master the language of the angels, and I know you will, remember to teach the
rest of us.”
Her body was taken to Pine Lawn Chapel, where her ashes will be entombed. She is
survived by her parents and a brother.
Associated Press
The Buffalo News
A 28-year-old Cheektowaga woman who served as a military interpreter was killed
Saturday in Iraq, just weeks before she was scheduled to come home, family members
said Sunday. Army Specialist [sic] Cari Anne Gasiewicz spoke fluent Arabic and was in
the U.S. Army's Military Intelligence Battalion.
Family members said she died Saturday afternoon when she was struck by a rocketpropelled grenade while she was traveling with a convoy that came under attack just
outside of Baghdad. The Department of Defense has not confirmed her death, but family
members say they were told she died instantly and was the only one killed during the
bombing.
Gasiewicz is Western New York's latest casualty of the war in Iraq and the first female
from the region to be killed in combat. As a military linguist, Gasiewicz's job was to talk
to the Iraqis about their feelings on the American presence in Iraq, the war effort and
similar subjects.
Her family said she lived to serve her country. "She loved to be in the Army," said her
uncle, Marty Gasiewicz of West Seneca. "When she came home, she just wanted to be
with her family. Every time she left to go back, she left with a smile. . . . She just couldn't
wait to get back to the Army. This was something she wanted," he said.
On Sunday, Marty Gasiewicz was among a group of family members who gathered
inside St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church in Cheektowaga, the sanctuary where Cari
Anne Gasiewicz was christened and attended services as a child and adult. During the
Sunday morning service, the congregation was asked to pray for her. Family members
said they had postponed their Christmas celebrations until January, when she was
scheduled to end her tour of duty in Iraq and return home.
"There's a note at the house that she wrote to everybody that said: "Listen, hold off on
Christmas. When I get back, we'll have our party,' " her uncle said. "The presents were all
there, but they were going to stay wrapped until she got back."
Gasiewicz, who was in the military for 81/2 years, had been in Iraq since January.
Stationed at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga., she was described by family members as a
compassionate woman who was nurturing and loved to laugh. She also enjoyed playing
softball and loved her Chindo dog, which she imported from Korea and named Sabre
after her favorite hockey team.
"She was very quiet, much like her father," her uncle said. "She listened a lot . . . She had
a great sense of humor. No matter how serious it was, she was always laughing."
As an interpreter, Cari Ann Gasiewicz was among a handful of American soldiers
stationed overseas who had the ability to communicate with the Iraqis.
In May, a Buffalo News reporter interviewed Gasiewicz by e-mail about being a Western
New York woman serving in a military combat zone. Gasiewicz told the reporter that the
children in Iraq, especially, seem very open to the women soldiers.
"The children love talking to American soldiers," she told The News. "They are amazed
that American females know how to speak Arabic." Gasiewicz said she hoped to be home
by early next year.
Born and raised in Cheektowaga, she attended Cayuga Heights Elementary School in
Depew and graduated from Depew High School in 1994. She attended Canisius College
for three years before joining the Army. "She was the only one smiling when she left for
the Army," recalled her cousin, Leanna Gasiewicz. "Everyone else was crying . . . She
wanted everyone to smile because she was happy to help out over there."
Cari Anne Gasiewicz served two tours of duty in Korea before she was assigned to Iraq
in January. In August, she came home for a two-week visit, spending time with her
family but rarely speaking about her duties in Iraq. "Cari wouldn't talk about serving in
Iraq because when she was home she just wanted to be with us," explained her uncle.
After she completed her military stint, she had hoped to use her linguistic skills to work
for the FBI or CIA.
"She was golden to the Army because of her skills," said her aunt, Barbara Funk.
Family members say her promising future was cut short far too soon. At 7 p.m. Saturday,
her family heard the knock on their front door that every military family hopes never to
get.
"When the Army showed up, (her father) didn't want to answer the door," said her uncle.
"Her parents are not taking this very well . . . This wasn't the message we wanted right
before Christmas. We were all hoping she was almost coming home soon."
Cari Ann Gasiewicz leaves behind her parents, Paul and Kathleen of Cheektowaga; a
brother, Paul Jr. of Cheektowaga; her maternal grandmother, Theresa Battista of
Cheektowaga; and her fraternal grandmother, Stephanie Gasiewicz of West Seneca.
Funeral arrangements are being finalized.
Specialist Victor A. Martinez
Hometown: Bronx, New York
Age: 21 years old
Died: December 14, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-364th Supply Company-264th Corps Support Battalion-1st Corps
Support Command-Fort Bragg-North Carolina
Incident: Died from a gunshot wound south of Baghdad.
When the War Comes Home: A Bronx Neighborhood Mourns Another Loss
By ALAN FEUER
Published: December 19, 2004
A fading newspaper article about a local soldier killed in Iraq still hangs in the window of
the Grand Food Market, a bodega in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx.
Soon, another will be taped up beside it. Almost a year ago, the owners of the market
clipped and displayed the article, about Luis Moreno, a 19-year-old Army private who
lived above the shop and who died last January after he was shot while guarding a gas
station in Baghdad.
Now, they have promised to do the same for another local boy, Victor Martinez, 21, an
Army specialist who lived around the block and died last Tuesday in Baghdad from a
gunshot wound to the head. Specialist Martinez's family said yesterday that Army
officials told them his convoy was attacked and he was shot in the face when he stepped
out of his vehicle.
In the last few years, five or six young men from Morris Heights have graduated high
school and signed their names to government papers, residents said. "They all came out
of school and joined the Army," said Eduardo Colon, who manages the building where
Private Moreno lived. "And then the war broke out. We might be winning the war on
terrorism, but we're paying a high price for it."
Morris Heights sits in the central portion of the western Bronx, up against the Harlem
River. Some residents say it is a dangerous neighborhood where a young man runs the
risk of getting killed - much the same, they say, as in Iraq.
"It's a shame, but if they chose that way of life, it was because they wanted to better
themselves," Teddy Garcia, a neighbor of Specialist Martinez's, said of the young men
from the area who joined the Army. "Right now, out here on the streets, there's nothing
but drugs and guns."
Specialist Martinez enlisted after graduating from Theodore Roosevelt High School "to
serve his country," said Jerry Perez, his uncle. He served a tour in Korea with the 364th
Supply Company, 264th Corps Support Battalion of the First Corps Support Command
out of Fort Bragg, N.C. In June, he shipped out for Iraq.
He was not a rifleman, so his family thought his job might keep him safe."It's a shock,"
Mr. Perez said. "He was in supply. We didn't think he would be in such danger."
Shortly before he left for Iraq, Specialist Martinez came home to Macombs Road for a
going-away party with his family and friends. "He didn't want to leave," Mr. Perez said.
"He was a little nervous. But he knew he had a job to do."
With his death last week, the same friends and relatives who saw him off struggled with
their memories. Specialist Martinez was recalled as a doting sibling who adored his
brother, Charles, 20, and his sister, Arlene, 9.
Mr. Garcia, who serves on the educational committee for the local community board, said
Specialist Martinez was always asking how much it would cost to study at local schools
like Hostos Community College, City College or Bronx Community College. "He had so
many things he wanted to be," Mr. Garcia said. "He wanted to join the armed forces to
get ahead." Another neighbor, Hilda Gonzalez, saw no sense in the second death to hit
the neighborhood. "He went into the Army to earn money to study," she said, "and then
he ended up being killed."
The night before he left for Iraq, Specialist Martinez stayed up well past midnight playing
pool with some relatives who live in Raleigh, N.C. He was edgy, said Josefina Martinez,
his aunt. "I don't know if I'll come back," Ms. Martinez recalled him saying. "His last
words were 'I love you.' "
Janon Fisher contributed reporting for this article.
Staff Sergeant Julian S. Melo
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Age: 47 years old
Died: December 21, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army-1st Battalion-5th Infantry Regiment-1st Brigade-25th Infantry Division
(Stryker Brigade Combat Team)-Fort Lewis-Washington
Incident: Killed in Mosul when their dining facility was attacked.
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Staff Sgt. Julian S. Melo: He left Panama and fell in love with New York City
Born and raised in Panama
Army Staff Sgt. Julian Melo, who moved to the United States as an adult after resigning
from the Panamanian Army, passionately loved his adopted country and especially New
York City. Specifically, said his wife Norma, Melo was drawn to the Statue of Liberty
and what it stands for. "He visited the statue every chance he could get," she said.
Because Melo, 47, was a military man in his native Panama, it was logical that he would
join the U.S. Army after immigrating to this country in the late 1980s, his wife said.
Melo resigned his commission from Panama's army a little while before the American
invasion of that country in late 1989. His departure, said Melo's wife, caused his family a
lot of grief. Soon after, he came to the United States. He first moved in with his sister in
Brooklyn, where his love affair with New York began.
"He loved New York, everything that city stood for," said Norma Melo, his wife of 10
years, who recently moved to Spanaway with Julian and their son. "I don't care where he
physically was, he always lived in New York. Melo, a supply specialist, had served in
the U.S. military for 12 years, his wife said, and had served several tours in South Korea.
The family had lived near Fort Lewis since 1994.
Melo's family described him yesterday as "a soldier first" but also as a loving husband
and brother and friend to many. "His wife, Norma, felt she could never live up to his
expectations," said Melo family members in a written statement, "because whenever she
did anything for him, he would turn around and do something exceptional for her."
Said Norma: "He was full of life, full of joy. I am blessed to have had him in my life."
Melo is also survived by his son, Joshua Melo.