2004
Spec. Marc S. Seiden
Hometown: Brigantine, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 26 years old
Died: January 2, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division,
Fort Bragg, N.C.
Incident: Killed in an ambush in Baghdad.
Army Spc. Marc S. Seiden
26, of Brigantine, N.J.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd
Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; killed in action when his convoy was ambushed by
the enemy who used an improvised explosive device (IED), small arms fire, and a rocketpropelled grenade, on Jan. 2 in Baghdad.
Three weeks from coming home, N.C.-based soldier dies in Iraq
By John Curran
Associated Press
BRIGANTINE, N.J. — After nine months in Iraq, Army Spc. Marc S. Seiden was looking forward
to coming home. But he never made it: Three weeks before his unit was to return to the states,
he was killed in Iraq.
Seiden, a 26-year-old paratrooper from Brigantine, died Jan. 2 when his convoy was ambushed
in Baghdad, killing Seiden and another soldier.
Their unit, 2nd Battalion, the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division in
Fort Bragg, N.C., is scheduled to return to Fort Bragg, N.C., later this month after nine months in
Iraq.
“It’s a tragedy to his family and the community,” said his longtime girlfriend, Tricia Ferri, 22. “It’s
not natural. It’s not what was supposed to happen. He had a lot of expectations for the future.
That’s what he was coming home to.”
Seiden grew up in East Windsor, N.J., one of two sons of Jack and Gail Seiden.
He was a 1995 graduate of Hightstown High School, where he played soccer. He attended
Ramapo College, where he also played soccer, and worked in construction before enlisting in
the Army seven months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
An outgoing man and avid fisherman, Seiden joined up partly in response to the attacks,
according to Ferri, his steady of 2½ years.
“He’d wanted to do it for a long time, but it just kept getting pushed off. But then 9/11 happened,
and it hit him hard. He wanted to do something about it. That was the way he was. For him to
deal with something, he had to just jump into the middle of it,” she said.
After beginning his six-year enlistment, he underwent basic infantry training and parachute
school at Fort Benning, Ga., before being assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C.
Sent to Iraq just before the start of the war last March, Seiden was active on patrols in and
around Baghdad. The day he was killed, the convoy he was riding in came under attack from a
bomb, a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire, according to military officials.
Seiden and Army Specialist Solomon C. Bangayan, 24, of Vermont, died. Three others were
wounded.
Army representatives went to the home of Seiden’s parents to make the official notification. His
mother called Ferri to give her the bad news about an hour later.
Mrs. Seiden did not want to talk about her son’s death.
“This is really too hard for me,” she said a brief telephone interview.
A memorial service was planned for Jan. 6 in Iraq, according to Master Sgt. Pam Smith, a
spokeswoman for the 82nd Airborne Division.
“For us, anytime we lose a soldier, it’s a tragedy. In the 82nd, we’ve got 14,000 paratroopers
and they’re all like brothers and sisters,” she said.
Seiden, who had been decorated with a parachutist’s badge, a National Defense Service ribbon
and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge, will be awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star
posthumously.
Marc S. Seiden had been thinking for a long time about joining the Army, but kept putting it off. "Then
9/11 happened, and it hit him hard," said his girlfriend, Tricia Ferri. "He wanted to do something about
it. That was the way he was. For him to deal with something, he had to just jump into the middle of it."
Spc. Seiden, a 26-year-old paratrooper from Brigantine, N.J., died Jan. 2 when his convoy was ambushed
in Baghdad. He had been in Iraq for nine months, and died three weeks before his Fort Bragg-based unit
was scheduled to come home. "It's not natural. It's not what was supposed to happen," said Ferri, 22.
"He had a lot of expectations for the future. That's what he was coming home to." Seiden played soccer
in high school and at Ramapo College, and then worked in constructing before enlisting in the Army
seven months after the terrorist attacks. Survivors include his parents, Jack and Gail Seiden.
2nd Lt. Seth J. Dvorin
Hometown: East Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 24 years old
Died: February 3, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Drum,
N.Y.
Incident: Killed while inspecting a makeshift bomb in Iskandariyah.
Army 2nd Lt. Seth J. Dvorin
24, of New Jersey; assigned to Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery
Regiment, based at Fort Drum, N.Y.; killed Feb. 3 when an improvised explosive device
exploded while he was conducting counter-IED operations along a supply route in
Iskandariyah, Iraq.
N.J. soldier killed in Iraq less than a month after visit home
Associated Press
EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. — When Army Lt. Seth Dvorin flew home from Iraq for two weeks of
R&R last month, his family didn’t think it would be the last time they’d see the 24-year-old officer
alive.
“I never thought my son was going to get killed,” Richard Dvorin said Wednesday, 24 hours after
learning that his son had been killed while trying to disarm a bomb on an Iraqi roadside. “I’m an
optimist. I knew my boy was coming back.”
Seth Dvorin was killed Feb. 3 — 17 days after returning to Iraq — near Iskandariyah, 35 miles
south of Baghdad, his family told The Star-Ledger of Newark.
He was the only soldier killed in the blast and the 17th soldier with New Jersey ties to die in Iraq.
The family learned of the soldier’s death, when an Army colonel and a chaplain from Fort
Monmouth arrived at their East Brunswick home with the news.
The officers told sister Rebekah Dvorin that Seth’s unit had been ordered to clear the area of
the homemade mines and bombs that have killed dozens of troops.
“They told us they were in a convoy and saw something in the road,” she said. “My brother, the
hero, told his driver to stop. That’s when the bomb detonated, when they were trying to
dismantle it.”
Dvorin, a South Brunswick High School graduate, was part of the 10th Mountain Division based
at Fort Drum, N.Y.
Richard Dvorin, 61, an Air Force veteran and retired New Brunswick police officer, called his
son a loyal, responsible commander who sought to make life as easy as possible on the
soldiers he oversaw.
Offered two weeks’ leave in December, the father said, Dvorin refused to go because so many
of his platoon members had not yet had the chance.
“He was a good human being,” the father said, tears rolling down his face.
Dvorin leaves behind a 25-year-old widow, Kelly Harris. The 2002 Rutgers graduate married his
college sweetheart on Aug. 26, a week before his Sept. 2 deployment.
When 2nd Lt. Seth Dvorin was offered two weeks' leave from Iraq in December, he
refused to go because so many of his platoon members had not yet had the chance,
his father said. "He was a good human being," said Richard Dvorin, 61, tears rolling
down his cheeks. Seth Dvorin, 24, of East Brunswick, N.J., died Feb. 3 while trying to
disarm a bomb near Iskandariyah, Iraq. The Army told his sister, Rebekah Dvorin, that
Seth's unit had been ordered to clear the area of homemade mines and bombs that
had killed dozens of troops. "They told us they were in a convoy and saw something in
the road," she said. "My brother, the hero, told his driver to stop. That's when the
bomb detonated, when they were trying to dismantle it." Dvorin, a 2002 Rutgers
University graduate, married his college sweetheart, Kelly Harris, a week before his
Sept. 2 deployment.
Seth J. Dvorin
DVORIN - First Lieutenant Seth J. Dvorin, U.S. Army, died Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004, near Iskandariyah, Iraq,
when a remote control device exploded. He was 24. Born in Freehold, he was raised in East Brunswick
and South Brunswick. He was a 1998 graduate of South Brunswick High School, where he played football
and baseball. Seth received his B.S. in Administrative Justice from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, in
2002, and he was a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity at Rutgers. After graduation, he joined the Army
and received basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C. He graduated from Officer Candidate School at Fort
Benning, Ga., and received his commission on Jan. 17, 2003. He also graduated Airborne and Air Defense
Artillery Schools and was stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y., as part of the 10th Mountain Division, Battery B,
3rd Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment. Seth loved traveling, which he did extensively,
including to Europe and Israel. He loved animals and cars, especially Mustangs, and was an excellent
cook. Seth will always be remembered as a loyal friend, a hard worker, a trusted leader of his men, a
loving husband and a man who cherished his family. He brought a ray of sunshine and joy into the lives
of all who knew him. Surviving are his wife, Kelly Harris Dvorin, whom he married on Aug. 26, 2003, five
days before leaving for Iraq, his mother, Sue Niederer, and her husband, Greg, of Pennington, his father,
Richard Dvorin of East Brunswick, and his companion, Ellen Sutton, his sister, Rebekah Dvorin of East
Brunswick, and her fiance, Walter Gruszka, his stepbrother, Joshua Dvorin of South Amboy, his paternal
grandmother, Ruth Dvorin of Bayonne, his maternal grandfather, Jacob Sapir of Florida, and his uncles,
Gary Sapir and Howard Dvorin. Seth will always be remembered and loved by many other relatives and
friends. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004, at 11 a.m. at East Brunswick Jewish
Center, 511 Ryders Lane, East Brunswick, with interment with full military honors at Marlboro Cemetery,
Marlboro. Directions to the temple and cemetery will be provided at the funeral home. Relatives and
friends may call at MOUNT SINAI MEMORIAL CHAPELS, Cranbury Road at Evergreen Boulevard, East
Brunswick, on Monday, Feb. 9, 2004, 6-9 p.m. For directions to the funeral home, please visit www.
msmc.us. Shiva will be observed at the home of Sue and Greg Niederer, 30 Lake Baldwin Dr.,
Pennington, N.J., on Tuesday 7-9 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 2-4 and 7-9 p.m., Sunday and Monday
2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Shiva will also be observed at the home of Rich Dvorin, 52 Deerfield Rd., East
Brunswick, through Sunday (you are welcome at anytime). Directions to both homes will be available at
the funeral home and at the temple.
The family respectfully requests that instead of sending flowers, those wishing to do something may
make memorial contributions to the Seth Dvorin Memorial Scholarship Fund, which has been
established for the benefit of South Brunswick and Hopewell Valley High School students.
Contributions may be sent to the Seth Dvorin Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Hopewell Valley
Community Bank, 4 Route 31, Pennington, N.J. 08534.
Published in Star-Ledger on February 9, 2004
Spec. Adam D. Froehlich
Hometown: Pine Hill, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 21 years old
Died: March 25, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, Germany
Incident: Killed when a makeshift bomb he was investigating exploded in Baqubah.
Adam Froehlich was moved to join the Army following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He wound up being sent to Iraq and died in a roadside explosion three weeks after
arriving there. "He was just a great person who loved his family, loved his country and
believed in what he was fighting for," said his brother, Jeff Froehlich. Spc. Adam
Froehlich, 21, of Pine Hill, N.J., died March 25. Stationed in Germany, he had hoped to
pursue a college education after serving in the military and wanted to become a gym
teacher. Froehlich had expressed concern before he went to Iraq. "Who wouldn't?" his
brother said. "But he was very willing to go. He knew he was doing it for his country."
He said his brother had been deeply moved by the Sept. 11 attacks. "That was really
emotional for us," Jeff Froehlich said. "My brother loved his country."
Adam D. Froehlich
FROEHLICH
ADAM D., suddenly on March 25, 2004. Specialist Adam D. Froehlich of Pine Hill, NJ, age 21;
beloved son of Stephen and Rosemarie (nee Dalrymple) Froehlich of Pine Hill; also survived by
brothers Steve (Jaime) Froehlich of Erial, Jeff (Crystal) Froehlich of Williamstown, sister April
Froehlich of Pine Hill, grandfather John Froehlich of Pine Hill, nephew Andrew Froehlich of
Erial, many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Adam was serving in the US Army with
the 2nd Platoon, Charlie Battery, in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Relatives and friends are invited to
attend the Visitation with the family on Fri. Eve. 6 to 9 P.M. at the ORA L. WOOSTER
FUNERAL HOME, 51 Park Blvd., Clementon N.J. On Saturday, the family and friends will
meet at 9:30 A.M. at St. Edwards Church, 500 Erial Rd., Pine Hill, where the Mass of Christian
Burial will be celebrated at 10 A.M. Int. Gate of Heaven Cem., Berlin. In lieu of flowers, the
family request memorial donations be made to the American Legion Post No. 286, Erial Rd.,
Pine Hill, NJ 08021.
Army Spc. Adam D. Froehlich
21, of Pine Hill, N. J.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery, based at Warner
Barracks, Bamberg, Germany; died March 25 from injuries sustained when his patrol
came under attack by an improvised explosive device in Baqoubah, Iraq.
Roadside blast kills soldier
Associated Press
PINE HILL, N.J. — A soldier who enlisted to serve his country after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
was killed in a roadside explosion just three weeks after arriving in Iraq, military officials said.
Spc. Adam Froehlich, 21, died from injuries sustained when his patrol was hit by an improvised
explosive device. Two other soldiers were wounded and were reported to be in stable condition.
Froehlich had enlisted in the Army two years ago after graduating from Overbrook High School
in Pine Hill, his brother said. He also hoped to pursue a college education after serving in the
military and wanted to become a gym teacher.
“He was just a great person who loved his family, loved his country and believed in what he was
fighting for,” Jeff Froehlich told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill, N.J.
Adam Froehlich had previously been based in Germany and had expressed concern before he
went to Iraq.
“Who wouldn’t?” his brother Jeff said. “But he was very willing to go. He knew he was doing it
for his country.”
Jeff Froehlich said that the family also had been “very concerned” about Adam being over in
Iraq but was very proud of him.
“I’d switch places with him in a minute,” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
He said his brother had been deeply moved by the Sept. 11 attacks. “That was really emotional
for us,” Jeff Froehlich said. “My brother loved his country.”
Adam Froehlich is survived by his parents, two brothers and a sister.
Pfc. Bruce . Miller Jr.
Hometown: Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 23 years old
Died: March 22, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army
Army Pfc. Bruce Miller Jr.
23, of Orange, N.J.; assigned to the 2nd Infantry Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd
Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash.; died March 22 of non-combat related injuries in
Mosul, Iraq.
Bruce Miller Jr. counted art, poetry and writing among his interests, and his family described him
as "a kind, thoughtful and religious young man who loved his family." He graduated in 1999 from
the Teaneck, N.J., Community School, which serves students with learning disabilities, and also
received a diploma from Orange High School in his home district. "Junior wanted to go to
college after his Army enlistment tour was over and had become interested in studying law," his
family said in a statement. Miller, 23, of Orange, N.J., died March 22 in Mosul, Iraq, from a noncombat gunshot wound. James Steel, vice principal of the Teaneck Community School,
described Miller as a "thoughtful, bright kid" and "a good runner" who participated in the school's
intramural track and field events. "He was a great kid, very energetic, engaging," Steel said. "He
seemed like a full human being. Many people are going to be saddened."
— Associated Press
2nd Lt. John T. Wroblewski
Hometown: Oak Ridge, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 25 years old
Died: April 6, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Incident: Killed by enemy fire in Anbar province.
When John T. Wroblewski graduated from Rutgers University, there was no question
what he would do next. The son of a Marine, his lifelong interest in the military only
intensified after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"He was going to be a Marine for life," said his father, John Walter Wroblewski. 2nd Lt.
Wroblewski, 25, of Oak Ridge, N.J., died April 6 after he was wounded during a
shootout with insurgents. He was days from his 26th birthday. Known as "J.T.,"
Wroblewski was deployed shortly after being married last July.
He is survived by his wife, Joanna. The elder Wroblewski said his son was a World War
II expert who "loved what he was doing." "He became my hero. He became my role
model," Wroblewski said of his son. "He was a true Marine, through and through."
John Thomas Wroblewski
Second Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps
IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 8, 2004
DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who
was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Second Lieutenant John T. Wroblewski, 25, of Oak Ridge, New Jersey,
died April 6, 2004, due to injuries received from hostile fire in Al Anbar
Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st
Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton,
California.
For further information related to this release, contact the Marine Corps
Base Camp Pendleton Public Affairs Office at (760) 725-5044.
9 April 2004:
Courtesy of The Daily Record:
Shawn and John Wroblewski mourn the loss of their oldest
son, Marine Ltieuenant John Thomas 'J.T.,' as they remember him on the
deck behind their Jefferson home on Thursday. Dawn Benko / Daily Record
JEFFERSON -- Some of the Marines he commanded and admired were
with Marine Lieutenant John Thomas "J.T." Wroblewski when he died
of his battle wounds on Wednesday in a hospital in Iraq, his parents said.
Mourning friends and relatives of Wroblewski, 25, the first Morris
County soldier to die in Iraq, were drawing comfort from the realization
that his fellow Marines had supported him and from the knowledge that
he died doing what he loved.
"We could not be with him, but they were," Lieutenant Wroblewski's
mother, Shawn, said of the Marines who were at her oldest son's bedside
when he died.
Shawn Wroblewski was with her husband and their three other sons on
Thursday at the family's longtime Michele Road home. A steady stream
of well-wishers dropped off food and offered condolences.
John and Shawn Wroblewski have lived in Jefferson for 27 years.
"You see it on TV, you read it in the paper, it's always somebody else. I
never would have imagined," she said.
"My firstborn, what a loss."
Lieutenant Wroblewski's father, John Walter Wroblewski, said his son
was wounded on Tuesday in Ramadi, where at least 12 Americans lost
their lives in some of the fiercest fighting since Saddam Hussein's regime
collapsed.
"We want everybody to know that he was a hero, and he died a hero,"
Wroblewski said, pointing out pictures and other reminders throughout
the house of his son's short, proud stint in the Marines.
A brother, David Wroblewski, 20, who started a landscaping business
with Lt. Wroblewski's encouragement, spoke of his family's loss.
"I want to get the person that got him, but I can't. I'll leave that up to the
trained professionals," he said.
At sunrise on Thursday, the family lowered the American flag on their
garage to half-staff and attached a plate, with his name and second
lieutenant rank, above the door.
"He's everything I would want to be -- loyal, honest, hardworking," said
David Wroblewski.
Funeral arrangements have not been determined, and family members do
not know when Lieutenant Wroblewski's body will be returned to the
United States.
"I just don't want to bury him on his birthday," Shawn Wroblewski said.
Lieutenant Wroblewski would have turned 26 on April 16.
News of Lieutenant Wroblewski's death hit hard in Jefferson, a close-knit
town of just under 20,000 that had not suffered a U.S. military fatality
since the Vietnam War, according to Councilman Brooke Hardy.
"We read in the news about deaths in Iraq, the 600 soldiers, and of
course it bothers you to hear about anyone killed, but it really hits home
when it's someone you know," said Police Sergeant Eric Wilsusen, who
visited the family's home.
Counselors were available on Thursday at Jefferson High School, where
Lieutenant Wroblewski was a standout athlete and graduated in 1996.
The school's principal, Dennis Nick, said he choked up while announcing
the death on the loudspeaker.
"It really brought the war right into the community," Nick said. "It's a
shocker … It just shook the foundation of the school."
On Thursday, the three brothers managed smiles as they reflected on
happier times.
Michael Wroblewski, 24, recalled his brother's bachelor party last year.
Lieutenant Wroblewski wanted something low-key, so they and some
friends played paintball in West Milford and set up a bonfire and grill in
the backyard.
"He was my best friend. I always looked up to him," Michael Wroblewski
said.
Richard Wroblewski, 18, a freshman at Iona College, had just finished
football practice on Tuesday when he learned that his brother had been
injured. He recalled how he had been unsure about playing college
football, and how his oldest brother's encouragement spurred him to try
out for the team.
"He was everything to me," Richard Wroblewski said.
On Thursday, John Walter Wroblewski walked through the backyard,
where a chin-up station and dip bar that his son built to train for the
Marines still stands.
"He bought the 4-by-4s, mixed the concrete, dug the holes," his father
said.
Lieutenant Wroblewski gave his parents a photo on the living room wall
with a quote from President Reagan -- "some people live an entire
lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference to the world, but
the Marines don't have that problem."
Lieutenant Wroblewski married Joanna, a Washington Township native,
in July. They were living at Camp Pendleton when he was deployed to
Iraq in July.
"They were just like two peas in a pod. They were just meant for each
other," Michael Wroblewski said.
"The love that they had for each other was just unbelievable," added
Lieutenant Wroblewski's father. "When God made her, he stamped her,
Marine wife. It's not an easy life."
Joanna remained at Camp Pendleton on Thursday, he said.
"My heart goes out to her. They've only been married nine months," he
said.
From the driveway, David Wroblewski looked at the family's front lawn.
He described ripping up the yard last year and laying down topsoil with
his oldest brother.
"Every time I cut it, I'll think of him," he said.
"He died protecting the country so we can live free and do what we do
every day," he said.
Lieuenant Wroblewski's death was keenly felt by another Jefferson
parent with a Marine son in Iraq. Marine Sergeant William Knipper IV,
24, is a machine gun instructor at the 1st Division headquarters battalion
in Fallujah, said his father, former township councilman William
Knipper.
He first went to Iraq last year and returned for a second stint in
February, Knipper said of his son.
"My son is a trained warrior. That's what he does," Knipper said. "I
wish he were home, but that's not the way it worked out."
Lieutenant Chris Doyle of Alexandria, Virginia, a Florham Park native,
served with Lieutenant Wroblewski in officer candidate school in
Quantico, Virginia, in 2002.
"He was real easygoing, but not to a fault. He worked hard," Doyle said.
Lieutenant Wroblewski commanded about 40 Marines in a 2nd Battalion,
4th Marines unit that was nicknamed the "Magnificent Bastards," his
father said, adding that he often referred to his fellow Marines as an
extended family.
"He loved his men," John Walter Wroblewski said. "He would say, 'Dad,
these guys are like Dave, Rich and Mike.'"
He and his wife last heard from their son in a letter received on Monday.
Tuesday's ambush and three-hour gun battle in Ramadi began when
Marines stopped to investigate a white civilian pickup left next to a wall
on a footpath on a dusty street, U.S. officials said.
Ramadi is 18 miles from Fallujah. Both cities have been a base for
insurgents looking to oust the U.S.-led occupation.
Lieutenant Wroblewski's wife told her in-laws in a phone call on Tuesday
evening that he had been seriously wounded. John and Shawn
Wroblewski summoned their children and began a vigil that lasted until
8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when two Marines and a chaplain arrived to
deliver the sad news.
"They were very professional and they were also very calm," John
Walter Wroblewski said.
The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks persuaded Lieutenant
Wroblewski, a Rutgers University graduate, to join the Marines, his
father said. He left Camp Pendleton for Kuwait in mid-February and was
in Iraq for little more than a month.
More than 1,000 turn out for funeral for fallen Jefferson Marine
By Rob Jennings, Courtesy of the Daily Record
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- More than 1,000 people attended a
funeral Mass on Wednesday for Marine Second Lieutenant John Thomas
"J.T." Wroblewski, Morris County's first fatality in Iraq.
Wroblewski's widow, Joanna, and father, John, delivered eulogies at the
start of the 10:30 a.m. service, held at Our Lady of the Mountain Church.
"He often spoke about the honor it was for him to serve this country,"
John Wroblewski said.
Lieutenant Wroblewski, 25, a native of Jefferson, died two weeks ago
after being wounded in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.
He will be buried Friday with full military honors at Arlington National
Cemetery in Virginia.
13 April 2004
Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
Jefferson Marine died a hero, says his widow
By Rob Jennings, Daily Record
WASHINGTON TWP., NEW JERSEY - Marine Lieutenant John
Thomas "J.T." Wroblewski was mortally wounded while attempting to
rescue fellow Marines from an Iraqi ambush, his widow said Monday
night.
"He died saving his men," Lieutenant Wroblewski's wife of nine months,
Joanna, said in recounting how military officials described her husband's
actions last Tuesday during some of the fiercest fighting since Saddam
Hussein's regime collapsed.
Lieutenant Wroblewski, 25, a Jefferson native who commanded about 40
Marines in a 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines unit nicknamed the
"Magnificent Bastards," boarded a convoy with his men after learning
that Marines were under attack in Ramadi.
Along the way, Lieutenant Wroblewski's unit was ambushed, his widow
said. Several Marines were shot and fell from the vehicles to the ground.
Lieutenant Wroblewski jumped out and was shot in the head while
assisting the wounded Marines, she said. He was rushed to a hospital
elsewhere in Iraq.
There, Marines from his unit surrounded his bed.
"They asked, 'How are you? Are you in any pain,'" Joanna Wroblewski
said.
Lieutenant Wroblewski couldn't speak, she said, but managed a final
upbeat gesture.
"He gave a thumbs-up," and then shortly afterward, slipped away, she
said through her tears.
Joanna Wroblewski, 25, said she had asked to hear exactly what
happened to her husband.
"I needed to know it," she said.
On Monday night, she was at her parents' house and wearing one of her
husband's Marine shirts and an "I Love My Marine" button. Friends
and family were offering comfort, one night after her flight back from
Camp Pendleton in California.
"My husband died a hero. Nobody had to tell me that. Each of his 40 men
was his son. His Marines came first," she said.
Lieutenant Wroblewski, the first Morris County fatality in Iraq, will be
buried with full military honors April 23, 2004, in Arlington National
Cemetery in Virginia.
It was what her husband wanted, she said, adding that someday she will
be buried next to him.
Joanna Wroblewski said she believes her husband, a second lieutenant,
knew he wasn't coming back alive from Iraq.
They spoke by phone three times during his time in Iraq. Their last
conversation was four days before the ambush in Ramadi. There was
something different about that call, she said. "Every call, we ended with,
"I'll see you soon.' That last call, he said, 'I'll always be with you,'"
Joanna Wroblewski said. "I think God told him he wasn't coming back,"
she said.
John and Joanna Wroblewski met in a self-defense class at County
College of Morris in 1998. She was quickly smitten with a man she
described as extremely handsome but also gentle and intelligent.
She said she knew she wanted to marry him after dating for six months.
They were married last July, nearly two years after the September 11,
2001 terrorist attacks that had convinced her husband to become a
Marine.
Last February 14, while stationed at Camp Pendleton, Lieutenant
Wroblewski learned he was heading to Iraq. He would not leave until the
following night, giving the couple two full days to talk and make plans.
Joanna Wroblewski said her husband told her that she would make a
wonderful mother and should remarry if he didn't return. It was a
thought she didn't want to contemplate.
Last Tuesday, after learning he had been seriously wounded, she
contacted her in-laws, John and Shawn Wroblewski of Jefferson. Other
Marine wives stayed by her side at Camp Pendleton.
"I prayed and prayed," she said.
Then, on Wednesday, the Marines notified her that her husband had
died. At the same time, her husband's parents and three younger
brothers were receiving the tragic news in Jefferson.
"I thought I'd die that day," she said.
Joanna Wroblewski said her husband would not have regretted his choice
to join the Marines, and she stood by it as well.
"He was a Marine through and through," she said.
Dying while helping his fellow Marines "was the only way he was going to
go out," she said.
Lieutenant Wroblewski's father, John, agreed with the decision to bury
his son at Arlington National Cemetery. His body arrived in the United
States last Friday, John Wroblewski said.
"There's no more fitting place. That's where he belongs," he said
Monday.
Sitting on a couch, Joanna Wroblewski looked at pictures from their
wedding last summer. They showed a beaming young couple.
"He never saw his wedding pictures. I just got them this weekend," she
said.
"My husband and I had a very special love. It lasted only six years. But it
was the best six years of my life," she said.
23 April 2004:
All of N.J. to honor Jefferson Marine
U.S. and state flags will fly at half-staff in New Jersey today as Marine
Lieutenant John Thomas "J.T." Wroblewski, a Jefferson native, is laid to
rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
"Lieutenant Wroblewski's patriotism and dedicated service to his
country make him a hero and a true role model for all Americans," reads
Executive Order No. 105, signed by Governor James E. McGreevey.
Wroblewski, 25, Morris County's first fatality in the Iraqi war, died two
weeks ago after being wounded in Ramadi. More than 1,000 people
attended his funeral Wednesday at Our Lady of the Mountain Church in
Washington Township.
Today's burial at Arlington, the final resting place for tens of thousands
of the nation's greatest heroes, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wroblewski's
widow, Joanna; his parents, John and Shawn Wroblewski; and younger
brothers Mike, Dave and Rich, will be among the mourners.
A police escort will accompany Wroblewski's hearse when it departs the
William J. Leber Funeral Home in Chester at 5:30 a.m. about the same
time, a bus with more than three dozen friends of Wroblewski's family
will depart from the Rockaway Townsquare mall to Arlington.
24 April 2004:
'Now he's a part of history'
Jefferson Marine laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery
By Rob Jennings, Daily Record
ARLINGTON, Virginia -- Marine Second Lieutenant John Thomas
"J.T." Wroblewski, Morris County's first fatality in the Iraq war, was
laid to rest with full military honors on Friday at Arlington National
Cemetery.
Wroblewski's widow, Joanna, parents John and Shawn Wroblewski and
younger brothers Mike, Dave and Rich led nearly 200 mourners in a
stirring, final tribute.
"My son was a history buff. Now he's part of history. This is a place
where heroes are resting," John Wroblewski said after the ceremony.
He described the 25-minute burial service for his son as "very reverential
… done with so much respect.
"It's just such a powerful thing that leaves you in awe," he said.
Seven Marines fired three shots each during the graveside ceremony.
A family friend, the Rev. Matthew Twiggs of St. John Vianney Church in
Stockholm, offered a blessing.
"It's a proper burial for a young man who gave up his life for his
country," Twiggs said afterward. "Being part of that is an honor."
Lieutenant Wroblewski, 25, a Jefferson native, died earlier this month
after being wounded in Ramadi. On Wednesday, more than 1,000 people
attended his funeral in Washington Township.
A hearse with Lieutenant Wroblewski's casket departed from a Chester
funeral home at 5:30 a.m. on Friday, accompanied by police vehicles.
Shortly after 1 p.m., a horse-drawn caisson bearing the casket reached
the cemetery's Section 60, where space is set aside for those killed in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
Joanna Wroblewski emerged from a car and was escorted to the gravesite
by a Marine. She was followed by her husband's parents and brothers.
After the American flag that covered the casket was folded, Marine
Captain Martin Lewis walked to where the widow was sitting. Lewis
knelt, presented her with the flag and spoke with her. He then stood and
saluted.
Among those watching was Betsy Ficken of Jefferson, whose son, Marine
Sergeant Willliam H. Knipper IV, is in Iraq.
"What was going through my head was the amount of pride I have in my
country," Ficken said afterward.
Joe Corazza of Sparta, an assistant prosecutor for Sussex County, took
the day off to attend the burial. Corazza graduated from Jefferson High
School in 1992, four years ahead of Lieutenant Wroblewski.
"I just felt I should come," Corazza said. "I can respect what he did and
be thankful. It's the least I can do to show my respect."
Corazza was working in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, and saw the
second hijacked airliner hit the south tower of the World Trade Center.
The terrorist attack would cement Lieutenant Wroblewski's decision to
join the Marines.
Lieutenant Wroblewski left Camp Pendleton in California for Kuwait in
mid-February and was in Iraq by early March. He was fatally wounded
April 6, 2004, while rescuing his fellow Marines from an ambush, his
widow said last week.
"It's a tragedy. He's 25 years old yet … he was out there looking out for
us," Corazza said.
Another mourner, Linda Kerr of Roxbury, met Shawn Wroblewski more
than two decades ago during a difficult period in her life. Kerr's 2-yearold son, Jeffrey, had been diagnosed with cancer and could not attend
Jefferson's annual "bunny brunch" at Easter time, so Shawn Wroblewski
dressed as the Easter bunny, came to the Kerr home and entertained
Jeffrey, who later recovered fully.
"This happened to us," Kerr said. "We're not going because it's
Arlington National Cemetery and we want to see that. We're going to
support the family."
Kerr was among about 40 friends and admirers of Wroblewski who met
at 5:30 a.m. Friday in Rockaway Township to take a chartered bus to
Arlington.
Also on the bus was Steve Hannaway of Bloomingdale, a guidance
counselor at Jefferson High School, who said he attended the burial to
represent those at the school who couldn't make it.
"A lot of people would have liked to have gone," Hannaway said.
Reporters were kept about 70 feet away from the ceremony. Kerr
described the graveside experience as "unreal."
"I expected them to do the military band. I expected the gun salute. But
when I saw the horse-drawn caisson, I lost it," Kerr said.
Josephine DeVoe and Valerie Ciaburri, both of Jefferson, thought at first
that the family might prefer to keep the burial private. DeVoe said that
John and Shawn Wroblewski assured them that they wanted their friends
there. All were invited to a reception afterward at Fort Meyer, adjacent
to the cemetery.
"The outpouring of people was just a tremendous tribute to our son. For
most, it was a five-hour drive or more," said John Wroblewski.
A high school baseball teammate of Lieutenant Wroblewski, Mike
Petershack, drove to Arlington with two friends. Petershack, who lives in
Jefferson and works for the township's public works department, said he
wasn't surprised that Lt. Wroblewski had indicated to his wife before he
went to Iraq that he would want an Arlington burial.
Petershack paused when asked what he best remembered about his old
friend. "I could say so much stuff you wouldn't have enough ink in this
pen," he said.
Two Who Died Days Apart in Iraq Honored at Arlington
Lieutenant Praised as Natural Leader; Sergeant Awarded Bronze Star
By Elaine Rivera
Courtesy of the Washington Post
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Two servicemen who were killed two days apart in Iraq -- a Marine
officer who was trying to help his injured men and an Army Sergeant
who died with seven other soldiers in an attack -- were laid to rest
yesterday in Arlington National Cemetery.
On a warm spring day under a bright sun, family and friends of Marine
Second Lieutenant John T. Wroblewski and Army Sergeant Yihjyh L.
Chen came to honor the slain servicemen.
Wroblewski, 25, of Oak Ridge, New Jersey, received a full honors funeral.
"The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band and a marching element of the
U.S. Marine Corps Ceremonial and Guard Company preceded the
caisson carrying the casket. The mournful notes of taps, played by a
bugler, and the sound of the three-round volleys from a seven-man firing
party filled the air.
Wroblewski's family, including his wife, Joanna, and his parents, John
and Shawn Wroblewski, were at his graveside. Captain Martin Lewis
presented his wife with the American flag.
Wroblewski was killed April 6, 2004, when he was shot in the face while
aiding his men in Al Anbar Province, Joanna Wroblewski said. She said
her husband, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st
Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Pendleton,
Calif., was leading a convoy to help other Marines under fire. Their
vehicle came under fire, and some of Wroblewski's men fell to the ground
after being shot.
"He jumped down to be with them, he was holding their hands and
calling the medics" when he was mortally wounded, she said. As he was
being transported, he gave a thumbs up to his men before he died, she
said.
"His Marines were like his sons," she said. "When they told me he died, I
knew he had gone down as a hero."
She said her husband was beloved by everyone who knew him.
"He was a natural born leader," she said. "I would have followed him
through fire."
John Wroblewski, the slain Marine's father, said his oldest son was
resolute about joining the military.
"When God made him, he stamped 'Marine' on his forehead," said John
Wroblewski, who has three younger sons. "He was a fine young man with
strong core values. He loved God, he loved his wife, he loved his family,
he loved his country and he loved the U.S. Marine Corps."
He described his son as generous and committed to his men. He limited
his telephone conversations with his family while in Iraq, the elder
Wroblewski said, because he wanted to ensure that all of the Marines
assigned to him were able to call home first.
"He let the guys use the phone," Wroblewski said. "It was first the men
who had children and went on down like that."
He said he recently received a letter from his son in which he described
morale as high.
"He sounded very upbeat," Wroblewski said. "He said the Iraqis would
thank him and be very appreciative. We don't hear about that."
Earlier in the day, graveside services were held for Chen, 31, of U.S.
Army's 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division from
Fort Hood, Texas, who was one of eight soldiers killed April 4, 2004, in
Baghdad when their units were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades
and small arms fire, according to the Department of Defense.
Chen was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Chen, of Saipan, Marianas Protectorate, was given a standard honors
funeral. As a U.S. Army firing party fired three volleys, soldiers held an
American flag over his casket. The flag was later presented to his parents,
Cheng-Pin and Yu Mei Chen, along with his medals. A Buddhist monk
chanted over the casket. Near the end of the service, a small butterfly
appeared and flew by.
A Marine honor guard carries the coffin containing the remains of
Second Lieutenant John T. Wroblewski, during a funeral ceremony at Arlington
National Cemetery, Friday, April 23, 2004
Marines carry the casket of Marine Second Lieutenant John
Thomas 'J.T.' Wroblewski to the final resting place at Arlington
National Cemetery.
Joanna Wroblewski, center, widow of Second Lieutenant John T. Wroblewski,
said "his Marines were like his sons." He was killed while helping wounded Marines.
The widow of Marine Second Lieutenant John T. Wroblewski, Joanna Wroblewski,
left, weeps as Captain Martin Lewis, right, hands the American flag that draped her
husband's coffin during a funeral ceremony at Arlington National
Cemetery, Friday, April 23, 2004
WROBLEWSKI, JOHN THOMAS
2ND LT US MARINE CORPS
IRAQ
DATE OF BIRTH: 04/16/1978
DATE OF DEATH: 04/06/2004
BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 7974
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Photo Courtesy of Holly, August 2005
Posted: 13 April 2004 Updated: 21 April 2004 Updated: 25 April 2004 Updated: 26 April 2004
Updated: 7 October 2004 Updated: 4 December 2004 Updated: 21 August 2005
Updated: 14 May 2008
Spec. Philip I. Spakosky
Hometown: Browns Mill, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 25 years old
Died: May 14, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 1st Battalion, 37th Armor, 1st Armored Division, Friedberg, Germany
Incident: Killed in a Karbala firefight.
Army Spc. Philip I. Spakosky
25, of Browns Mill, N.J.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 37th Armor, 1st Armored Division,
Friedberg, Germany; died May 14 in Baghdad of injuries sustained on May 13 when he
was shot by a suspected sniper in Karbala, Iraq.
N.J. soldier dies in Iraq
Associated Press
PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A Pemberton Township resident died Friday after being
wounded by a suspected sniper one day earlier, Pentagon officials said Monday.
Army Spc. Philip I. Spakosky, 25, was shot during fighting in Karbala, the site of an uprising by a
Shiite militia, authorities told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill.
Spakosky is the second soldier from Pemberton Township to lose his life in Iraq. Army Spc.
Ryan Travis Baker died Nov. 15 in a helicopter collision in northern Iraq.
Pemberton Township is close to both Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base.
Pemberton Township High School — where both Spakosky and Baker graduated in 1997 — is
planning a moment of silence Tuesday.
Spakosky’s former teachers at the school remember him as “a very cooperative student,” school
spokesman Tom Bauer told the newspaper.
“He was above average,” Bauer said.
As a senior, Spakosky worked afternoons for the township’s police department, helping in its
records department.
Spakosky was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 37th Armor, 1st Armored Division, based in
Germany.
N.J. town mourns another fallen son
PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Residents of this town adjacent to Fort Dix and McGuire Air
Force Base are mourning the second member of the Pemberton Township High School class of
1997 to die in Iraq.
Spc. Philip I. Spakosky, 25, an Army tank crewman, was killed by a sniper’s bullet during
fighting in Karbala, the site of an uprising by a Shiite militia, the Pentagon said. Spakosky was
shot Thursday and died from his wound a day later.
Fellow 1997 Pemberton graduate Spc. Ryan Travis Baker, an Army helicopter crew chief, died
in November when two Black Hawk helicopters collided over Mosul in northern Iraq.
“They are our children over there and it’s a shame we have to lose someone so close to home,”
said Barbara Craddock, who lives next door to Spakosky’s mother, Lisa Good. “When I heard
about (Philip), I just cried. It was like I lost one of my own children.”
Pemberton High spokesman Tom Bauer said about 15 percent of the high school’s graduates
enter the military each year. The school planned a moment of silence Tuesday.
“This makes us focus on what’s going on over there and escalation in the deaths,” Bauer said.
“We are surrounded by Fort Dix and McGuire and are deeply saddened by this and the number
of our students from our school that are over there.
“This is the second time this (school) year this has happened. It’s a tragedy.”
Friends and colleagues remembered Spakosky, who resided in the township’s Browns Mills
section, as a quiet, cooperative young man who participated in the school’s business co-op
program during his senior year, attending classes during the morning and working at the
Pemberton Township Police Department in the afternoon.
“He was very dependable,” said Lt. Robert Lewandowski. “Sometimes you get kids that tend to
talk a lot and not do the work. He was a very good kid.”
Spakosky was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 37th Armor, 1st Armored Division, based in
Friedberg, Germany. The division began its service in Iraq a little over a year ago.
He enlisted in the Army in January 2002 and completed basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., the
Pentagon said.
— Associated Press
Family, friends salute N.J. soldier killed in Iraq
NORTH HANOVER, N.J. — Funeral services were held this week for a New Jersey soldier
killed by a sniper in Iraq earlier this month.
Army Spc. Philip I. Spakosky, 25, was wounded May 13 during fighting in Karbala, the site of an
uprising by a Shiite militia, and died the next day.
A tank crewman in the 1st Armored Division, he initially was due to return from Iraq this month,
but family members said his tour of duty had been extended for at least three months because
of the ongoing violence.
Approximately 300 people attended the Wednesday services for Spakosky at a Hainesport
church and a subsequent memorial service at the Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans
Memorial Cemetery in North Hanover. He was recalled as a quiet, cheerful man who was very
likable.
“I just want to say, hey bro, you didn’t put us to shame. You didn’t let enemies triumph over
you,” fellow soldier James Horvach wrote in a letter read by one of Spakosky’s friends.
Spakosky is survived by his wife, a 3-year-old daughter and two stepchildren. During the
services, his family was presented with several military decorations he was awarded
posthumously, including a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and National Defense Service Medal.
Spakosky was the second member of Pemberton Township High School’s class of 1997 to die
in Iraq. Army Spc. Ryan Travis Baker was killed Nov. 15 in a helicopter collision in northern Iraq.
Spakosky’s younger brother, Jeff, is serving in Iraq with the Marine Corps, and family members
have asked that he be reassigned to non-combat duty. It was not known when or if a decision
would be made on the request.
— Associated Press
Spec. Christopher M. Duffy
Hometown: Brick, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 26 years old
Died: June 4, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army National Guard, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, Army National Guard,
Lawrenceville, N.J.
Incident: Killed when their convoy was attacked with makeshift bombs and rocketpropelled grenades in Baghdad.
Army Spc. Christopher M. Duffy
26, of Brick, N.J.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery,
Lawrenceville, N.J.; killed June 4 when his convoy was attacked by
improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades in
Baghdad.
Christopher M. Duffy had a passion for the Green Bay Packers and the New York Mets.
His lighthearted nature was balanced by a willingness to help those in need, friends
said. Duffy worked for three years for Ocean's One Inc., a transport company, driving
elderly patients to medical appointments. "They'd say that, 'Chris makes me laugh a
mile a minute.' They all wanted Chris because he made them laugh and he treated
them with respect," said Danielle Ballance, the company's general manager. The 26year-old New Jersey National Guard member from Brick Township was killed June 4 in
an ambush outside Baghdad. A friend, Dan Haupt, characterized Duffy as a loyal
person who would be the first to comfort others. At the same time, he said Duffy was
a prankster who couldn't resist tossing someone in a pool if they were standing too
close to the edge. Survivors include his wife, Casey, and 8-month-old son, Ryan.
Christopher M. Duffy
BRICK -- Christopher M. Duffy, 26, died Friday, while in military active duty in Iraq.
Born in Neptune, he lived in Brick all his life. He was a specialist for the Army
National Guard serving in the Iraq Conflict. Chris was a man of good character and
honor who was fulfilling his commitment to his country. He truly believed that he
was making this world a safer place for his wife, son, family and everyone.
His wife and family are extremely proud of him. As Chris would say, he "was doing what needed
to be done." It will forever be known that Chris was always taking care of someone else and
that he was a true American hero. His wife and family ask that you remember in your prayers,
thoughts and deeds the other member in Chris' unit and their families that continue to serve in
Iraq. Prior to serving in Iraq he worked as a butcher for Lenny's Silverton Market. He was a CYO
basketball coach for Church of the Visitation and enjoyed numerous sporting activities.
Chris is survived by his wife Casey (Ryan) Duffy; his son Ryan Duffy of Brick; his father Brenden
Duffy of Brick; sister Rachel Duffy of Jackson; grandmother Bernadine Duffy of Point Pleasant
Beach; uncle and aunt Alex and Sandy Grebel of Point Pleasant, and other aunts and uncles;
cousins Ryan and Alex Grebel, and several other cousins; nephew Damian Silva; and his in-laws,
the Ryan Family. Funeral services will begin 11 a.m. Friday at Weatherhead Young Funeral
Home, 885 Mantoloking Road, Brick.
A Committal service and Interment will follow at Ocean County Memorial Park, Toms River.
Visiting hours will be 2-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Chris' memory to the Toms River Armory Family
Readiness Group, 1200 Whitesville Road, Toms River, NJ 08753, contact Lisa Fortuna at (848)333-4823. Funds will be used for the remaining soldiers in Iraq.
Published in The Times, Trenton, on June 9, 2004
Sgt. Frank T. Carvill
Hometown: Carlstadt, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 51 years old
Died: June 4, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army National Guard, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, Army National Guard,
Lawrenceville, N.J.
Incident: Killed when their convoy was attacked with makeshift bombs and rocketpropelled grenades in Baghdad.
Army Sgt. Frank T. Carvill
51, of Carlstadt, N.J.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, Lawrenceville,
N.J.; killed June 4 when his convoy was attacked by improvised explosive devices and
rocket-propelled grenades in Baghdad.
Associated Press
When Frank T. Carvill told his sister he had been called up to go to Iraq, she was stunned.
“Gee, Frank, are you going to be part of the AARP battalion?” she teased, referring to the
retirees lobbying group.
At 51, Carvill, an Army sergeant with the New Jersey National Guard, was among the oldest
soldiers to die in Iraq. He was killed last June in an ambush outside Baghdad that also claimed
the lives of four other Guard members from New Jersey and Oregon.
Carvill had escaped both terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, where he worked as a
paralegal. In 1993, he helped a co-worker down 54 floors to safety. On Sept. 11, 2001, he left
the north tower moments before one of the hijacked planes plowed into the building.
Carvill was a voracious reader who loved politics, an outdoorsman who enjoyed kayaking, a
trusted friend who had the same buddies for 30 years.
He was a devoted big brother to Peggy Liguori, who still remembers how as kids, he took her to
see “Blue Hawaii” and “Born Free” at the movies. He was the longtime pal to Rick Rancitelli who
admired Carvill’s “million-dollar vocabulary” and his writing and public speaking skills.
Carvill joined the Guard two decades ago out of a sense of patriotism and never regretted it,
though he believed the war in Iraq was a political mistake, Rancitelli says.
Rancitelli sent his friend copies of The New Yorker, military history books and Grateful Dead
music. He also e-mailed him photos of a lake house he recently bought — a perfect spot to
decompress when Carvill returned.
“Just get home, everything else will be gravy,” he wrote Carvill.
But on the day he was supposed to head home on leave, he gave up his seat on the plane to
another soldier who had a family emergency, according to his sister.
“My brother’s biggest downfall was never being able to say no,” Liguori says. “He was always
willing to help.”
He was killed, she says, that day he gave up his seat.
In May, Carvill sent friends an e-mail, saying he was trying to make the best of the situation but
was looking forward to joining them for dinner back home.
He also offered some reflections about the war that turned out to be prophetic.
“Our occupation is not intended to be forever,” he wrote. “I don’t know how we can get out in the
short run. We as a nation are going to have absorb huge costs, both in money and in lives, for
several more years. ... “ One month later, he was dead.
Frank T. Carvill, who survived the terror attacks at the World Trade Center in 1993 and
2001, was always one to help others. Carvill was working in the North Tower as a
paralegal on Sept. 11, 2001, said his sister, Peggy Liguori. He was helping a co-worker
with a disability get into a van, and saw the first plane hit. In the 1993 attack, he
helped a co-worker 54 floors down to safety. A member of the New Jersey National
Guard, Carvill, 51, of Carlstadt, N.J., was killed June 4 in an ambush outside Baghdad.
Liguori called Carvill "the greatest big brother in the world" who used to take her to
the movies as a child. Liguori said Carvill loved going on National Guard weekends
each month "even though inevitably it would be snowing or raining or 110 degrees
out." Daniel Carvill, who said his brother was always willing to help others, said he saw
Carvill off at Fort Dix on a cold, rainy day. "He felt he had reason to go," he said. "But
you could tell he was nervous about going. Who wouldn't be? I shook his hand, and
that's the last time I saw him."
Spec. Ryan E. Doltz
Hometown: Mine Hill, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 26 years old
Died: June 5, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army National Guard, Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, Lawrence,
N.J.
Incident: Killed when their vehicle hit a makeshift bomb in Baghdad.
Ryan Edward Doltz
Specialist, United States Army
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 552-04
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 7, 2004
Media Contact: Army Public Affairs - (703) 692-2000 Public/Industry Contact: (703)
428-0711
DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers
supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died June 5, 2004, in
Baghdad, Iraq, when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.
Both soldiers were assigned to New Jersey Army National Guard’s 3rd
Battalion, 112th Field Artillery. Killed were:
Sergeant Humberto F. Timoteo, 25, of Newark, New Jersey, assigned to
Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, Morristown, New Jersey.
Specialist Ryan E. Doltz, 26, of Mine Hill, New Jersey, assigned to Battery
B, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, Lawrence, New Jersey.
The incidents are under investigation.
For further information related to this release, contact Army Public
Affairs at (703) 692-2000.
TAPS - Specialist Ryan E. Doltz, VMI Class of 2000
The Superintendent regrets to inform the VMI community of the combat
death of Specialist Ryan E. Doltz, VMI Class of 2000, on June 5, 2004, in
Iraq. Specialist Doltz was mobilized with the New Jersey Army National
Guard's 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, which deployed to Iraq in
February. The unit was retrained to perform military police duties prior
to its deployment. He died Saturday when an improvised explosive device
was set off.
Specialist Doltz was a native of Mine Hill, New Jersey. He matriculated
with the Class of 2000, but graduated with the Class of 2002 with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in History. He was a member of the Band
Company. Many friends of VMI remember him as one of the four cadets
featured in the national television commercial filmed at VMI for Norelco
in 1998.
While attending VMI, Specialist Doltz was a member of the Virginia
Army National Guard's Battery A, 1st Battalion, 246th Field Artillery in
Martinsville. He earned an Emergency Medical Technician certificate
while at VMI, and later qualified for the EMT certification in New Jersey.
He was a member of the Mine Hill, N.J., Volunteer Rescue Squad until his
mobilization.
While at the United States Army Field Artillery Training Center in Fort
Sill, OK, Specialist Doltz won the Top Gun Award for military proficiency
at section tasks associated with 13B10 training.
Among survivors are his parents, Raymond and Cheryl Doltz, a sister,
Anne, and brother, Gregory, all of Mine Hill, N.J. Funeral arrangements
are to be announced.
Funeral Arrangements (Updated June 10)
Funeral arrangements have been announced for Specialist Ryan Doltz '00
who died last week.
Friends may call at the Tuttle Funeral Home in Randolph, N.J., on
Monday, June 14 from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. A chapel service will be held at the
Mine Hill Presbyterian Church in Mine Hill, N.J. on Tuesday, June 15 at
10 a.m. Graveside services will be held on Wednesday, June 16 at the
Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., at 1 p.m.
The Doltz Family has requested that VMI provide pall bearers and a bag
piper for the service.
The family and the VMI Alumni Association are working closely together
to create a scholarship fund in lieu of flowers.
Please continue to check this site for details. They will be posted as they
become available.
VIEWING:
Monday, June 14, 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuttle Funeral Home, Randolph, N.J.
CHURCH SERVICE:
Tuesday, June 15, 10 a.m., Mine Hill Presbyterian Church, Mine Hill, N.J.
GRAVESIDE SERVICE:
Wednesday, June 16, 1 p.m., Arlington National Cemetery, Washington,
D.C.
The Ryan Doltz '00 Scholarship
Ryan Doltz's family has asked that a scholarship be established in his
memory to benefit a cadet in the Band Company. Gifts made to the VMI
Foundation in Ryan's memory will be used to establish the Ryan Doltz '00
Scholarship. To contribute to this scholarship, checks should be made out
the VMI Foundation, with a notation that the gift is in memory of Ryan
Doltz. On-line donations can also be made through the Foundation
Website. Checks should be sent to:
VMI Foundation
P.O. Box 932
Lexington, Va. 24450
Gold Stars Replace Blue Stars in New Jersey Soldier's Town
June 8, 2004
MINE HILL, N.J., June 7, 2004 - For two months, an American Legion
blue star has hung in the window of Specialist Ryan E. Doltz's childhood
home here, a signal from his family to the world that he was serving in
Iraq.
Tomorrow, the blue star will be replaced with a gold one. Specialist Doltz,
a 26-year-old member of the New Jersey National Guard, was killed in an
attack on Saturday on the outskirts of Baghdad.
He was one of four soldiers from New Jersey's National Guard Third
Battalion of the 112th Field Artillery unit killed last weekend in two
separate attacks. His name was not officially released by the National
Guard, but his family confirmed his death.
On Friday, Sergeant Francis Carvill, 51, of Carlstadt, and Specialist
Christopher M. Duffy, 26, of Brick, came under attack shortly after 1 p.m.
local time on Palestine Street near the Shiite district of Sadr City. Three
other soldiers from the New Jersey National Guard were also injured in
that attack. Details about Saturday's attack that killed Specialist Doltz and
the other soldier were not released by the military, and officials would not
release the name or hometown of the fourth soldier until his family
returned from a trip out of the country. They were expected to return
home Monday night.
All of the soldiers were members of Task Force Baghdad, a group that
provided security and drivers to various military convoys, according to Lt.
Col. Roberta Nietz, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs.
The soldiers were the first four members of the New Jersey National
Guard to be killed in Iraq and the first to die while serving overseas since
World War II. There are approximately 300 guard soldiers from the state
serving in Iraq.
Police officers from Wharton, N.J., who also serve Mine Hill, were
stationed on Monday outside the Doltz's yellow house on a quiet street
lined with trees, neat lawns and blooming gardens.
A police officer who declined to give his name but said he knew the fallen
soldier held a framed photograph of Specialist Doltz taken before his 2002
graduation from Virginia Military Institute.
"This is the photo the family wants everyone to see," the officer said. "It
was Ryan's proudest moment."
But at the Mine Hill volunteer rescue squad building where Specialist
Doltz worked for more than two years as an emergency medical
technician, Capt. Edna Deacon of the rescue squad remembered the
soldier as "a strong, dedicated, delightful and gun-ho young man who
made everyone he knew extremely proud.'' She said Specialist Doltz had
aspirations to become an Army helicopter pilot and medic.
Her husband, Jack, who is the president of the rescue squad and who
worked at the Picatinny Arsenal as a weapons expert for 37 years, said he
spent hours talking about weapons and the military with Specialist Doltz.
"He would send me pictures from Iraq of weapons they confiscated and
asked me all about them,'' Mr. Deacon said. Specialist Doltz was the first
soldier from Mine Hill, a town of about 3,700 in Morris County, killed
since the Vietnam War, according to town officials.Captain Deacon said
Specialist Doltz worked for the rescue squad with his younger brother,
Gregory, a gardener, who planted a floral arrangement in front of the
rescue squad building to resemble the American Legion blue star that
hangs in the window of the rescue squad building and the one at Specialist
Doltz's home. Capt. Deacon said that the blue flowers making up the star
would also be changed to gold.
New Jersey Daily Record
8 June 2004
MINE HILL, NEW JERSEY -- Ryan Doltz was remembered by his family
Tuesday as a man full of life and mischief, someone who gladly accepted
challenges and was so dedicated to his Morristown-based National Guard
unit that he shook off two broken heels to join his fellow soldiers in Iraq.
Army Specialist Doltz, 26, was one of four members of the 3rd Battalion of
the 112th Field Artillery killed in combat last weekend. He was the second
Morris County resident to die in combat in Iraq. His unit was called to
active duty last year and Doltz arrived in Iraq on Good Friday.
"He was a true citizen-soldier," said his mother, Cheryl Doltz, at a news
conference outside the Mine Hill Municipal Building Tuesday afternoon.
"Ryan Edward Doltz was an American patriot in the truest sense of the
word. He was willing to put his own hopes and dreams on hold because he
felt that his country needed him.
"He never wavered in his devotion to his country, his family and his alma
maters, Dover High School and the Virginia Military Institute. He will be
sorely missed by his family, friends and Brother Rats of the VMI Class of
2000."
In their first public statements since learning of their son's death
Saturday, the Doltz family thanked the Mine Hill community, the New
Jersey National Guard and friends for their support.
"Mine Hill is a community like no other in the world," Cheryl Doltz said,
citing among other efforts, the work that 40 or 50 community members
performed on the driveway and front lawn of the Doltz home Monday
night.
Ernest Fraser of Mine Hill was one of those volunteers. He said members
of the local fire, police and rescue squads, other residents and a crew from
the Meier Stone Co. of Mount Olive laid a walkway and landscaped the
yard, because they felt the need to help.
Ryan Doltz was a certified emergency medical technician and a member of
the Mine Hill First Aid Squad since 2002, when he returned from Virginia,
where he also had been a certified EMT. At the time of his recent
deployment, he was working in New York for MoreTrench American
Corp., the engineering firm that built the slurry wall at the World Trade
Center .
Cheryl Doltz said the family will establish a scholarship fund in their son's
name. Details will be released later, she said.
Doltz and Sergeant Humberto Timoteo, 25, of Newark were killed
Saturday when a roadside bomb hit their armored vehicle. Their unit was
providing security for a convoy when they were killed.
"The loss of a single soldier is difficult to the National Guard family and
community," said Lieutenant Colonel Roberta Niedt, a National Guard
spokeswoman. "It is inconceivable that we have had to face this many
deaths in such a short period of time."
Two other members of the unit, Sergeant Frank Carvill, 51, of Carlstadt,
and Specialist Christopher Duffy, 26, of Brick, were killed Friday in an
ambush. Three other soldiers from the unit were injured in Friday's
attack.
The first Morris County casualty in Iraq was Marine Second Lieutenant
John Thomas "J.T." Wroblewski of Jefferson, who was killed in April. He
was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Cheryl Doltz said she received a telephone call from the Wroblewski
family.
Services for Doltz are pending, family members said.
Doltz was the third VMI graduate to die in Iraq since October, said college
spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Stewart MacInnis, who said he spent
Monday contacting VMI alumni with news of Doltz's death.
Greg Doltz said his brother lived for the ideals represented by the VMI
cadet training and the military code of honor, service, respect and truth.
"He followed his dream," Greg Doltz said.
Television watchers were given a glimpse life at VMI in 1998 when
Norelco filmed a shaver commercial at the school using four cadets,
including Doltz, MacInnis said.
His mother recalled the commercial.
"Friends will remember him as 'Babyface' from a closing scene in a 1998
Norelco commercial he filmed with other cadets from VMI," she said.
Wearing a red, white, and blue American flag jersey, Doltz's mother spoke
for the family during the two-hour news conference, supported by Greg,
his girlfriend Tiffany Kusen, daughter Anne, her husband Raymond, and
his sister and her husband, Carole and Bill Waple of Marlboro.
While seated at the dais in the Mine Hill courtroom, the family members
linked arms or clasped hands as they spoke.
Memories of her son brought both laughter and tears to Cheryl Doltz's
voice. Her husband, Raymond, did not speak, his face at times wrinkling
into grief.
"It is still impossible to believe that Ryan wouldn't come walking through
the door wearing his favorite cowboy boots, black Stetson and a big grin
on his face," his mother said. "His blue eyes sparkled with mischief
whenever he could get his brother in trouble."
Cheryl Doltz, a fifth-grade teacher at East Dover Elementary School, said
her colleagues are covering her classes through the last two weeks of
school. She said Ryan was a frequent visitor to the classroom and made a
big impression on her students.
John Smarth, 17, now attending Dover High School, said he had Cheryl
Doltz as his teacher for both kindergarten and sixth grade. He said he met
Ryan Doltz several times when he came to class to tell stories or just to say
hello, "because that was the kind of person he was."
Smarth said he was devastated when he heard Saturday that Doltz had
been killed and that the death was a "great loss for the Mine Hill/Dover
community."
"From what I have seen of Ryan, he was a caring, thoughtful, outgoing,
all-around nice guy," Smarth said. "Ryan dedicated his life to helping
others no matter what. If there was a problem and he knew about it, he
would do whatever he could to make it better."
For the Doltz family, the times of Ryan Doltz's life spilled together to
create a picture of a man-child in love with life, reaching out, testing the
limits: As a boy playing military games in the middle of the night with
Greg and just escaping when the police came; talking his way out of a
speeding ticket he got for driving 85 mph on his way to the start of classes
at VMI.
They remember him deciding to attend a state military college and joining
the Virginia National Guard so he could pay in-state tuition and not the
$17,000 charged to out-of-state students; choosing a history major after
trying biology and physics and being asked by a senior cadet if his goal
was to learn physics or to graduate; taking up rugby -- "football without
pads," his mother said -- after dropping his attempt to make the VMI
football team; deploying with the Virginia National Guard to watch over
chemical weapons in Maryland as the unit's duty for homeland security;
using his rehab wheelchair to perform wheelies in the living room;
debating politics with anyone who would engage.
"He loved the excitement of Washington politics," Cheryl Doltz said. He
said he wanted to run for mayor of Mine Hill, a stop on his way to
Washington, she said.
"He might not have been a good president, but he would have made a
great senator," she said.
9 June 2004:
The mother of slain National Guard Specialist Ryan Doltz remembers
hearing her son say he did not think he would survive his tour of duty in
Iraq.
"I believe in premonitions. At first I just waved my hand and said he was
crazy," Cheryl Doltz said at a news conference Tuesday. "But now, it
seems he knew all along that he would not come home."
Doltz, 26, was killed Saturday when a Humvee he was driving ran over a
bomb in Sadr City, a section of Baghdad. He was one of four New Jersey
National Guardsmen from the same unit to die in attacks in Iraq last
week.
Friends and family remembered Doltz as a lover of life and its challenges
and an idealist who put his own hopes and dreams on hold because he felt
his country needed him.
"He never wavered in his devotion to his country, his family and his alma
maters, Dover High School and the Virginia Military Institute," his
mother said. "He will be sorely missed by his family, friends and Brother
Rats of the VMI class of 2000."
Doltz, who is survived by his parents and a brother and sister, joined the
Virginia National Guard so he could pay in-state tuition at VMI. After
9/11, he deployed with the Virginia Guard watching over chemical
weapons in Maryland, then transferred to the New Jersey unit in 2002.
He had been working in New York for an engineering firm that was
rebuilding a wall that was the last remnant of the World Trade Center
towers.
A certified medical technician, he had been a member of the first-aid
squad in Mine Hill, a Morris County community of 3,700, since 2002 when
he returned from Virginia.
Doltz injured both heels in a military training accident and missed his
unit's deployment in January, but made a quick recovery and shipped out
to Iraq in February.
Cheryl Doltz remembered how her son loved to push the envelope. He
once talked his way out of a speeding ticket on his way from New Jersey to
start classes at VMI. He quit the VMI football team only to take up rugby
-- "football without pads," his mother said.
He was chosen along with three other cadets to appear in a Norelco shaver
television commercial that aired during numerous sports telecasts in 1998.
Friends will remember him as "Babyface" from a closing scene in the
commercial, his mother said.
A former student of Cheryl Doltz's at East Dover Elementary School
remembered times when Ryan would stop by to visit the class and tell
stories.
"He was a caring, thoughtful, outgoing, all-around nice guy," said John
Smarth, 17. "Ryan dedicated his life to helping others no matter what. If
there was a problem and he knew about it, he would whatever he could to
make it better."
Cheryl Doltz said the family will establish a scholarship fund in their son's
name.
The New Jersey Record
12 June 2004
Wharton (New Jersey) police and the state Department of Transportation
will block off a section of Route 46 on Tuesday while the church service
for Army Specialist Ryan Doltz takes place at the Mine Hill Presbyterian
Church.
Randolph police and the state made similar arrangements for Route 10 in
Randolph for Monday, near the Tuttle Funeral Home, when the viewing is
under way. Visitation will be from 1 to 9 p.m. Monday at the funeral
home.
A chapel service will be held at the Mine Hill Presbyterian Church on
Route 46 at 10 a.m. Tuesday. A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m.
Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Doltz, a member of the Morristown-based 3rd Battalion, 112th Field
Artillery National Guard unit, was killed in Iraq on June 5, one of four
soldiers from that unit who died last weekend.
The Doltz family is establishing two scholarships in his name, one at
Virginia Military Institute and the other at Dover High School.
The VMI scholarship will benefit a cadet in the band company, according
to the school's Web site. Gifts made to the VMI Foundation in Doltz's
memory will be used to establish the Ryan Doltz '00 Scholarship.
To contribute to that scholarship, checks should be made out to the VMI
Foundation, with a notation that the gift is in memory of Ryan Doltz.
Online donations can be made through the foundation Web site. Checks
should be sent to: VMI Foundation, P.O. Box 932, Lexington, Virginia
24450.
Randolph Police Lieutenant Michael Pisano said that, on Monday, the
right travel lane of westbound Route 10 will be closed beginning at South
Morris Street past the funeral home. Visitors to the funeral home should
plan to use its rear entrance on Quaker Church Road, one block north of
Route 10. Parking will be allowed on side streets in that area, Pisano said.
Randolph police officers will be stationed along Route 10 and Quaker
Church to direct traffic, he said.
Pisano said the 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. rush hour is a concern because both Route
10 and Quaker Church Road see considerable traffic during that time.
Wharton Police Chief Anthony Fernandez said Route 46 in Mine Hill will
be closed Tuesday at 9 a.m. between Randolph Avenue and Canfield
Avenue during the church service. The detour will end after the service,
which is expected to last about two hours.
Traffic will be detoured down Canfield Avenue to Randolph Avenue. The
road loops back to Route 46.
Parking will be available near the church on Route 46 and at Fireman's
Field in the municipal complex on Baker Street. Police officers will be on
the scene to direct traffic and help pedestrians cross Route 46, Fernandez
said.
17 June 2004 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
After leaving flowers, Cheryl and Raymond Doltz touch the casket of their son,
Ryan, following his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia
on Wednesday. Cheryl Doltz said the service 'would have made Ryan proud.'
Goodbye to Morris soldier
Cadet who gave his life in Iraq
By Michael Daigle, Daily Record
The man who was known as a rambunctious child, an inventive prankster,
a dedicated college cadet and a willing soldier who gave his life in service
to his country was buried on Wednesday with military honors.
In a field with two small evergreens and before countless rows of white
grave markers, Army Sergeant Ryan Doltz was buried at Arlington
National Cemetery.
The Doltz family - mother Cheryl, father Ray, brother Greg and sister
Anne - were supported by more than 300 friends, family members, Mine
Hill residents and members of the military. The latter included a cadet
corps from Virginia Military Institute, Doltz's alma mater, and the New
Jersey National Guard, in which he was serving at the time of his death.
Cheryl Doltz said it was her son's dream to be buried at Arlington
National Cemetery.
"It was a beautiful service," she said. "It was more than I expected, and
one that would have made Ryan proud."
The family was stunned and pleased by the turnout, she said. Military
officials told her it was one of the largest gatherings for a funeral at
Arlington, she said.
"We were asked, 'Who are you? You must have some pull,'" Cheryl Doltz
said. "But I said, 'No, Ryan was not an officer, just an average person.' To
be handed his medals by a brigadier general was something."
The large gathering did, she said, reflect the kind of life he led and the
impact that he had on people.
He was a dedicated soldier and a great man, Cheryl Doltz said of her son.
Speaking from a Washington-area hotel following the funeral, she said
was amazed by the turnout, particularly that of VMI graduates. She said
the cadets had joined the family to tell stories about Ryan Doltz.
"They were coming up and saying, 'I'm in the Class of '64, or the Class of
'57, and I had to be here,'" she said.
The support from mourners helped the Doltz family through the day, she
said.
"But now comes the hard part," she said.
During normal times, Ryan Doltz was either away at school or at National
Guard training. The holidays and his birthday will be difficult, his mother
said.
Cheryl Doltz said VMI gave the family copies of a 1998 Norelco
commercial filmed at the school in which Ryan Doltz appeared. It shows
him young and active, as he really was, she said.
"It will help us remember the good times," she said.
Three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation attended the
funeral service: Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Jon Corzine and
U.S. Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, R-Harding.
Doltz, 26, a member of Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery,
stationed in Lawrence, was one of four New Jersey National Guardsmen
to die in Iraq on June 4 and 5. Sgt. Humberto Timoteo, 25, of Newark,
assigned to a Morristown National Guard unit, who was called up in
January when Doltz broke both his heels, died in the same June 5 attack
that killed Doltz. Timoteo's death was marked with a moment of silence at
Doltz's church service on Tuesday.
Mine Hill First Aid Squad officer Edna Deacon, in attendance at
Arlington with 10 of the squad's 14 members, said the service was "a
fitting tribute for the sacrifice Ryan made."
Doltz was a certified emergency medical technician with the Mine Hill first
aid squad and was well known to its members. His brother, Greg, also
serves with the squad, and their father is a former Mine Hill fire chief.
Deacon said the large attendance by the Mine Hill squad was possible
thanks to help from the Dover and Wharton first aid squads, which
covered Mine Hill for the day.
After 10 days of emotional community turmoil that began with news of
Doltz's death and continued this week with the death of well-known school
crossing guard Ann Bourdette, Deacon said it is time to draw back.
The Arlington ceremony helped bring events to an end, she said, but the
impact will linger for some time.
Mayor Richard Leary, one of more than 100 Mine Hill residents to travel
to Arlington Wednesday, said the ceremony recognized the sacrifice that
Doltz made for his community and country.
The large number of residents at his graveside, and the contingent of
rescue, fire and police officers, led by Wharton Police Chief Anthony
Fernandez, was an indication of how strongly the community feels about
Doltz's death, Leary said.
"It is hard to put into words the impact of his death on his family and the
community," Leary said.
At a church service on Tuesday, Leary said Mine Hill lost a special citizen
from a special family.
Doltz was remembered at services over the past 10 days as a free spirit
who found challenging ways to test the boundaries of life, and a big man
who lived life fully.
His college classmates told of the time that he led the raid to steal a Jeep
belonging to the commandant at the Citadel, a VMI football rival whose
annual football game sparked such pranks. The Jeep later was presented
to the Citadel officer at the game. They also told of the time that Doltz led
VMI cadets to steal a U.S. Naval Academy boat during a rain-cancelled
football game.
But they also told of the cadet who, while struggling to succeed
academically, remained loyal to his friends.
Mostly, however, friends and fellow soldiers told about Doltz's love of his
country, dedication to service, intelligence and bravery.
Doltz broke both heels in a training accident in January, but pushed
himself through rehabilitation so he could join his unit, which had been
sent to Iraq. Doltz arrived for duty there on Good Friday, April 9.
That was two weeks before the April 23 Arlington National Cemetery
service for Marine Lt. John Thomas "J.T." Wroblewski of Jefferson,
Morris County's first casualty in the Iraq war. Doltz was the second.
On Wednesday, the quiet of the Doltz service was swallowed by the
greater silence of the national cemetery.
The Doltz family walked slowly behind their son's flag-draped casket to
the graveside, past a line of mourners, some standing three and four deep.
At graveside, the uniformed casket team stood at attention as the chaplain,
Army Maj. Douglas Fenton, performed the service.
Four VMI cadets stood alongside as an honor guard.
During Doltz's service, the crack of 21 rifle shots and the sound of a
distant, wavering bugle sounding taps from one of the 25 military services
held on Wednesday could be heard.
As Fenton concluded the ceremony, the seven-member firing team for
Doltz's funeral fired three rounds in his honor, the sound echoing as it
rolled away through the soft hills of the national cemetery.
A solitary bugler, standing apart from the mourners, played taps before
the silence fell again.
Slowly, the casket team folded the flag that had draped the casket, pulling
it tight, corner to corner, passing it to the team's leader. The leader pulled
at the edges of the flag, now in a tight triangle, and it was passed hand to
hand down the line to Brig. Gen. Glenn K. Reith, adjutant general for New
Jersey.
Kneeling before Cheryl Doltz, the general spoke with her for a moment
and presented her with the flag.
Then, one-by-one, Reith presented her with the Bronze Star, the Purple
Heart and the Good Conduct Medal awarded her son.
Passing the medals to Reith was Army National Guard Spc. Mike
Scuzzese, who served in Iraq in Doltz's unit and spoke at his church
service on Tuesday.
Members of the Doltz family placed long-stemmed yellow roses on the
casket.
The grieving family then accepted the condolences of mourners, including
Navy Lt. Joseph Klapatch, Doltz's cadet officer at VMI, as well as
Lautenberg, Corzine and Frelinghuysen.
They were left with a brown patch of earth, a casket to be lowered into the
ground, final farewells, and the fulfilled dream of their son, who now rests
with his fellows at arms.
Cheryl Doltz said the family today will visit some graves of other soldiers
buried at Arlington at the request of their families.
It is something she said they are glad to do.
"I know that Ryan is being watched over," she said.
Love of Military Drove Soldier
Sergeant Killed in Iraq Had a Lifelong Desire to Serve
By Jason Ukman
Courtesy of the Washington Post
Thursday, June 17, 2004
The military was life for Sergeant Ryan Doltz, 26, of Mine Hill, New
Jersey, something he lived and breathed, something he believed in. He
attended Virginia Military Institute and joined the New Jersey Army
National Guard. When the call came for his unit to go to Iraq, he went,
even though heel injuries had threatened to keep him stateside.
"He loved the military. He always wanted everything military," said his
mother, Cheryl Doltz. "It only seemed fitting that he be buried at a
military cemetery."
Her son was laid to rest yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery, two
weeks after being killed in Baghdad's Sadr City with another member of
the National Guard's 3rd Battalion of the 112th Field Artillery. He and
Sergeant Humberto F. Timoteo, 25, of Newark died June 5, 2004, in a
roadside bombing.
Under cloudy skies, scores of New Jersey National Guard soldiers and
VMI cadets lifted their hands in salute to Doltz, the 68th casualty of the
Iraq war to be buried at Arlington. The funeral party was a sea of
uniforms, and the cortege comprised countless cars and five buses. Both
U.S. senators from New Jersey were there.
Doltz, a Specialist who posthumously was given the rank of Sergeant, had
political aspirations of his own. He had said he wanted to run for mayor of
Mine Hill, a town of 3,700 about 35 miles west of New York City, and the
words "President of the United States" had passed his lips on occasion. He
thought he could make a difference, his mother said.
After his graduation from VMI and a stint in the Virginia National Guard,
he returned to his home town, where he and his brother, Greg, 25, were
members of the volunteer first aid squad there. His sister, Anne, is 31.
Doltz kept in touch after he shipped out to Iraq. He would call home once
or twice a week, usually after he returned to base from a mission. "We're
doing the right thing," he would tell his family. "This is where we should
be."
In his view, many of Iraq's problems could be traced to teenagers, whom
he saw as troublemakers. He wanted to make an impression on the next
generation. "If we can convince them that what we're doing was right, it
will change everything," his mother recounted him saying. He carried
candy around Baghdad and distributed it to children, hoping they would
see Americans as their friends and not their enemies.
If Doltz called and no one was home, he wouldn't leave a message, but
caller ID always tipped off his mother. He had called on June 4, she said.
Two members of the New Jersey National Guard had been killed that day,
and Cheryl Doltz later realized that he had called to let her know he was
okay. The next day brought worse news, however, and Cheryl Doltz said
she knew it the moment she saw the chaplain and military officer at her
door.
At the burial, she and her husband, Raymond, sat with the rest of their
family in chairs covered in crushed green velvet. After remarks by a
chaplain, seven riflemen fired three volleys into the air. The Adjutant
General of New Jersey, Brigadier General Glenn K. Reith, knelt near
Cheryl Doltz and presented her with the flag that had draped her son's
coffin, as well as testaments to his service, a Bronze Star and a Purple
Heart.
Most of the funeral party left Doltz's grave site shortly after the
presentation, but his family remained for a few moments before the coffin
was lowered.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005:
Picatinny Arsenal honored an Army National Guardsman's service by
naming a software engineering center after him at an emotional ceremony
Tuesday. It was the first time a New Jersey building was named for a
serviceman or woman serving in Iraq.
The honor for Sergeant Ryan Doltz, 26, of Mine Hill, came after he was
posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart and more than a
year after he was killed in Baghdad, Iraq, when the vehicle carrying him
back to his base from a combat operation struck a roadside bomb.
"I think it's wonderful," said Doltz's mother, Cheryl, who spoke at the
building's dedication Tuesday. "He would really like this."
Constructed in 1930, The Sergeant Ryan E. Doltz Software Engineering
Center was rebuilt in 2001, after it was designated as the site of a new
software engineering center for the arsenal.
Cheryl Doltz uses humor to recall her son's life.
"He was hard to describe — most people would think in terms of his size,"
the Morris County resident said of her 6-foot, 6-inch, 250-pound son.
"Ryan played the tuba, which was perfect for him because he was big
enough to handle it."
Although Ryan Doltz was never employed at the arsenal, the base decided
to name the building after the Mine Hill resident because he was "close to
us and the community," said Frank Misurelli, public affairs specialist for
the base.
"There are people in the building that were friends of his and were with
him in Iraq," Misurelli said.
Cheryl Doltz said it was fitting that a building used by the arsenal to
design new software be named in her son's honor.
"He loved computers and he loved being in the artillery," she said.
Ryan Doltz was assigned to Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery
in Lawrenceville. Killed in Baghdad on June 5, 2004, Doltz was
posthumously promoted to sergeant. Buried at Arlington National
Cemetery, he is survived by his parents Raymond and Cheryl Doltz, his
sister Anne, 32, and brother Gregory, 26.
Doltz graduated from Dover High School, where he played noseguard for
the football team. He then went to Virginia Military Institute, where he
received a bachelor's degree in history in 2002.
"He switched to rugby there because it was football without pads," his
mother recalled with a laugh. "We always said he went down to Virginia
listening to Metallica and came back wearing a cowboy hat and boots,
listening to country music."
A former teacher, Cheryl Doltz also remembered how her son helped
chaperone her classes' field trips to New York City.
"He would always request the toughest kids," she said, "He would usually
have four or five boys lined up, and he'd keep them right in line."
While he was training to go to Iraq in 2004, Ryan Doltz fell and broke
both of his heels, Cheryl Doltz said.
"He wanted to be sent to Iraq with the people he knew," she said. "He was
determined to get back with his own unit and in early April, he convinced
them he was healed enough."
The Doltz family has established two scholarships — one at Dover High
School and one at Virginia Military Institute — in honor of their son.
19 November 2006:
Roxbury honors veteran, family sacrifices
Mother recalls life of son who died in Iraq in 2004
BY MATT MANOCHIO
COURTESY OF THE MORRIS COUNTY DAILY RECORD
ROXBURY -- Cheryl Doltz will never forget June 5, 2004, when she heard
the knock on the door that every military family dreads.
"All I saw was a cross on a chaplain's collar, and I knew my son was never
coming home," Doltz, of Mine Hill, told a full assembly of Roxbury High
School students during a Wednesday Veterans Day ceremony at which she
was the keynote speaker.
Cheryl's son, Sergeant Ryan Doltz, 26, a member of the New Jersey Army
National Guard, was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb, a deadly device
that has claimed scores of military lives there -- including Marine Pfc.
Donald Brown, 19, a 2005 Roxbury graduate who was killed late last
month in Haditha.
Wednesday's ceremony was dedicated to Brown, whose smiling face was
displayed on a large overhead screen. Brendan Donegan, one of his
teachers, told the crowd of Brown's athleticism and desire to be part of a
team, as well as his playful, goofy side that sometimes got him in trouble
with teachers, but he'd always own up to it.
None of the Browns attended, but Donald's fiancée, Megan Robinson, of
Mount Olive, tearfully received a plaque in Brown's honor.
A great sacrifice
Doltz, who started her address by thanking the more than two dozen
veterans on stage, was introduced by John Aslanian, a foreign language
teacher at the school, and a fellow Army National Guardsman who was
deployed with Doltz to Iraq.
"She has made one of the greatest sacrifices one can make for her
country," Aslanian said. "She gave us one of her most precious gifts, her
son."
Doltz illustrated that by wearing a Gold Star pin and displaying the small
Gold Star flag she hangs on her front window.
"It shows that I'm a member of a very special club," she said. "Each of us
would give anything not to be a part of this select group."
Doltz said the small white flag with red trimming and gold star in the
center symbolizes that the family that lives where the flag hangs has lost
someone during war.
"It has been hanging there for over two years," she said, her voice
trembling.
"It will remain there until our country is no longer at war," she said.
National Guard
Doltz eloquently spoke of her son and how he joined the National Guard
while attending the Virginia Military Institute to ease his parents'
financial burden.
She unfurled a quilt that bore several picture patches of her son during
various phases of his young and short life.
She said that Ryan was the kind of student teachers either loved or
dreaded, that her son enjoyed skiing, was a black belt in karate, and that
she remembered him "giving me gray hair when I tried to teach him how
to drive."
He learned every play for every position for his high school football team
just in case he was needed for any one of them, Doltz said.
"He always dreamed of making that winning touchdown,"Doltz said.
"That was not in the cards for him."
She explained how the military helped her family get through the process
of receiving their son from Iraq and burying him in Arlington National
Cemetery. A helicopter even flew over the burial service.
"Ryan had always wanted to be a helicopter pilot," she said.
Poems, letters
Students, both before and after Doltz's address, read war-related poems
and letters from conflicts ranging from the Revolutionary War to the first
Iraq War, and the sacrifice involved in each.
No letter illustrated that more than a letter written by Abraham Lincoln
to Lydia Bixby, a widow believed to have lost five sons in the Civil War.
"I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming," student
Ariann Nuetts read. "But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the
consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to
save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your
bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and
lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a
sacrifice upon the altar of freedom."
Film clips from such movies as "The Patriot,""Glory," and "Saving
Private Ryan" were played to illustrate the courage it takes to join the
military and the sacrifice one must make in serving their country.
Soldiers' lives
Several of the veterans who sat on stage during the ceremony were from
Roxbury, including, among others, school board member Bob Badini,
substitute teacher and former councilman Ed Kirchgessner, Municipal
Court Judge Carl Wronko, and retiring social studies teacher Anthony
D'Amelio.
D'Amelio, who served in the Army National Guard during the Vietnam
War era, began posting along an upstairs high school hallway wall large
poster boards that had names, ages and short biographies of the service
members who died while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
What started out as a one or two bulletin-board sized posters expanded to
seven. The walls also contained articles about the fallen New Jersey service
members, including, most recently, Brown.
Ted Koutsoubas, 16, a junior, who's helping D'Amelio with the wall
project, said it's meant to remind students of those who have lost their
lives.
"I feel that people should remember all those who passed away, and their
memory should live on," he said. "It doesn't matter what side of the
political spectrum you're on. You have to honor the memories of the fallen
soldiers."
As for the Veteran's Day ceremony, Koutsoubas said it was different from
any kind he's ever witnessed.
"I almost started crying during the ceremony, actually," he said. "It truly
is a highlight of Roxbury High School."
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The reminders of Sgt. Ryan Doltz are everywhere for his mother Cheryl.
But they're not necessarily what you'd expect.
Sure, there's the faded gold star in the window of the family's Mine Hill
home, commemorating the 26-year-old National Guardsman who died in a
roadside bomb attack in Iraq nearly three years ago. The Picatinny
Arsenal military software engineering building, named in his honor. The
memorials at Dover High School, the Virginia Military Institute and
Arlington National Cemetery.
The things that really make Doltz think of her son, though, are the funny
little snafus that seem like things Ryan -- a grinning, 6-foot-5 trickster -might have arranged. Like the time Whiskey, one of the family's two
rescued greyhounds, got into the display of Ryan's memorabilia and
"decided medals taste good," Doltz said.
Then there is the Ryan E. Doltz Memorial Foundation, which helps
families of wounded soldiers and awards college grants.
At least one scholarship each year goes to a Dover High School graduate.
Another goes to a student at Virginia Military Institute, where Ryan was a
proud member of the institution's last all-male class.
This year's VMI scholarship winner is Christopher Rau, a towering young
tuba player who keeps running afoul of the institute's strict rules and is
"so like Ryan," according to Doltz, a retired Dover schoolteacher.
The next scholarship fund-raiser will be an August 19, 2007, motorcycle
"Run for Ryan" sponsored by the Knights of Fire. More information is at
www.knightsoffire3nj.com.
Doltz can laugh as she recalls her son's mischievous ways. But she also
finds much-needed solace in knowing his memory lives on in the
scholarships and memorials that bear his name.
"He'll never be forgotten," Doltz said. "Long after we're gone, those
things will still be there. His service won't be forgotten."
Webmaster: Michael Robert Patterson
Ryan Doltz was remembered by his family Tuesday as a man
full of life and mischief, someone who gladly accepted challenges
and was so dedicated to his Morristown-based National
Guard unit that he shook off two broken heels to join his
fellow soldiers in Iraq.
New Jersey Army National Guard Specialist Ryan Doltz of
is shown in Iraq in mid-May 2004 in a photo released by his
family, Monday, June 7, 2004.
Specialist Ryan Doltz is shown in Iraq in mid-May 2004 in a photo released
by his family, Monday, June 7, 2004
Specialist Ryan Doltz is shown in Iraq in mid-May 2004 in
a photo released by his family, Monday, June 7, 2004.
DOLTZ, RYAN E
SGT US ARMY
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 06/01/2001 - 06/05/2004
DATE OF BIRTH: 01/12/1978
DATE OF DEATH: 06/05/2004
DATE OF INTERMENT: 06/16/2004
BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 7988
Photo Courtesy of Holly, August 2005
Webmaster: Michael Robert Patterson
Posted: 14 June 2004 Updated: 17 June 2004 Updated: 4 July 2004 Updated: 4 December 2004
Updated: 21 August 2005 Updated: 21 September 2005 Updated: 9 November 2006
Updated: 20 June 2007 Updated: 19 October 2007 Updated: 14 May 2008
When Ryan E. Doltz injured both heels while training for his deployment to Iraq,
doctors told him he'd spend six weeks in a wheelchair and six months in rehabilitation,
his mother said. But the soldier wouldn't let the prognosis slow him down. He
recovered in eight weeks and joined his comrades in Iraq. "He was absolutely
determined to get back to his unit," Cheryl Doltz said. The 26-year-old from Mine Hill,
N.J., was killed June 5 in Baghdad in an attack on his vehicle. His National Guard unit
was based in Lawrence, N.J. The soldier loved to push the envelope, his mother said.
He quit the Virginia Military Institute football team only to take up rugby "football
without pads," she said. His friends described him as energetic and said he was a
caring and trustworthy comrade. "He had the biggest heart of anybody I know," said
Howard Cook, a U.S. Marine Corps reservist who entered VMI a year later than Doltz.
"He was just one of those all-around good guys that would do anything for you."
Ryan E. Doltz
MINE HILL, N.J. - Sgt. Ryan E. Doltz, 26, of Mine Hill, NJ, was killed in action
while serving with the Army in Iraq on Saturday, June 5, 2004.
He was born in Livingston, N.J. and was the son of Raymond and Cheryl (Fagley)
Doltz of Mine Hill. He was a lifelong resident of Mine Hill.
He was employed as a Military Police C Company, 759th M.P. Battalion, U.S. Army, Morristown,
N.J.
He had been serving as a Military Policeman in Iraq with the N. J. Army National Guard 3rd
Battalion, 112th Field Artillery of Morristown and previously served with the Virginia National
Guard in Martinsville, Va. He was a member of the Mine Hill First Aid Squad, member of the
American Legion Post #27 of Dover, V.F.W. Lakeland Post #2347 of Netcong, member of the
Class of 2000 of the Virginia Military Institute of Lexington, VA, where he received his B.A. in
History and was a member of the Rugby Team and also the Regimental Band. He was very
proud of his status as a V.M.I. First Class Private. He had been certified as an EMT in Virginia
and New Jersey. He was an Army Certified Combat Lifesaver.
He was a member of the Mine Hill Presbyterian Church.
In addition to his parents, he is survived by a brother, Greg A. Doltz of Mine Hill, and a sister,
Anne M. Doltz, of Lake Hiawatha, N.J.; several aunts, uncles, cousins and his special friend,
Theresa Wohlrabe.
Funeral services will be held at the Mine Hill Presbyterian Church, 213 US Highway 46, Mine
Hill, N.J. (973-361-6699) at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2004, at Tuttle Funeral Home, 272
Highway 10, Randolph Township, N.J. Interment will be on Wednesday, June 16, 2004, at 1:00
p.m. at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.
Visitation will be on Monday, June 14, 2004, from 1:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. at Tuttle Funeral
Home, 272 Highway 10, Randolph Township, N.J.
In lieu of flowers donations in his memory may be made to the Virginia Military Institute
Foundation/Ryan Doltz Scholarship, Box 932, Lexington, VA 24450 or Ryan Doltz Scholarship,
c/o Mine Hill First Aid Squad, Mine Hill, NJ 07803.
Tuttle Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Published in Danville and Rockingham County on June 13,
2004
Sgt. Humberto Timoteo
Hometown: Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 25 years old
Died: June 5, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army National Guard, Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, Morristown,
N. J.
Incident: Killed when their vehicle hit a makeshift bomb in Baghdad.
Humberto F. Timoteo was so eager to join the military that he had his parents sign a
waiver so he could enlist just shy of his 18th birthday. "He wanted to go and serve his
country because he felt he had been given so much that he wanted to give something
back," said his sister-in-law, Graciela Torres. Timoteo, 25, of Newark, N.J., was killed
June 5 when a roadside bomb hit his armored vehicle. His unit was providing security
for a convoy at the time. He had trained as a field artilleryman at Fort Sill, where he
met his wife, Silvia. The two eloped to West Palm Beach, Fla., in August 2002, where
they spent their honeymoon. "Unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen to good
people," Silvia Timoteo said. The couple had one child, Giovanni.
Army Sgt. Humberto F. Timoteo
25, of Newark, N.J.; assigned to Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, Army
National Guard, Morristown, N.J.; killed June 5 when his vehicle hit an improvised
explosive device in Baghdad.
Newark soldier one of four N.J. Guard members killed in Iraq
By Evan Berland
Associated Press
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — Military officials gathered Tuesday for the second time in four days
to confirm the deaths in Iraq of New Jersey National Guardsmen.
Sgt. Humberto Timoteo and Spc. Ryan Doltz were killed Saturday when a roadside bomb hit
their armored vehicle. The two men, members of a field artillery unit, were providing security for
a convoy when they were killed.
The deaths brought to four the number of New Jersey Guardsmen slain in Iraq since Thursday.
“The loss of a single soldier is difficult to the National Guard family and community,” said Lt.
Col. Roberta Niedt, a spokeswoman. “It is inconceivable that we have had to face this many
deaths in such a short period of time.”
Timoteo, 25, was from of Newark. Doltz, 26, was from Mine Hill. Both belonged to the 3rd
Battalion of the 112th Field Artillery, headquartered in Morristown.
Two other members of the unit, Sgt. Frank Carvill, 51, of Carlstadt, and Spc. Christopher Duffy,
26, of Brick, were killed Friday in an ambush. Three other soldiers from the unit were injured in
Friday’s attack.
In all, 10 soldiers from the unit have been injured in recent incidents. Five are being treated at a
U.S. military hospital in Germany, National Guard officials said.
Timoteo’s wife, Army Sgt. Silvia Timoteo, said Tuesday that the risk of death is something
anyone assumes on joining the military.
Though she said she is heartbroken, Silvia Timoteo said she believes in what her husband was
doing. She is mother of a 3-year-old son and is getting an emergency transfer back to the U.S.
from Korea, where she had been stationed.
“All these soldiers were dedicated to the service of their country and the state,” said Lt. Col.
Robert Schofield, commander of the battalion.
Newark Mayor Sharpe James told The Star-Ledger of Newark that Timoteo had emigrated with
his family from Portugal and grew up in the city’s Ironbound section.
“He served and fought to protect our liberties and values and he sacrificed his life for them,”
James told the newspaper. “He is a hero in every sense of the word.”
Timoteo joined the military in 1996 and trained as a field artilleryman at Fort Sill, Okla.,
according to DoD records.
The 112th Field Artillery is a unit that normally would operate self-propelled howitzers,
weapons that can fire as far as 18 miles, National Guard spokesman Roman Martyniuk said.
But the Iraq conflict required them to perform tasks closer to those associated with military
police: patrol and security work, and protecting convoys, infrastructure and military installations.
Most units spent about three or four weeks training at Fort Dix before leaving for Iraq,
according to Fort Dix spokeswoman Carolee Nisbet. The 112th Field Artillery members would
have received training in the weeks before they left for the Middle East on Feb. 20.
Schofield said they received an additional two weeks of training when they arrived in Kuwait,
where soldiers headed before getting to Iraq.
“Each conflict is different from the last and adjustments are made in training to compensate for
that,” he said.
Sgt. Alan D. Sherman
Hometown: Brick, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 36 years old
Died: June 29, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marine Reserves, 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Force Service Support
Group, Marine Corps Reserve, Folsom, Pa.
Incident: Killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
Stephen R. Sherman
Sergeant, United States Army
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 125-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 04, 2005
Media Contact: Army Public Affairs - (703) 692-2000 Public/Industry Contact:
(703)428-0711
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who
supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sergeant Stephen R. Sherman, 27, from Neptune, New Jersey, died
February 3, 2005, in Mosul, Iraq, from wounds sustained when an
improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Sherman was
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry
Division, (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) Fort Lewis, Washington.
For further information related to this release, contact Army Public
Affairs at (703) 692-2000.
Click here for a memorial to Sergeant Sherman
Family to bury Neptune soldier in Arlington, Virginia
G.I., 27, was killed in Iraq Thursday
Courtesy of the Asbury Park Press
8 February 2005
By A. SCOTT FERGUSON
Sergeant Stephen R. Sherman
NEPTUNE, New Jersey - An Army sergeant killed in Iraq Thursday
morning will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Monday with
full military honors, according to officials at Fort Monmouth.
Sergeant Stephen R. Sherman, who lived with his family in the township
for the last four years, died near Mosul after a homemade bomb hit the
vehicle he was traveling in, according to his family and the Army.
Officials announced Monday that Sherman's family decided to bury him
at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia at 1 p.m. Monday, said Henry
Kearney, a spokesman for Fort Monmouth.
The family will hold a viewing for Sherman from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9
p.m. on Thursday at Ely Funeral Home on Route 33 in Neptune. A
funeral Mass will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at Holy Innocents Roman
Catholic Church on West Bangs Avenue in Neptune.
Sherman was the 43rd member of the military from New Jersey to be
killed in Iraq since fighting began there in March 2003, according to the
Associated Press.
Born in Virginia, Sherman and his family moved to New Jersey when he
was 11. They lived in Spring Lake Heights before moving to Neptune.
Sherman first went to Manasquan High School but graduated from High
Technology High School in Middletown in 1996. He earned a degree in
business administration from the University of Oregon in 2001.
After working in the private sector, he joined the Army in 2003 and
trained as a chemical specialist, leaving for Iraq in October.
Although his family has declined requests for interviews, his mother,
Bernadette Sherman, described her son in an e-mail to the Asbury Park
Press as a hard-working, responsible young man who loved the outdoors
and who looked forward to his brother's upcoming graduation from
college.
"The fondest memories I have of Steve are of his loving and caring
relationships with each of his family members," Bernadette Sherman
wrote. "After college and before enlisting in the Army, he had some free
time but preferred not to be idle. He would keep himself busy with small,
around-the-house jobs for his grandmother and me."
Neptune resident Sgt. Stephen R. Sherman, formerly of Spring Lake Heights, died
Thursday, February 3, 2005, while serving our country in Mosul, Iraq.
He was 27 years old.
Sergeant Sherman enlisted in the Army in April 2003. He completed basic
and advanced individual training as a Chemical Operations Specialist
soldier at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in October 2003, before being
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis,
Washington. He deployed to Iraq from Fort Lewis with his unit in
October 2004, serving as a Nuclear, Biological, Chemical [NBC]
noncommissioned officer and directing soldiers in the operation,
maintenance and use of NBC detection and decontamination equipment.
His medals and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal,
the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Global War on
Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.
Born in July 1977 in Arlington, Virginia, Sergeant Sherman moved with
his family to Spring Lake Heights, when he was 11 years old, and then
moved with his family to Neptune four years ago. He attended his
freshman year at Manasquan High School, transferring for his
sophomore through senior years to High Tech High School, Brookdale
Community College, graduating in 1996. Sergeant Sherman later
attended the University of Oregon, graduating with a business
administration degree in 2001. Before enlisting in the U.S. Army, he
managed a Budget Rent-A-War franchise in the Cayman Islands. Among
his many interests were outdoor sports and survival skills including
participating in an 80-day Outward Bound Excursion survival skills
training course.
Sgt. Sherman will be remembered as a gentle and loving son who was
determined to shield his mother from the harsh and frightening realities
of war. In conversations and e-mail, he would often focus on the brighter
aspects of a difficult situation. Things like the camaraderie of the troops
and his interaction with the children of Iraq were the inspiration for
much of his correspondence.
Sgt. Sherman is survived by his mother, Bernadette Sherman, Neptune;
his father Richard W. Sherman, Great Falls, Virginia; brothers Eddie
and Danny; sister, Caitlin; half-brother and sister, Will and Annie
Sherman, Great Falls, Virginia; maternal grandmother, Rose Wildeman,
Point Pleasant and paternal grandmother, Beverly Marten, Camden,
Delaware.
He is also survived by several aunts and uncles, John Wildeman Jr.,
Punta Gorda, Florida; Kevin and Sarah Wildeman, McLean, Virginia;
Jim and Donna Brogan, Point Pleasant; Brian and Mary Wildeman,
Canton, Georgia; Terry and Veronica Wildeman, Farmingdale; Timmy
and Anna Lee Wildeman, Shark River, and Tom Sherman, Manahawkin,
and many loving cousins, extended family and friends.
Visiting hours will be on today from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m.to 9
p.m. at the Ely Funeral Home, 3316 Rt. 33, Neptune and on Friday from
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Holy Innocents Church. Shuttle transportation from
the Holy Innocents church parking lot will be provided for the evening
viewing hours tonight.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday at 7 p.m. at Holy
Innocents Church, West Bangs Avenue and Rt. 33. Interment will be at
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, on Monday, February
14 at 1 p.m.
Arlington National Cemetery does not accept flowers, therefore at the
family’s request, memorial donations can be made to the American Red
Cross or the Outward Bound Scholarship program.
'He was a hero to me'
By Beverly Crawford
02/08/2005
U.S. Army Sergant Stephen Richard Sherman, 27, of Neptune, New
Jersey, the son of Richard "Dick" Sherman of Great Falls, was killed in
Mosul in northern Iraq on February 3, 2005, when an improvised
explosive device (IED) detonated beneath him as he traveled in an Army
Stryker vehicle on a night mission.
His death was the first to occur in his Stryker unit, his father said.
A wake will be held at Ely Funeral Home in Neptune from 2 to 4 p.m. and
6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10. The funeral Mass will be held at 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 11, at Holy Innocents Catholic Church, also in Neptune.
A military funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, February 14, at
Arlington National Cemetery.
Sherman enlisted in the Army in April 2003 and completed basic and
advanced training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
He was a chemical operations specialist assigned to a Stryker brigade
combat team in the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry
Division based out of Fort Lewis, Washington.
"He talked to us a lot by e-mail and phone," said his father, Dick
Sherman. "He was always telling us not to worry; that things were not as
bad as they seemed."
"We were a little concerned a month or so ago," he said, after a suicide
bomber attacked a mess tent where his son's unit was located at Camp
Maruz.
Sherman, the eldest of four children, was born at Arlington Hospital and
moved to New Jersey in the late 1980s after his parents divorced. His
mother, Bernadette Sherman, lives in Neptune, New Jersey.
He was a member of the first class to graduate in 1996 from a high school
in Lynncroft, New Jersey, that specialized in high technology, and he was
a wrestler.
He attended Loyola University and graduated from the University of
Oregon, where he studied music and business.
Sherman completed a semester-long Outward Bound program in 1997
that included river rafting and rock climbing. He was a canoing
enthusiast and often went on canoe trips to Canada with friends and
family. He also enjoyed snowboarding, rock climbing and golf.
After graduating from college, Sherman explored options for his life. He
managed a car rental agency in the Cayman Islands and then decided to
join the Army when he was 25.
"He joined the Army because he thought that was a good thing to do," his
father said. "He was a hero to me and his family and friends long before
he met this tragic end. He was a hero for what he stood for. He was a
great guy."
"He enriched and enlivened the many lives he touched," he said, adding
that "he led a very exciting and adventurous life."
"He had a strong will and body, but he was gentle and compassionate,"
Dick Sherman said. "He was much more than a loving son to me. He was
a dear friend."
Sherman's father, a retired aerospace executive, is CEO of an
agricultural business. His stepmother, Deborah Tucker, works for the
National Association for Variable Annuities. Their two children, Annie
and Will, attend Colvin Run Elementary School.
Sherman is also survived by his brothers, Eddie Sherman of Great Falls,
and Dan Sherman, a senior at Mary Washington College; a sister, Caitlin,
a 2003 graduate of The Madeira School who now attends Rhodes College
in Memphis; and his grandparents, Rose Wildeman of Point Pleasant,
New Jersey, and Beverly Marten of Camden, Delaware.
The family requests that any donations in Stephen Sherman's memory be
made to Outward Bound USA or to the American Red Cross.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
BY BRIAN DONOHUE AND MARK MUELLER
Courtesy of the Newark Star-Ledger
He died in a military uniform in a foreign land, fulfilling a duty to his
country.
For that, family members of Army Sergeant Stephen Sherman say they
are proud.
But as they mourned the 27-year-old Neptune man at his funeral last
night, eight days after a bomb blast claimed him in Iraq, relatives said
Sherman's military service represented just one facet of a rich and
passionate life.
To his three younger siblings, who eulogized him after a funeral Mass at
Holy Innocents Church in Neptune, Sherman was a teacher, protector
and role model, a man with an intense interest in history and a thirst for
outdoor adventure.
"He was my hero long before he suited up and went to war for our
country," brother Danny Sherman told nearly 400 mourners. "He
instilled in me an energy and a passion for everything I do."
Sherman's sister, Caitlin, told the assembly that countless people over the
past week had offered condolences with the words "sorry for your loss."
The condolences were well-meaning, she said, but misplaced.
"It's not we for whom people should be sorry," Caitlin Sherman said.
"We are sorry for those who didn't have him to lose."
Sherman, a 1996 graduate of High Technology High School in Lincroft,
was killed Feb. 3 near Mosul, Iraq, when an improvised bomb exploded
in the road as his convoy passed by. He was the 43rd soldier or Marine
with ties to New Jersey killed in Iraq since the war began.
Sherman, who enlisted in 2003 and deployed to Iraq in October, was
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry
Division, based at Fort Lewis, Wash. The unit is one of the Army's
Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, so named for the new generation of
agile, armored vehicles the teams use.
In conversations with his family overseas and in letters home, he
expressed sympathy for the Iraqi people, particularly the children, with
whom he shared sweets and snacks sent from home.
The Rev. Brian T. Butch, the pastor at Holy Innocents, said Sherman's
view toward the Iraqis typified the man's character.
"Steve understood Jesus," Butch said. "He reached out and loved so
many people. He saw the darkness that enveloped Iraq, and he chose to
bring light to the darkness."
Sherman's sister said he brought light and laughter to family members as
well, engaging them with humor and inspiring them with his many
travels, whether it was camping in Canada, canoeing in some remote
waterway or studying for a semester at a college in Australia.
Sherman, who graduated in 2001 from the University of Oregon with a
degree in business administration, also lived for a time in the Cayman
Islands, where he managed a rental car franchise. To fulfill his interest in
outdoor survival, he completed an 80-day Outward Bound Excursion
survival training course.
"He did more in 27 years than most people do in one hundred," another
brother, Eddie Sherman, told mourners.
There were other interests: philosophy, sports, music. In tribute to
Sherman's obsession with The Grateful Dead, two uncles sang a rendition
of "Ripple," one of the band's best-known songs and one of Sherman's
favorites. Many in the funeral joined in.
Later, bagpipers played "Amazing Grace" as members of the Fort
Monmouth honor guard carried Sherman's flag-draped casket out of the
church. Mourners followed, lighted candles in hand.
Sherman, an Arlington, Va., native who moved to New Jersey when he
was 11, will be buried Monday in Arlington National Cemetery. In
addition to his brothers Danny and Eddie and his sister Caitlin, he is
survived by his mother, Bernadette Sherman, who lives in Neptune, and
his father, Richard W. Sherman, of Great Falls, Virginia.
Under an executive order signed by acting Governor Richard Codey,
flags flew at half staff at all state offices yesterday in honor of Sherman's
funeral.
"Sergeant Sherman served our nation with great ability, great bravery
and great patriotism," Codey said in a statement. "His dedication to his
country and his family makes him a hero to all of us."
Monmouth County soldier buried at Arlington
Published in the Asbury Park Press 02/15/05
By LEDYARD KING
An honor guard carries the coffin of Army Sgt. Stephen R. Sherman at
Arlington National Cemetery
Bernadette Sherman of Neptune touches the coffin at her son's funeral
Under a gray Valentine's Day sky, more than 150 friends and family
members said goodbye to Army Sergeant Stephen R. Sherman as the
Monmouth County soldier was laid to rest at Arlington National
Cemetery.
Sherman's mother, Bernadette, of Neptune and father, Richard, of Great
Falls, Virginia, received folded American flags as a tribute for his service.
Brigadier General Marvin K. McNamara presented three posthumous
medals, including a Bronze Star for valor. A 21-gun salute was followed
by a lone bugler playing taps during the half-hour service.
"It was very moving," said Richard Sherman, hours after the burial,
which was attended by former classmates and two injured soldiers from
his unit. "We're proud to have him buried close by. His wish was to be
buried there. He figured if he didn't make it, that was his due. We
honored that."
Sherman, 27, of Neptune, died on February 3, 2005, near Mosul in
northern Iraq when a homemade bomb hit the vehicle in which he was
riding. There have been more than 1,450 U.S. deaths in Iraq, and
Sherman was the 116th soldier killed in the Iraq war to be buried at
Arlington.
The oldest of four children, Sherman left Virginia when he was 11 and
moved to Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey. He later attended
Manasquan High and graduated from High Technology High School and
the University of Oregon.
Sherman joined the Army in April 2003. He was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis,
Washington.
In his eulogy at Monday's funeral, Richard Sherman talked about how
much his son meant to those around him.
"He was a hero to all of us for his service and his sacrifice, but he was a
hero to his family and friends long before he met his tragic end in a
foreign land," he told mourners. "He was a good soldier, but he was a lot
more than that. He was a great guy, one of the good guys we all like to
know and want to have be a part of our lives."
In his last phone call home, Sherman, who had lived in Neptune the past
four years, told his mother he hoped his unit might come home in
September.
"He closed, as always, by saying, "Don't worry Mom, I'm OK. I love you
and remember, please don't watch the news,' " his mother wrote in a
recent e-mail to the Asbury Park Press.
Leaning on a cane, Howard Tucker watched somberly from a distance as
the casket of his step-grandson was prepared for interment amid the
dignified rows of white gravestones.
"If I was killed," the Alexandria, Virginia, resident said, "I would want
to be buried here."
16 February 2005:
Under the gray monotony of a weeping sky, Army Sergeant Stephen
Sherman was buried in a silver casket at Arlington National Cemetery on
Monday. It was Valentine's Day.
Sherman was killed in action in Mosul, Iraq, on February 3, 2005, when
an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded under his Army Stryker
vehicle.
Just before his funeral began at 1 p.m., another sergeant from "1-5
Bobcat, Charlie Company, Headquarters Platoon," Sherman's Army
Stryker unit, presented his mother, Bernadette Sherman, with the dog
tags Sherman was wearing when he died.
Sergeant Michael Buyas had lost both legs on December 23, 2004,
"Christmas Eve eve," also when an IED exploded beneath his Stryker
vehicle. "I was blown up from the bottom of the Stryker, as far as I can
surmise," Buyas said.
He was ejected from the vehicle and lost both legs-one above the knee.
But "I remember nothing" before waking up at Walter Reed Hospital on
New Year's Eve, where he is now in rehabilitation, Buyas said.
The IEDs that struck both Strykers were probably mixed from plastic
explosives and rocket fuel, a concoction that made his job in Iraq much
more difficult, Buyas said.
At first, he said, "I felt invincible" in his Army Stryker.
"My whole time in Iraq was a bunch of near misses. I was feeling pretty
invincible. No one ever hit us." But then the enemy "started loading
bigger IEDs."
Sherman was the first fatality in their Stryker unit, Buyas said. "I was
with him for a long time before we came to Iraq," said Buyas, now
recovering at Walter Reed Hospital.
He described Sherman as "a great guy, very intelligent and very smart.
He was a good soldier, too. He got his E5 very, very fast, 19 months. Less
than two years. We couldn't think of one person that didn't like Steve
Sherman," Buyas said.
"I wish he could have made it. He could have come and saw us, and we
could have helped him heal up.
"He definitely did not deserve to die, that's for sure. He was a good
soldier, a good buddy, a good friend."
Buyas watched from a wheelchair pushed by his wife, Carrie, as six
soldiers in dress uniforms removed Sherman's casket from the hearse and
the Army band played the "Going Home" theme from Dvorak's "New
World" symphony.
About 150 mourners walked silently, some carrying umbrellas, others
allowing cold raindrops to fall on their faces. Later, as a 21-gun salute
sounded and Sergeant First Class Christian Hinkle of Mt. Airy, North
Carolina, played "Taps" on his bugle, raindrops mixed with tears.
Father Brian T. Butch, parish priest from Holy Innocents Catholic
Church in Neptune, N.J., and a graduate of George Mason University,
conducted the service.
Deacon Lee Trammell of St. Michael's in West End, New Jersey, offered
a prayer for the hungry and impoverished people in the world,
"especially the Iraqi children who Stephen loved so dearly."
In his eulogy, Dick Sherman of Great Falls recalled his son's self-effacing
manner and love for popular culture icons such as Will Ferrell of
"Saturday Night Live." The younger Sherman loved music, played guitar
and made CDs to help his father appreciate contemporary music.
But, if his son could speak, he would say, "Don't make such a fuss over
me," Dick Sherman said.
His mother, Bernadette Sherman, received the folded American flag from
her son's casket that had been protected from the rain with clear plastic
until it was placed under cover at graveside.
Then, Sgt. John Nash, of Florida, touched Sherman's coffin with one
corner of a second flag that was folded into a triangle; it was presented to
the soldier's father.
Posthumous Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts were presented to
Sherman's parents, and an Army general expressed condolences.
In keeping with tradition, an unidentified "Arlington lady," the wife or
widow of a military person who represents the chief of staff "and the
Army family," spoke to each of the parents before she was escorted away
by a uniformed officer.
The lengthy funeral procession had crept along Bradley Drive to York
Drive where a newly opened section of graves has marble markers with
the inscription, "Operation Iraqi Freedom."
One grave was also adorned with a small white ceramic tile with a child's
handprint in pink: "A person's spirit lives as long as someone is alive that
remembers him. I love you, Daddy," read the inscription by Mallory
Hugger. Her father, 26-year-old Staff Sgt. Jamie L. Hugger, died on Oct.
26, 2003.
After the mourners left, one tall slender figure in a navy overcoat with
brass buttons moved slowly from one marker to the next, reading each
name.
Lt. Matthew Bovia, a Navy helicopter pilot from Manasquan, N.J., is
stationed in Norfolk but drove to Arlington Cemetery on Monday to
attend Sherman's funeral. His hometown is near Sherman's home in
Neptune, and he came after his mother e-mailed him the news that a man
from their area had died in Iraq.
"It is my way of saying 'thank you' and paying my respects," said Bovia,
who just returned from his first tours of duty in the Persian Gulf and is
"up for the second."
He observed that the dates engraved on the grave markers are "so recent,
especially their birth dates," Bovia said. But visiting the graves, he said,
gives him "a distinct sense of pride and thankfulness for what they've
done."
Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth L. Kerr, Arlington's senior Army chaplain,
said a military burial with honors in Arlington National Cemetery has
honored the nation's fallen patriots for 150 years. "It is because of their
sacrifice that we are, and remain, free," he said.
As Sherman was laid to rest, two other funerals were under way nearby.
Army drummers marched to one of the graves; a caisson pulled by white
horses led mourners to the other.
But both those funerals marked the endings of long lives, fully lived, Kerr
said. "When someone is 25 years old, they are part of that defense of
freedom, but it is just so tragic, every time," he said.
17 February 2005:
NEPTUNE — Several hundred mourners filed into The Church of the
Holy Innocents, here, last Friday to pay their respects to Army Sergeant
Stephen Sherman, who was killed in Mosul, Iraq when insurgents
assaulted his armored vehicle with an explosive device on February 3,
2005.
While news of the 27-year-old's untimely death sent friends and relatives
into shock, it also triggered some of their own special memories of the
former Spring Lake Heights resident, who, by all accounts, was a person
full of life and love.
During Friday night's Mass of Christian Burial at the Roman Catholic
Church, Sereant Sherman’s younger siblings shared their memories,
which described him as a jovial, polite role model for those close to him.
“Steve did more in 27 years than others do in 100,” his brother Eddie
Sherman said. “Stephen was a confident, strong man who found a way to
get the job done.”
As a testament to Sgt. Sherman’s zest for life, Eddie spoke of their canoe
trip to Canada several years ago. There, his older brother had carried a
canoe by himself for miles over rugged terrain while others had lagged
behind.
The whole time, Eddie said, he was in disbelief of how far his brother had
carried that canoe without any help.
“He was my hero before he put on the uniform,” brother Danny Sherman
said. “He showed me the thirst of life and how he always kept an open
mind. He never left by quitting and never burned any bridges.”
As Sgt. Sherman’s siblings eulogized him, there were stories of funny
moments as well, helping immediate family, friends and relatives get
through an otherwise somber evening.
Sgt. Sherman’s sister, Caitlin, whose voice was shaky at moments as she
fought back tears, recalled her brother as a role model who helped her
with her homework and was the man of the house.
“When he was 10 years old, he was the man of the house. He was so good
to my mom,” Caitlin said.
At that time, their parents Bernadette and Richard Sherman divorced,
leaving Sgt. Sherman the oldest male in the home.
“Stephen would always set the highest standard for all three of us,” she
said.
“I hope I learned enough from you to make you proud of me,” Caitlin
said to her brother.
Sergeant Sherman was born in Arlington, Virginia, and had lived a good
portion of his childhood, beginning at the age of 11, in the Spring Lake
Heights community.
He attended the local elementary school and Manasquan High School,
eventually transferring to High Technology High School his sophomore
year.
Sergeant Sherman also played on various sports teams while living in
Spring Lake Heights.
After graduating high school, he was accepted to the University of
Oregon and graduated with a business degree in 2001.
He then enlisted in the Army in April 2003 and completed basic and
advanced individual training as a Chemical Operations Specialist soldier
at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, that October, before being assigned to
the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division out of
Fort Lewis, Washington.
He deployed to Iraq from Fort Lewis with his unit in October 2004.
Parents and friends were all proud of his devotion and service to the
military.
“He chose to bring light into a place of great darkness,” Reverend Brian
Butch said referring to Sgt. Sherman’s service in Iraq. “He is truly a
hero.”
He added how Stephen had expressed a desire to extend some good will to
the Iraqi children.
Reverend Butch said he wondered what Sergeant Sherman would have
said if he had the opportunity to say goodbye to family and friends.
The reverend said if Sgt. Sherman had the chance to speak to his family
and friends again, he believes he would express his love to his entire
family and faith to Jesus Christ. The reverend added that Sgt. Sherman
would have wished that one day in the future there is peace in the world.
“He also would have said, ‘Jesus is a Grateful Dead fan,’” the reverend
added, drawing smiles and chuckles from those who knew Sgt. Sherman
well and knew his passion for music was rooted in The Grateful Dead.
Toward the close of the Mass, his two uncles, Tim and Terry Wildeman,
played one of the band’s more famous tunes, “Ripple” on their acoustic
guitars while those in attendance sang along.
After a moving performance of “Amazing Grace” came a difficult
moment for many.
While the members of the Fort Monmouth honor guard carried Sergeant
Sherman's flag-draped casket slowly down the center aisle and out the
church to the awaiting hearse, people embraced each-other with hugs and
whispers of comforting words.
The candlelight vigil followed Sergeant Sherman’s casket outside after
the ceremony, where mourners comforted each other and tried to express
their feelings of sorrow to family members.
Moments later the hearse escorted Sergeant Sherman away from the light
of the candles and into the darkness of night, as the hero continued on his
final journey to Arlington National Cemetery.
That day, acting New Jersey Governor Richard Codey had ordered all
state offices and departments to fly their flags at half-staff in honor of
Sergeant Sherman.
“Sgt. Sherman served our nation with great ability, great bravery and
great patriotism,” said acting Governor Codey. “His dedication to his
country and his family makes him a hero to all of us. We honor his
memory by flying our flags at half-staff. We will keep him and his family
in our thoughts and prayers.”
Sergeant Sherman was buried in Arlington on Monday.
“He was a rock for me and his mother in good times and in bad,” his
father said while delivering his graveside eulogy. “He was a great
inspiration for his brothers and sisters, he showed them strength and
courage, and taught them how to expand and enjoy life and reach out and
chase their dreams.”
“Steve's physical presence will be missed, but a part of him will live on
forever in all those he met and inspired. In living his life he earned our
deepest respect, and he will be remembered always with much love,
honor and admiration,” Mr. Sherman said.
Bernadette Sherman touches the coffin of her son Stephen, the 116th soldier killed in Operation
Iraqi
Freedom to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery
SHERMAN, STEPHEN RICHARD
SGT US ARMY
DATE OF BIRTH: 07/16/1977
DATE OF DEATH: 02/03/2005
BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 8097
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Photo Courtesy of Holly, August 2005
Posted: 8 February 2005 Updated: 10 February 2005 Updated: 12 February 2005 Updated: 15
February 2005 Updated: 16 February 2005
Updated: 17 February 2005 Updated: 21 August 2005 Updated: 8 September 2005 Updated: 5
October 2005
Stephen R. Sherman lived for adventure: He scaled the rocks of Arizona, rafted the
rivers of Colorado and sky-dived above a glacier in New Zealand. He headed west for
college and spent a semester in Australia before moving to the Cayman Islands to
manage a rental car agency. "He just liked to go far away," said his father, Richard
Sherman. "Oregon wasn't far enough, so he went to Australia." Sherman, 27, of
Neptune, N.J., was killed Feb. 3 by a homemade bomb that hit the armored Stryker
combat vehicle in which he was riding near Mosul. He was based at Fort Lewis.
Sherman graduated from the University of Oregon and joined the Army in 2003 to get
job skills and do some good, his father said. He talked of opening a restaurant with his
brothers or doing emergency relief work after completing his four-year commitment
to the military. In his calls home, Sherman told his parents not to read the news or
worry about him. "If he could talk to us now, he would likely say: 'Don't make such a
fuss over me. I had my time, and it was good,'" Richard Sherman said. "That was his
way."
Lance Cpl. Vincent M. Sullivan
Hometown: Chatham, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 23 years old
Died: July 23, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine
Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Incident: Killed by an enemy mortar round in Anbar province.
Last April, Erika Sullivan took a leap of faith and wrote to her one-time boyfriend in
Iraq, telling him how much she loved him. Across an ocean, Marine Lance Cpl. Vincent
M. Sullivan was doing the same thing at about the same time.
The letters passed in the mail, and after Vincent Sullivan returned from his first tour in
Iraq, the two were engaged. They celebrated their Dec. 27 wedding by going bowling
and planned to visit Hawaii for their honeymoon when he returned for good.
Sullivan, 23, of Chatham, N.J., died July 23 during a firefight in Anbar province. He was
based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Sullivan had worked for a Manhattan accounting firm
while taking classes at County College of Morris, said his mother, Susanne Sullivan.
He had toyed with the idea of joining the Marines before, but after Sept. 11, "he was
determined to do the right thing, join the Marines and fight," his mother said. "He was
there so that other people would not have to be, so that other people would not die,"
said his wife, Erika. "He was there because his instincts told him to be."
Lance Corporal Vincent Sullivan
SULLIVAN - Lance Corporal Vincent, of Jacksonville, N.C., formerly of Chatham, N.J., on Friday, July 23,
2004, beloved husband of Erika (nee Olsen), devoted son of Susanne (nee Rizzo) Sullivan, dear brother
of Brian Sullivan, devoted grandson of Marge Rizzo. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the
funeral services Sunday 1 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 40 So. Fullerton Ave., Montclair, N.J.
Interment Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Arneytown, N.J. Visitation
Saturday 6-9 p.m. at MADISON MEMORIAL HOME, 159 Main St., Madison, N.J.
Please omit flowers. Donations to the Intrepid Fallen Heros Fund, 1 Intrepid Square, West 46th Street
and 12th Avenue, N.Y., N.Y. 10036, Attn: Lisa Yaconiello, in his memory would be appreciated.
Spec. Anthony J. Dixon
Hometown: Lindenwold, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 20 years old
Died: August 1, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt,
Germany
Incident: Killed when a makeshift bomb exploded near their guard post in Samarra.
Army Spc. Anthony J. Dixon
20, of Lindenwold, N.J.; assigned to the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry
Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany; killed Aug. 1
when an improvised explosive device exploded near his guard post in
Samarra, Iraq.
•••••
N.J. soldier killed in Iraq
Associated Press
LINDENWOLD, N.J. — A southern New Jersey soldier whose best Army
buddy was killed in March by a roadside bomb in Iraq died in a similar
attack over the weekend.
Spc. Anthony J. Dixon, 20, of Lindenwold, was killed Sunday by a bomb
that exploded near his guard post in Samarra. He had enlisted at the same
time as his longtime friend, Adam Froehlich, 21, of Pine Hill. Froehlich, who
was serving in a different unit in Iraq, was killed in March.
Dixon’s family said he and Froehlich met when they were in junior high
school and remained close.
“Isn’t that ironic?” said Dixon’s brother, Alexander Dixon Jr.
Dixon, whose parents are both ordained ministers, was described by family
members as a high-spirited young man with a passion for fast cars. He had
been in Iraq since February.
“He died doing what he wanted to do and where he wanted to be,” said his
sister, Celesta Silvera.
Dixon joined the Army after graduating from Overbrook High School in
2002, hoping to raise money for college, learn new skills and fight for his
country. Family members said he hoped to become a police officer or
Secret Service agent when he left the service.
Dixon was a cavalry scout, assigned to the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st
Infantry Division. He had previously served in Germany, and was engaged
to be married to a woman living there, family members said.
They said he was last home at Christmas and was looking forward to the
mission in Iraq because it was a caused he believed in.
The daily e-mail and instant messages he sent home showed he was
Died:
August 01, 2004
conflicted after Froehlich died, but his spirits were better recently, his
brother said.
When Anthony J. Dixon was a teenager, his niece doubted he could climb a cell tower
behind his parents' home. Pretty soon, he was yelling down to her from the top of the
tower, several hundred feet high, "I made it!" He joined the Army in part to temper his
wild spirit, but it only went so far. While based in Schweinfurt, Germany, Dixon's
favorite pastime was driving rented BMWs on the autobahn. Dixon, 20, of Lindenwold,
N.J., died Aug. 1 when a bomb exploded near his guard post in Samarra. He and one of
his best friends, Adam Froehlich, enlisted in the Army together after graduating high
school in 2002. Froehlich was killed in March in an explosion in Baqouba, Iraq. In
Germany, Dixon met the woman he wanted to marry and the two hoped to tie the
knot in October. The youngest of five children, he hoped to work as a Secret Service
agent or a police officer like his older brother. Dixon is survived by his parents,
Alexander and Jacquelyn.
Anthony Joseph Dixon
DIXON - On Aug. 1, 2004, Specialist 4 Anthony Joseph, of Lindenwold, N.J., age 20 years, beloved son of
Alexander M. and Jacquelyn C. (nee Harris) Dixon of Lindenwold, survived by brother, Alexander Dixon
Jr., of Lindenwold, N.J., sisters, Kim (Derek) Dixon-Battle of Somerset, N.J., Celesta (Gerald) Silvera of
West Orange, N.J., Mary (Michael) DixonRinehart of Sicklerville, N.J., grandmother, Sarah Harris of
Newport News, Va., fiancee, Elis Deniz (Icoz) of Rothenburg, TBR Germany, and many loving nieces,
nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles. Anthony was serving in the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division B Troop
in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Born on April 6, 1984, Anthony attended Montclair Elementary Schools,
Gloucester County Christian School and Overbrook Regional High School. Anthony participated in many
sports, including soccer in Montclair, baseball in Lindenwold, and was a member of the Overbrook
Regional High School wrestling team. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the visitation on
Saturday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. followed by services 1 p.m. at Lindenwold High School, 801 Egg Harbor Rd.,
Lindenwold, N.J. 08021. Friends may gather Monday morning 9 a.m. for the procession to the cemetery
at The ORA L. WOOSTER FUNERAL HOME, 51 Park Blvd., Clementon, N.J. 08021. Interment Brigadier
General William C. Doyle Veterans Cemetery, Wrightstown, N.J. In lieu of flowers, the family requests
memorial donations to the Marantha Christian Mission Church, 63 White Horse Ave., Lindenwold, N.J.
08021, for a foundation to be set up for the Anthony Dixon Recreational Center.
Published in Star-Ledger on August 7, 2004
Capt. Michael Y. Tarlavsky
Hometown: Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 30 years old
Died: August 12, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, Fort Campbell, Ky.
Incident: Killed when his unit was attacked with small arms fire and grenades in Najaf.
Michael Yury Tarlavsky
Captain, United States Army
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 775-04
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug 13, 2004
Media Contact: Army Public Affairs - (703) 692-2000 Public/Industry
Contact: (703)428-0711
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier
who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom:
Captain Michael Yury Tarlavsky, 30, of Passaic, New Jersey, died
August 12, 2004, in Najaf, Iraq, when his unit came under small arms
fire and grenade attack. Tarlavsky was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th
Special Forces Group, from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The incident is under investigation.
For further information related to this release, please contact
Army Public Affairs at (703) 692-2000.
From a contemporary press reports:
From Latvia, with love of being a soldier
Ex-Clifton resident is killed in Iraq clash
Sunday, August 15, 2004
BY KATIE WANG
Courtesy of the New Jersey Star-Ledger
US Army Photo
At the age of 3, when Michael Yury Tarlavsky refused to eat his
dinner, his grandmother knew just how to change the stubborn boy's
mind.
"The only way to be a soldier is you have to eat to be big and strong,"
she said, according to Tarlavsky's younger sister Elina.
This worked like a charm for the young Tarlavsky, who even as a
child, had his sights set on joining the military one day.
Tarlavsky's dream came true when he enlisted in the U.S. Army after
graduating from Rutgers University in 1996. He rose to become a
Captain in the Special Forces and was shipped to Iraq last year.
The 30-year-old former Clifton resident was killed Thursday in the city
of Najaf. Tarlavsky is the 32nd soldier with New Jersey ties to die in
the war in Iraq.
The Department of Defense said Tarlavsky's unit, the 1st Battalion, 5th
Special Forces Group, came under small arms fire and a grenade
attack.
Tarlavsky was married and the father of a 10-month-old boy, Joseph
Michael, who lives in Clarkesville, Tennessee, near the Fort Campbell,
Kentucky, military base.
News of his death was so devastating that Elina Tarlavsky, 29, could
not bear to break the news to her parents, immigrants from the former
Soviet Union.
So she let the casualty officers deliver the news.
"Why did it have to happen to him?" asked Elina Tarlavsky, sitting in
her father's Passaic apartment yesterday afternoon.
A Yartzeit memorial candle, lit in accordance with Jewish customs of
mourning, and a shot glass filled to the rim with vodka ringed a
photograph of Tarlavsky dressed in uniform, propped on a coffee
table.
A shot of vodka is a Russian way of honoring soldiers who have been
killed, said Tarlavsky's father, Yury, who was a merchant marine in
the Soviet Union.
"It's difficult," said Yury Tarlavsky, 67, shaking his head slowly. "He
died for oil."
Tarlavsky was born in the Republic of Latvia, a part of the former
Soviet Union. His family moved to the United States in 1979 when he
was 5, settling first in New Orleans.
They moved to Clifton in July 1986, when the economy took a
downturn in Louisiana and Tarlavsky's mother lost her job.
Tarlavsky was an active child who always wanted to join the Army.
"The Army should give me something because he got all his training
from me," said Elina Tarlavsky, recalling numerous tussles that she
had with her only sibling.
Tarlavsky graduated from Clifton High School where he was captain
of the swim team. He attended Rutgers on a ROTC scholarship,
graduating with a degree in exercise science. He wanted to be a
physical therapist one day, Elina Tarlavsky said.
In February 2002, Tarlavsky married his wife, Tricia, an Army
Captain he met while visiting Hawaii. She shared his passion for
running marathons, scuba diving and rock climbing. The couple
settled in Tennessee.
Shortly after the marriage, he was shipped off to Afghanistan. In early
2003, he was deployed to Iraq for five months.
When he returned home, he delivered his first and only son in a
Kentucky hospital on September 23, 2003, with help from a doctor.
"There was a doctor right over his shoulder," said Elina Tarlavsky.
"He wanted the full experience."
Tarlavsky was shipped back to Iraq in July. The last time she heard
from her brother was Wednesday night when he sent her a belated
birthday greeting through instant messaging.
"How are you," she wrote back to him.
"As good as to be expected," he replied.
Tarlavsky was killed just hours later.
Funeral arrangements have not been made yet, but Elina Tarlavsky
said her brother wanted to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
"He did his job very good," said Yury Tarlavsky. "I'm very proud of
my boy for what he did for his country."
Soldier's Can-Do Approach to Life Recalled
Family and Friends Mourn Army Captain Slain in Iraq
By Karin Brulliard
Courtesy of the Washington Post
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Army Captain Michael Tarlavsky was 5-foot-7 and all muscle, a gentle,
driven, bulldog of a man. He wanted to become an Eagle Scout before
he was 18, and he did. He wanted to be a star swimmer in high school,
and he was. By the time he was 30, he had mastered rappelling, scuba
diving and triathlons -- and become a husband, father and a member
of the elite Special Forces.
He was, a longtime friend said, "like Superman."
Friends and family said that record of triumph made Tarlavsky's
death in Iraq on Aug. 12 especially shocking. Tarlavsky, of Passaic,
New Jersey, was killed when his unit came under small-arms fire and
grenade attack in Najaf. He was 30.
"He's always been a survivor; he'd always succeed," said childhood
friend Lenny Santiago, 28, of Daytona Beach, Florida. "I would never
expect this to happen to him."
Yesterday, family and friends gathered in the still, thick heat at
Arlington National Cemetery as the career soldier was laid to rest.
Among them were Tarlavsky's wife of two years, Tricia, and their
golden-haired son, Joseph Michael, 11 months old.
Tarlavsky would have no regrets, said his sister, Elina Tarlavsky, 29.
Though he was born in Latvia, he embraced the United States when
the family immigrated here in 1974 and he had long wanted to be a
soldier, she said. During the Persian Gulf War, she said, Tarlavsky was
unhappy that he was too young to enlist.
"He always said he couldn't be president because he wasn't born here,
but he could be a five-star general," she said.
An adrenaline junkie and avid outdoorsman, Tarlavsky loved the
military for its adventure and challenge, said Matt Pellettere, 31, of
Paterson, New Jersey, who met Tarlavsky and Santiago in the Boy
Scouts.
"Michael was always gung-ho," he said.
Tarlavsky attended Rutgers University on an ROTC scholarship and
joined the National Guard to help pay for school, Elina Tarlavsky said.
He graduated in 1996 with a degree in exercise science. Since receiving
his commission, he had completed tours in Korea, Hawaii, Afghanistan
and Iraq. Tarlavsky, a member of the 1st Battalion of the 5th Special
Forces Group at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was deployed to Iraq for a
second time in July, she said.
Tarlavsky had received several medals, including the Bronze Star. He
was awarded a Purple Heart posthumously.
He met his future wife in February 2001 while visiting Hawaii, where
she was serving in the Army. Though separated by oceans and
continents, the two courted while Tarlavsky completed training in
North Carolina and a tour in Afghanistan. A year after they met,
Tarlavsky called friends and family from Hawaii to invite them to a
beach wedding -- four days later.
Tarlavsky was elated when Joseph Michael was born in late 2003, and
he could not wait to scale mountains with his son, friends and family
said. When he was deployed last month, Elina Tarlavsky said, he was
eager, as usual, to fulfill his mission. But "this time was different . . .
because Joey was here," she said.
The night before he was killed, Tarlavsky and his sister instantmessaged each other. He told her that he was "as safe as could be
expected."
Yesterday, Tricia Tarlavsky sat under a cloudless sky with Tarlavsky's
parents, Yury and Rimma Tarlavsky, as Rabbi Stanley Skolnik of Beth
Shalom Reform Temple in Clifton, N.J., exhorted the soldier to "go
your way, and may God be with you."
Tricia Tarlavsky wiped away tears as the forlorn melody of taps
echoed across the cemetery. Later, when she was presented with the
folded U.S. flag, she clutched it close and caressed it softly.
Rimma and Yury Tarlavsky take part in the burial service for their son at Arlington National
Cemetery. Army Captain Michael Tarlavsky of Passaic, New Jersey, was killed during fighting
in Iraq on August 12, 2004. Courtesy of the Washington Post
TARLAVSKY, MICHAEL YURY
CPT US ARMY
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 08/12/1993 - 08/12/2004
DATE OF BIRTH: 05/10/1974
DATE OF DEATH: 08/12/2004
DATE OF INTERMENT: 08/24/2004
BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 7996
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Photo Courtesy of Holly, August 2005
Photos & Valentine's Day Remembrance By Holly February 2006
Webmaster: Michael Robert Patterson
Posted: 25 August 2004 Updated: 17 September 2004 Updated: 4 December 2004
Updated: 21 August 2005 Updated: 11 February 2006 Updared: 14 May 1008
Michael Tarlavsky relished the Army's rigorous physical training. It suited his frame _ 5
feet 7 inches of solid muscle _ and his idea of fun, which included running marathons.
"He loved everything about the military: the excitement, the adrenaline rush," said
Matt Pellettere, a close friend from childhood. Tarlavsky, 30, of Passaic, N.J., was killed
Aug. 12 during a raid in Najaf, Iraq. He was based at Fort Campbell, Ky. Tarlavsky
emigrated from Latvia with his family when he was 5. He was athletic even as a
teenager, serving as captain of his high school swim team. In 1996, Tarlavsky
graduated from Rutgers University, where he studied exercise science and was a ROTC
member. His sister, Elina Tarlavsky, said her brother wanted to be a soldier for as long
as she can remember. Their parents even tricked Tarlavsky into cleaning his plate by
reminding him that he needed to be strong if he wanted to be a soldier. "His goal was
to be a general, because he couldn't be president," Elina said. He is survived by his
wife, Tricia, and their 11-month-old son, Joseph Michael.
Spec. Yoe M. Aneiros
Hometown: Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 20 years old
Died: September 7, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Fort Riley,
Kan.
Incident: Killed when his vehicle was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades in Sadr
city.
Army Spc. Yoe M. Aneiros
20, of Newark, N.J.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored
Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; killed Sept. 7 when his patrol vehicle came under attack by
rocket-propelled grenades in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad.
New Jersey soldier killed in Iraq
Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. — An Army tank crew member has become the third Newark resident to be
killed in the war in Iraq.
Officials at Fort Riley, Kan., and the Department of Defense identified the soldier as Spc. Yoe
M. Aneiros, 20.
They said he died Tuesday when enemy troops attacked his patrol vehicle in Sadr city with
rocket-propelled grenades.
Aneiros served in the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division,
which deployed to Iraq in June. Aneiros also had served a tour in Iraq last year.
Fort Riley said he enlisted in the Army in September 2002.
“Yoe M. Aneiros was truly one of Newark’s best,” Newark Mayor Sharpe James said. “A leader,
patriot and role model, he served his city and his country with honor and valor in the U.S. Armed
Forces.
“He served and fought to protect our liberties and values, and sacrificed his life for them,” the
mayor said. “He is truly a hero in every sense of the word.”
Aneiros is the third Newark resident to be killed in Iraq. In June, Sgt. Humberto Timoteo, 25, a
New Jersey National Guardsman, was killed by a roadside bomb. In November, Army Sgt. Joel
Perez, 25, died when his helicopter was shot down.
One night in Iraq, pinned down in their fortifications, Yoe M. Aneiros and the other
soldiers in his unit got to talking. For some reason, the conversation drifted to kites.
Their staff sergeant confessed he'd never flown one. The next morning, when the
sergeant approached his men, up high in the desert sky fluttered a kite made from
some sticks, a plastic bag, and a length of string. Aneiros held it out to him. "I taught
him to be a soldier, and he taught me how to love," said Sgt. William Ruth. Aneiros, 20,
of Newark, N.J., died Sept. 7 _ his birthday _ in Baghdad when his vehicle came under
attack. He was stationed at Fort Riley. Aneiros came from Cuba along with his mother
seeking a better life, said Armando Aneiros, a relative. He enlisted in the Army in
September 2002 and relatives said he hoped to become a doctor. He was counting on
the military to help pay the way. "He was one of those guys who never have a 'no' for
you. He always had a smile on his face," said Armando Aneiros. He is survived by his
wife, Alexandra.
Yoe Manuel Aneiros
ANEIROS - Yoe Manuel, U.S. Army Specialist, 20, of Newark, on Sept. 7, 2004, at Sadr City, Iraq,
husband of Alexandra Aneiros, son of Manuel Aneiros and Clara Gonzales, stepson of Rafael
Virella, brother of Yoansi Aneiros and Geover Virella. Funeral services Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004,
at 11 a.m. at Holy Trinity Church, Perth Amboy, N.J. Interment will be in St. Gertrude Cemetery,
Colonia, N.J. Visitation Wednesday 7-9 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church, 315 Lawrie St., Perth Amboy.
Prayer service at 8:30 p.m. Contributions may be made to Holy Trinity Memorial Fund, c/o Flynn
Charities Program. Arrangements under the direction of FLYNN & SON FUNERAL HOME, 23 Ford
Ave., Fords. Published in Star-Ledger on September 14, 2004
Spec. Bryan L. Freeman
Hometown: Lumberton, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 31 years old
Died: November 8, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army Reserves, 443rd Civil Affairs, Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, Warwick, R.I.
Incident: Killed by a sniper while searching a vehicle in Baghdad.
Army Spc. Bryan L. Freeman
31, of Lumberton, N.J.; assigned to the 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion, Army Reserve,
Warwick, R.I.; died Nov. 8 of wounds sustained earlier that day when he came under
small-arms fire while conducting a vehicle search in Baghdad.
N.J. soldier killed in Iraq
Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. — An Army Reservist from Lumberton was killed Monday when he came under
fire while searching a vehicle in Baghdad, the Pentagon said.
Spc. Bryan L. Freeman, 31, was assigned to the 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve
special operations unit based in Warwick, R.I. Prior to his deployment to Iraq in September, he
served with the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion at Fort Dix.
Freeman was a 1991 graduate of Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, where
he was a member of the wrestling team.
He aspired to be a New Jersey state trooper and had completed the qualifying tests for the job
just before leaving for Iraq, his father, also named Bryan, told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill.
“He was everything that’s good in our young people today,” the father told Philadelphia’s WB17
News.
After graduating from high school, Freeman spent a year and a half in college before enlisting in
the Army in 1993. He left the Army in 1997 and joined the New Jersey Army National Guard
while working to complete his bachelor’s degree in law enforcement, which he earned from
Rowan University in 2001.
He came from a family with a strong military background. Both of his grandfathers were career
soldiers. One, James Freeman Sr., was a member of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, the
first African-American airborne unit.
Before being called back to active duty, Freeman worked as a clinical case manager with Family
Service of Burlington County, counseling people with substance abuse problems.
He was also a volunteer wrestling coach at his old high school.
“He was one of the most well-liked coaches out there,” coach John Godoy told the newspaper.
“All he would talk about was wrestling, the season and about the kids, on the back and forth
when he was in Iraq.”
Freeman is the 26th New Jersey service member to die in Iraq since the start of hostilities there
in March 2003.
Bryan Freeman came from a family of soldiers. Both of his grandfathers were in the military; one was a
member of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, the first African-American airborne unit. "My son
kind of looked up to my father," said his father, also named Bryan. Freeman, of Lumberton, N.J., died
Nov. 8 after being was shot while searching a vehicle at a checkpoint in Baghdad. He was part of a
special operations until based in Warwick, R.I. Freeman, 31, aspired to be a New Jersey state trooper
and had completed the qualifying tests for the job just before leaving for Iraq. "He was everything that's
good in our young people today," his father said. Freeman worked as a substance abuse counselor and
was a volunteer wrestling coach at his former high school. "He was one of the most well-liked coaches
out there," coach John Godoy said. "All he would talk about was wrestling, the season and about the
kids." Freeman is survived by his parents and fiancee, Jackie De Carlo.
Bryan L. Freeman Jr.
FREEMAN
BRYAN L., JR., son of Darlene and Bryan L. Freeman, Sr. and brother of Carlos and Dara, was born
February 20, 1973 in Chicago. He was raised in Burlington County and was educated in the Burlington,
Willingboro and Westampton School Districts and graduated from Rancocas Valley Regional H.S. in
1991. Bryan departed this life Monday, Nov. 8, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq, the victim of a sniper attack. At
the time of his death, he was attached to A Company, 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion, Warrick, Rhode
Island. Bryan leaves to cherish his memory: his mother, father and 2 siblings; his special friend Jackie
DeCarlo; his maternal grandmother, Dorothy Lee Leftwich; paternal grandparents, Mary Louise Freeman
and James Etroy Freeman; and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends and colleagues.
Family and friends are invited to attend Funeral Services Friday 11 A.M. at Tabernacle Baptist Church,
Burlington City, NJ. Viewing 9-11 A.M. There will also be a Viewing Thursday 5-8 at Tabernacle Baptist
Church, Burlington City, NJ. Interment will be at Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, NJ. Professional
Services and Ministry of Comfort entrusted to the MAY FUNERAL HOMES Camden, Pennsauken and
Willingboro. Expressions of sympathy may be sent through www.mayfuneralhomes.com.
Published in Philadelphia Inquirer & Philadelphia Daily News on November 15, 2004
Cpl. Marc T. Ryan
Hometown: Gloucester, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 25 years old
Died: November 15, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Incident: Killed during the U.S. assault on Fallujah.
When Marc Ryan volunteered to return to Iraq for a third combat tour, his family tried
to talk him out of it, but to no avail. "He said, `My brothers are dying out there, I've got
to do something,'" said his brother, Chris. Ryan, 25, of Gloucester, N.J., was killed Nov.
15 in fighting in Ramadi, Iraq. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Ryan was a star
athlete in high school, a linebacker and captain of the football team. He joined the
Marines after two years at Wesley College in Dover, Del., where he majored in
education. He planned to become a police officer. He was a third generation Marine
and enlisted to carry on the family tradition, his brother said. He was remembered as a
leader who was looked up to wherever he went. "He had unbelievable dedication,"
said his high school football coach, Leon Harris. "He was literally the first guy to arrive
and the last to leave."
Corporal Marc T. Ryan
RYAN CORPORAL MARC T. Suddenly and Tragically K.I.A, On
November 15, 2004. Age 25. Of Gloucester City. This Dedicated
Marine Corp Corporal gave his life for his country in Ramadi, Irag
he died serving his country with pride and honor. Loving and Proud
son of Former United States Marine Thomas E. Ryan and Linda
(nee Sharp). Beloved brother of Christopher D. Ryan (wife Khara) of
Gloucester City and Lauren D. Ryan of Haddon Heights.
Beloved maternal grandson of the late William J. (Former United States Marine)
and Barbara H. Sharp formerly of Gloucester City. Loving paternal grandson of
the late James M. and Ruth Ryan. Dear great-grandson of Delinda Gabriele of
Medford, NJ and Margaret Heitz of Sacramento, California. Loving
uncle of Laney, Justin and the late Logan T. Ryan. Sweetheart of Cathy
Cerminara of PA.
Adoring Nephew of Bryan D. and Tammy Sharp. Loving nephew of the late
Jack and James
Ryan and Rose McDonald. Dear Cousin of Jason, Bill, Jesse Sharp, Brenda, Tracy,
James Jr., Colleen, John, Kevin and Brian. Caring Nephew and god-son of
Joseph F. Ryan of Woodbury and Diane Hale of Swedesboro. Devoted family
friend of Sherry,
LesterIII,Codyand Marisa. Marc was born, raised in Gloucester City
and was a 1998 graduate of Gloucester City Jr./Sr. High School.
He was captain of the Gloucester City High School Football Team,
1997 All South Jersey Football Player, All Tri-County, All Group 2 First Team
and received the Larry Pusey Award from Gloucester City High School for
Courage. Marc was a weapons specialist for the United States Marine Corps a
nd served our country with pride, honor and courage. He is a hero to all and
foughtforthefreedomofthoselessfortunate.
Relatives, friends, United States Marines and residents of Gloucester City
are kindly invited to attend his viewing on Monday Evening from 5 to 9 pm
from Gloucester City Jr./Sr. High School: 1300 Market Street, Gloucester
City. On Tuesday afternoon all are invited to a celebration of his life and
ecumenical interfaith service at 1 pm directly from Saint Mary’s R.C.
Church: 426 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City. There will be no morning
viewing for the public. Entombment to follow with full military honors at
HarleighMausoleuminCamdenwithhislategrandparents.
Family requests that memorial donations be made in Marc’s memory
to “Marc T. Ryan Scholarship Fund For Special Needs Students:
1300 Market Street, Gloucester City, NJ 08030. Attn: Mr. Joseph Gorman.
Please make checks payable to Marc T. Ryan Scholarship Fund. Expressions
of sympathy can be e-mailed to the family through
www.mccannhealey.com. Funeral Arrangements and Inquires
may be made through: McCann-Healey Funeral Home: 851 Monmouth
Street, Gloucester City, NJ 08030
When Marc Ryan volunteered to return to Iraq for a third combat tour, his family tried
to talk him out of it, but to no avail. "He said, `My brothers are dying out there, I've got
to do something,'" said his brother, Chris. Ryan, 25, of Gloucester, N.J., was killed Nov.
15 in fighting in Ramadi, Iraq. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Ryan was a star
athlete in high school, a linebacker and captain of the football team. He joined the
Marines after two years at Wesley College in Dover, Del., where he majored in
education. He planned to become a police officer. He was a third generation Marine
and enlisted to carry on the family tradition, his brother said. He was remembered as a
leader who was looked up to wherever he went. "He had unbelievable dedication,"
said his high school football coach, Leon Harris. "He was literally the first guy to arrive
and the last to leave."
Corporal Marc T. Ryan
RYAN CORPORAL MARC T. Suddenly and Tragically K.I.A, On
November 15, 2004. Age 25. Of Gloucester City. This Dedicated
Marine Corp Corporal gave his life for his country in Ramadi, Irag
he died serving his country with pride and honor. Loving and
Proud son of Former United States Marine Thomas E. Ryan and
Linda (nee Sharp). Beloved brother of Christopher D. Ryan (wife
Khara) of Gloucester City and Lauren D. Ryan of Haddon Heights.
Beloved maternal grandson of the late William J. (Former United
States Marine) and Barbara H. Sharp formerly of Gloucester City.
Loving paternal grandson of the late James M. and Ruth Ryan. Dear great-grandson
of Delinda Gabriele of Medford, NJ and Margaret Heitz of Sacramento, California.
Loving uncle of Laney, Justin and the late Logan T. Ryan. Sweetheart of Cathy
Cerminara of PA. Adoring Nephew of Bryan D. and Tammy Sharp. Loving nephew of
the late Jack and James Ryan and Rose McDonald. Dear Cousin of Jason, Bill, Jesse
Sharp, Brenda, Tracy, James Jr., Colleen, John, Kevin and Brian. Caring Nephew
and god-son of Joseph F. Ryan of Woodbury and Diane Hale of Swedesboro.
Devoted
family
friend
of
Sherry,
Lester
III,
Cody
and
Marisa.
Marc was born, raised in Gloucester City and was a 1998 graduate of Gloucester
City Jr./Sr. High School. He was captain of the Gloucester City High School Football
Team, 1997 All South Jersey Football Player, All Tri-County, All Group 2 First Team
and received the Larry Pusey Award from Gloucester City High School for Courage.
Marc was a weapons specialist for the United States Marine Corps and served our
country with pride, honor and courage. He is a hero to all and fought for the
freedom
of
those
less
fortunate.
Relatives, friends, United States Marines and residents of Gloucester City are kindly
invited to attend his viewing on Monday Evening from 5 to 9 pm from Gloucester
City Jr./Sr. High School: 1300 Market Street, Gloucester City. On Tuesday
afternoon all are invited to a celebration of his life and ecumenical interfaith service
at 1 pm directly from Saint Mary’s R.C. Church: 426 Monmouth Street, Gloucester
City. There will be no morning viewing for the public. Entombment to follow with
full military honors at Harleigh Mausoleum in Camden with his late grandparents.
Family requests that memorial donations be made in Marc’s memory to “Marc T.
Ryan Scholarship Fund For Special Needs Students: 1300 Market Street, Gloucester
City, NJ 08030. Attn: Mr. Joseph Gorman. Please make checks payable to Marc T.
Ryan Scholarship Fund. Expressions of sympathy can be e-mailed to the family
through www.mccannhealey.com. Funeral Arrangements and Inquires may be
made through: McCann-Healey Funeral Home: 851 Monmouth Street, Gloucester
City, NJ 08030
Pfc. Stephen C. Benish
Hometown: Clark, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 20 years old
Died: November 28, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd
Infantry Division, Camp Howze, South Korea
Incident: Killed during an attack on their unit while on patrol in Ramadi.
When Stephen C. Benish went to Iraq, his mentors at a local fire department took up a
collection to ship him necessities such as toilet paper, soap, shampoo _ and cigars.
"Being out in the field and not having any luxuries was tough," said Cranford, N.J., Fire
Chief Leonard Dolan. "He was looking forward to getting out and coming back and
being able to tell us about all of his adventures." Benish, 20, of Clark, N.J., died Nov. 28
in hostile fire while on a foot patrol. He was stationed at Camp Howze, Korea. Benish
was inspired to join the service by his mentors in the fire department after the Sept.
11 attacks, his mother said. In high school, the 6-foot-7 Benish wrestled and studied
electrical engineering through a county program. His senior-year English teacher, Kurt
Epps, said Benish "always had a smile on his face and he never let things get him down
for too long." He is survived by his parents, Candy and Stephen J. Benish.
Stephen C. Benish
BENISH - Stephen C., of Clark, on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2004, devoted son of Mr. Stephen J. Benish of Linden
and Mrs. Candy S. Benish of Charlotte, N.C., beloved brother of Ms. Kelly S. Benish of North Carolina,
cherished grandson of Mrs. Gwen Nellis of Clark and Mrs. Helen Benish of Linden, dearest nephew of
Mr. Scott and Mrs. Donna Nellis of Clark and Mrs. Ruth Fournier of Linden, dear cousin of Mr. Edward S.
Fournier of Linden, Mrs. Sandra J. Kozlosky of Allentown, Mr. Joseph Montefusco of Brick and Ms.
Meagan C. Nellis of Clark. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend the funeral from The
WALTER J. JOHNSON FUNERAL HOME, 803 Raritan Road, Clark, on Monday, Dec. 6, at 8:45 a.m., thence
to St. Agnes R.C. Church, Clark, where a Funeral Mass will be offered at 9:45 a.m. Interment will be in St.
Gertrude Cemetery, Colonia. Visiting hours will be on Sunday 2-4 and 7-9 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his name can be made to the Explorer Post, c/o Cranford Fire
Department, 7 Springfield Ave., Cranford, N.J. 07016.
Published in Star-Ledger on December 4, 2004
Spec. David P. Mahlenbrock
Hometown: Maple Shade, New Jersey, U.S.
Age: 20 years old
Died: December 3, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks,
Hawaii
Incident: Killed by a makeshift bomb while clearing a route in Kirkuk.
David Mahlenbrock promised his wife, Melissa, that he would come home alive. It was the only promise
to her he ever broke, she said. "I just want everyone to know what kind of man he was," she said. "He was
one of the best men I ever met in my entire life." Mahlenbrock, 20, of Maple Shade, N.J., died in a car
bomb attack on Dec. 3. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Mahlenbrock and his wife
began dating when they were 14. He wrestled and played football in high school and intended to have a
career in the military, said his father, Russell Mahlenbrock. Mahlenbrock was sent to Iraq in January, just
a few days before Melissa learned she was pregnant with the couple's daughter, Kadence. Mahlenbrock
saw Kadence when he was home in September. Chris' younger brother Andrew, 16, and his friends held a
candlelight vigil. Andrew said he intends to enlist as well: "I want to do my duty," he said.
David Paul Mahlenbrock
Specialist, United States Army
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 1253-04
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 6, 2004
Media Contact: Army Public Affairs - (703) 692-2000 Public/Industry Contact:
(703)428-0711
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who
was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock, 20, of Maple Shade, New Jersey, died
December 3, 2004 in Kirkuk, Iraq, when he was clearing a route and an
improvised explosive device detonated. Mahlenbrock was assigned to the
65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield
Barracks, Hawaii.
For further information related to this release, contact Army Public
Affairs at (703) 692-2000.
Services set for soldier killed in Iraq
By PAUL LEAKAN AND DANIELLE CAMILLI
Courtesy of the Burlington County Times
9 December 2004
MAPLE SHADE, NEW JERSEY - Funeral services for U.S. Army
Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock, who was killed in Iraq on Friday, will be
held here Sunday and Monday before the township native is laid to rest
Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Family and friends may call Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. at the InglesbyGivnish Funeral Home, 600 E. Main St. in Maple Shade. Services will be
held at 11 a.m. Monday at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 26 Forklanding
Road.
Mahlenbrock will be buried with full military honors at Arlington
National Cemetery on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Mahlenbrock, 20, was killed when an improvised explosive device
detonated while he was clearing a route in Iraq, according to the U.S.
Department of Defense.
A graduate of Maple Shade High School, Mahlenbrock was a combat
engineer who cleared roads and swept mines with the Army's 65th
Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. He was stationed at Schofield
Barracks in Hawaii.
Mahlenbrock leaves behind his wife, Melissa, and their 10-week-old
daughter, Kadence.
He is also survived by his father, Russell Mahlenbrock; brothers Chris,
Andrew and Darek; and his stepmother, Elizabeth.
The Maple Shade Veterans of Foreign War Post 2445 will pay tribute to
Mahlenbrock by serving as an honor guard at the services, said John
Radie, past post commander. The U.S. Army also will provide an honor
guard.
"We are doing whatever we can for the family," Radie said yesterday. "He
was a vet and he was overseas serving his country when he was killed. He
died too young and we want to give him full military honors."
Soldiers' Angels, a Nevada-based nonprofit organization that seeks to
support U.S. military personnel and their families, is still attempting to
convince country music star Toby Keith to personally sing "American
Soldier" during Mahlenbrock's funeral.
Mahlenbrock requested that the song be played during his funeral in a
letter he wrote to his fellow squad members July 1, 2004.
Viktoria Carter, director of public relations for Soldiers' Angels, said she
has been in contact with Keith's managers about the proposal.
Carter said she and other members of Soldiers' Angels have already begun
calling country-and-western radio stations in various parts of the United
States to request that they play "American Soldier" at 1 p.m. Wednes-day.
The song would be dedicated to Mahlenbrock.
"This family story has touched so many different people," Carter said.
"...There's a lot of people rooting for this family."
Condolences may be sent to the family in care of the Inglesby-Givnish
Funeral Home.
Contributions may be made to: Maple Shade High School, David
Mahlenbrock Memorial Fund, 180 Fredrick Ave., Maple Shade, N.J.
08052.
11 December 2004:
MAPLE SHADE, NEW JERSEY - A candlelight vigil in memory of
hometown hero U.S. Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock is scheduled
tonight at 7 at the municipal complex on Stiles Avenue.
Mahlenbrock, 20, died December 3, 2004, in Iraq when a roadside bomb
detonated while he was clearing a route in the city of Kirkuk.
He was a combat engineer with the 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry
Division based in Hawaii and had been in Iraq since January.
Mahlenbrock grew up in the township and was a 2002 graduate of Maple
Shade High School. His father and three brothers still live in Maple Shade.
"The vigil really was spontaneous," Township Manager George Haeuber
said yesterday. "The members of Township Council really wanted to
recognize David Mahlen-brock as a resident who contributed to his
community and his country."
He said candles would be provided.
Meanwhile, Soldiers' Angels, a Nevada-based nonprofit organization that
supports U.S. military personnel and their families, was unable to convince
country music star Toby Keith to personally sing "American Soldier"
during Mahlen-brock's funeral.
Mahlenbrock requested that the song be played during his funeral in a
letter he wrote to his fellow squad members July 1.
Tami Kimball, media director for Soldiers' Angels, said Keith's managers
said the singer sets aside this time of the year to spend with his family.
Services for Mahlenbrock will be held in Maple Shade tomorrow and
Monday before the soldier is laid to rest Wednesday at Arlington National
Cemetery in Virginia.
Family and friends may call tomorrow from 5 to 9 p.m. at InglesbyGivnish Funeral Home, 600 E. Main St., Maple Shade. Services are
scheduled at 11 a.m. Monday at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 26
Forklanding Road.
Mahlenbrock will be buried with full military honors at Arlington
National Cemetery at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Condolences may be sent to the family in care of Inglesby-Givnish Funeral
Home.
Contributions may be made to: Maple Shade High School, David
Mahlenbrock Memorial Fund, 180 Fredrick Ave., Maple Shade, NJ 08052.
13 December 2004:
Fallen Army veteran remembered
By JASON HARRIS
Courtesy of the Burlington County Times
MAPLE SHADE, NEW JERSEY - Friends and family of fallen Army
Specialist David Mahlenbrock gathered last night at a funeral home to
remember a man who one mourner said "would do anything for you."
"There wasn't a bad bone in his body," said township resident Ron Socha,
22, who was on the wrestling team with Mahlenbrock when they attended
Maple Shade High School.
Mahlenbrock, a 20-year-old combat engineer with the Army's 65th
Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, died December 3, 2004, when
an improvised explosive device exploded while he was clearing a road in
Kirkuk, Iraq.
Mourners passed through Inglesby-Givnish Funeral Home last night,
paying their final respects to the fallen serviceman.
Gina Capate, 33, of Maple Shade said one of her sisters dates one of
Mahlenbrock's best friends, a Marine stationed in Iraq. Her youngest
sister, Brittani Capate, 13, said Mahlenbrock would come back to their
house on Halloween, and the two would trade candy.
"He was a guy who would do anything for you," Gina Capate said. "He
just a kind-hearted person."
Mahlenbrock's funeral service will be at 11 a.m. today at Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, 26 Forklanding Road, Maple Shade. The Maple Shade
Veterans of Foreign War Post 2445 will serve as honor guard at the
funeral, and the Army also will provide an honor guard.
Mahlenbrock will be buried with full military honors at 10 a.m.
Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
Contributions may be made to: Maple Shade High School, David
Mahlenbrock Memorial Fund, 180 Fredrick Ave., Maple Shade, NJ 08052.
14 December 2004:
Army Specialist David Mahlenbrock’s brother Christopher, a 21-year-old reservist in Willow
Grove, comforts Pennsauken friend Renee Skotnicki, 21, at Mahlenbrock’s funeral in Maple
Shade.
Family tearfully fulfills Army soldier's last wishes
By Jennifer Moroz
Courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer
Army Specialist David Mahlenbrock had a special request should he die in
the line of duty. In a letter to his fellow soldiers in July, the young combat
engineer asked that Toby Keith's song "American Soldier" be played at
his funeral.
It was a wish no one ever wanted to contemplate.
Yesterday his family tearfully granted it.
Keith's song echoed through Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Mahlenbrock's native Maple Shade, a sound track to the life that
hundreds gathered to remember.
And I will always do my duty no matter what the price
I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice
Oh, and I don't want to die for you
But if dyin's asked of me
I'll bear that cross with honor
'Cause freedom don't come free.
The words couldn't drown out the heaving sobs that filled the Burlington
County church as family, friends and strangers mourned the death of a
young soldier, husband and father.
Mahlenbrock, 20, whose job was clearing routes to ensure the safe passage
of fellow soldiers, died December 3, 2004, when a bomb detonated near his
humvee just outside Kirkuk, Iraq.
Yesterday, as Mahlenbrock's song played, his older brother, Christopher,
21, an Army reservist who helped carry the flag-draped coffin, wrapped
his arm around younger brother Andrew, 16.
Mahlenbrock's 19-year-old widow, Melissa, cuddled his 11-week-old
daughter, Kadence, bundled in tiny black clothes in honor of a father
she'll never know.
In a music-filled ceremony punctuated by biblical readings, friends and
relatives remembered a man who gave everything his all, from his days as
a scrappy football player and wrestler at Maple Shade High School to a
soldier fighting for his country. Mahlenbrock, who had joined the Army
after graduating in 2002 and left for Iraq in January, planned a career in
the military.
"Devotion... was written all over David's life," said the Rev. Carl E.
Joecks, church pastor.
But Mahlenbrock, Joecks said, was most devoted to his wife, whom he met
at age 14 and married last year. When she took a job at one point at the
Bed Bath & Beyond in Cherry Hill, Mahlenbrock would walk or jog the
seven-mile round trip just to be with her on her 30-minute lunch break.
When Mahlenbrock became a father in late September, he threw himself
into that role with equal passion. When he returned home on leave to see
Kadence, then about a week old, he couldn't put her down, Joecks said.
"He threw a lifetime of fatherly love into that two-week leave," the pastor
said.
Mahlenbrock would never get to meet his half-brother, Darek, born three
weeks ago.
Mahlenbrock always had an affect on those who met him, family and
friends said. He would do crazy things just to get someone to crack a smile,
Joecks said.
"I see the world in a different way," said Mahlenbrock's father, Russell,
choking up at the microphone. "David has changed me from the inside
out."
Christopher Mahlenbrock urged the teary crowd to spend time with their
families at Christmas, let them know they are loved. "Because you don't
know when they will leave, when they will be taken away from you," he
said.
David Mahlenbrock knew the possibility of death was real. He wrote the
July letter to his squad mates after a scare involving an explosive.
"If you are reading this, then I've died for our country," he wrote in the
letter, supplied by Soldiers' Angels, a nonprofit organization devoted to
providing aid and comfort to soldiers and their families. "I just hope it
wasn't for nothing."
In it, he asked that his wife get a few special items, including a dog tag
with the couple's picture and an American flag he kept in his left breast
pocket. And he asked that "American Soldier" be played at his funeral.
It was a request taken seriously by Soldiers' Angels, which tried but failed
to get country crooner Keith to sing at the service. Instead, it put out the
word to radio stations across the country to play the song at 1 p.m. EST
tomorrow, the day Mahlenbrock will be buried at Arlington National
Cemetery.
"If you can't get to a radio station, then play it or sing it," said Patti
Bader, founder of the group. "If all of America plays that song, that's
what he wanted."
He also wanted bagpipes, which accompanied his casket as it was carried
out of the church.
After the ceremony, Christopher Mahlenbrock, who works funeral honors
detail as a reservist with the 656th Area Support Group in Willow Grove,
led a salute to his brother. A white-gloved hand raised to his temple, he
solemnly stood as the silver hearse carrying the casket drove away.
Burying a brother would be enough to scare many away from a wartime
tour. But Mahlenbrock's brothers are even more resolute about pursuing
careers in the military.
"I don't want to go over there. No one wants to go over there,"
Christopher Mahlenbrock said. "But I feel it's my duty to go, to
understand what my brother went through."
Andrew said he still planned to serve four years in the Army, Navy or Air
Force, then go to college and join the reserve.
"I feel even more now that I should go into it, do my duty... and get some
payback," he said.
14 December 2004:
Services held for combat engineer
Hundreds mourn Maple Shade soldier
By JASON NARK
Cpurtesy of the Courier-Post
Melissa Mahlenbrock, the widow of Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock,
holds daughter Kadence outside Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
In his death, Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock taught his family,
friends and a small blue-collar town some life lessons.
Love, sacrifice, and faith were some of the lessons mentioned Monday as
hundreds gathered inside Holy Trinity Lutheran Church to honor
Mahlenbrock, a 20-year-old combat engineer who died with two other
soldiers Dec. 3 when a car bomb exploded near Kirkuk, Iraq.
As Mahlenbrock's 11-week-old daughter cried and cooed inside the
church, his father Russell spoke of how his son has humbled him.
"He has changed me," said Russell Mahlenbrock. "He is the teacher now
and I am the student."
Mahlenbrock, a former football player and wrestler at Maple Shade High
School, was the 10th soldier with ties to South Jersey to be killed in the
war on terror.
His brother, Chris Mahlenbrock, a 21-year-old Army reservist, spoke of
his brother's faith.
"He had more faith than anyone else I know," said Chris Mahlenbrock,
standing in full uniform at the church podium. "He believed in what he
was doing."
Mahlenbrock's love for his wife, Melissa, and daughter, Kadence,
however, was stronger than anything else in his life, said Pastor Carl
Joecks.
"His heart was her own," said Joecks of the high-school sweethearts.
Mahlenbrock met his daughter for the first time while home on leave in
October. In that short amount of time, he tried to cram in a lifetime's
worth of memories and experiences with her, including going to the zoo
and making DVDs of himself reading stories, Joecks said.
"It was almost as if he had a sense," said Joecks as many in the church
sobbed.
"He couldn't stop holding her."
Just a block from the heart of downtown Maple Shade, the pain in the
small church was felt by the entire town, Joecks said, but those same
mourners could use Mahlenbrock's life as inspiration.
"His life speaks more clearly than any sermon," said Joecks.
Senator Jon Corzine, D-New Jersey, was one of many lawmakers at
Mahlenbrock's funeral.
"He is a true hero to all of you," Corzine told the mourners. "He is a true
American hero."
Chris Mahlenbrock said he will honorably serve his country if called to
duty in Iraq.
"I know what could happen. I won't hesitate," said the eldest
Mahlenbrock, standing outside the church.
Another brother, Andrew Mahlenbrock, 16, also plans to enlist in the
Army.
As a blustery wind carried the sound of bagpipes outside, a single tear
dropped down the weathered face of Owen Vandvelt.
Vandvelt, a pallbearer and World War II veteran, was saddened by the
loss of such a young life.
"We thought we were fighting then to prevent more wars in the future,"
said Vandvelt, 80. "It really makes you wonder if anyone really wants
peace in this world."
Mahlenbrock will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,
Va., on Wednesday morning.
HOW TO HELP
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the David Mahlenbrock
Memorial Fund, c/o Maple Shade High School, 180 Frederick Ave., Maple
Shade 08052.
Fallen Soldier Leaves Behind Newborn Girl
N.J. Serviceman Buried At Arlington Called 'Sweet'
By Leef Smith
Courtesy of the Washington Post
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Army Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock was introduced to his newborn
daughter Kadence in September during a visit home to his native Maple
Shade, New Jersey.
Family members said the combat engineer did his best to make the short
visit with his firstborn memorable, taking her to the zoo and making
several DVDs of himself reading bedtime stories, according to news
reports.
Dozens gathered to mourn Army Specialist David Mahlenbrock of New Jersey at Arlington
National Cemetery. (Michael Robinson-chavez -- The Washington Post)
The DVDs will now endure as a precious memory for the 2-month-old,
whose father was buried yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery.
Mahlenbrock, 20, was killed December 3, 2004, in Kirkuk, Iraq. He was
clearing a route when a bomb planted by insurgents detonated. Two other
soldiers were injured in the attack.
Yesterday, Mahlenbrock's 19-year-old wife, Melissa, and his father,
Russell Mahlenbrock, were joined graveside by dozens of fellow mourners,
among them Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey. Mahlenbrock's
mother died two years ago.
He was the 106th service member killed in Iraq to be buried at Arlington.
"Today we come to lay to rest a true patriot," Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth
Kerr , an Army chaplain, told those gathered at Mahlenbrock's grave,
braced against the winter cold. "We are thankful for his service to our
nation. . . . There are no words that can take away our pain for a brother
in arms that has fallen in battle."
Mahlenbrock, who was assigned to the 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th
Infantry Division (Light) at the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, joined the
Army in 2002 after graduating from high school. He was deployed to Iraq
in January and had been overseas for nearly a year.
Mahlenbrock and his wife were just 9 years old when they met in grade
school in Maple Shade, according to news reports. By the time they were
14, Melissa told friends they were destined to be together, telling her
mother, "I'm going to marry him," according to wire service reports.
Friends described Mahlenbrock, who was a running back on the high
school football team and captain of the school's wrestling team, as "sweet"
and "optimistic."
But after a close call on the job in Iraq, Mahlenbrock wrote a letter to
some of his buddies detailing how several of his treasured possessions
should be distributed in the event of his death.
"If you're reading this, then I've died for our country," he wrote. "I just
hope it wasn't for nothing."
He specifically asked that his dog tags and an American flag he kept in his
pocket be given to his wife. He also asked that the Toby Keith song
"American Soldier" be played at his memorial service at Holy Trinity
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Maple Shade.
The soldier's brother Christopher Mahlenbrock, 21, an Army reservist,
was among the family members who spoke Monday at the service, urging
those gathered to be close to their loved ones this holiday season. "You
don't know when they will leave, when they will be taken away from you,"
he said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Yesterday, the Army gave Mahlenbrock's family the Bronze Star and the
Purple Heart he had been awarded posthumously.
Mourners left the cemetery to the sound of a bagpipe and the strains of
"Amazing Grace."
Fallen S.J. soldier buried at Arlington
MICAH WALKER
Courtesy of the Gannett News Service
16 December 2004
Army Specialist David Paul Mahlenbrock's casket is carried to his grave site on Wednesday.
As his 19-year-old widow, next-of-kin and friends looked on, Army
Specialist David Paul Mahlenbrock took his place Wednesday among the
nation's fallen war heroes, with his burial at the stately Arlington National
Cemetery.
Mahlenbrock, of Maple Shade, a combat engineer who cleared routes and
swept for mines, was killed with two other soldiers December 3, 2004,
when a car bomb exploded in Kirkuk, Iraq, north of Baghdad.
Army chaplain Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Kerr described Mahlenbrock,
20, as "a young man who answered the call of his nation . . . to defend
freedom. We are here to thank him for his service to the nation. We honor
him today for his sacrifice."
Kerr shared the Bible's hope for a resurrection and talked about how
Mahlenbrock felt the presence and pressure of the enemy, just as Israelite
King David did.
"I thought it was most amazing ceremony and I thought my husband got
everything that he deserved," said his widow, Melissa Mahlenbrock.
"I really feel honored to be able to have my husband there. He got buried
in the section for all active-duty soldiers who have passed. So, he's next to
all his brothers . . . and I think that's very beautiful," she said.
About three dozen family and friends attended the graveside service on a
cold and windy morning. Neatly lined rows of white marble headstones
provided a solemn backdrop.
Six pall bearers carried the flag-draped casket from a hearse to the grave
site. Mahlenbrock's widow, his father, Russell, and other relatives sat in
chairs draped with emerald green velvet during the 15-minute ceremony.
On bended knee, Major General James A. Cheatham presented two
American flags to Mahlenbrock's widow and father. Later, Secretary of
the Army Francis J. Harvey gently touched them both on the knee as he
passed by.
At the end of the ceremony, a seven-member firing party fired three
volleys into the air, and a lone bugler played "Taps."
Gary Cundiff of the Cherry Hill police department, played "Amazing
Grace" on bagpipes after the family received a card of condolence, which
was a message expressing sympathy for their loss, from the Army's chief of
staff.
Mahlenbrock was awarded posthumously the Bronze Star for heroic or
meritorious service and the Purple Heart Medal for being wounded in
combat.
Mahlenbrock was a former football running back and wrestling captain at
Maple Shade High School, where he graduated in June 2002. He was the
10th soldier with ties to South Jersey to be killed in the war on terror in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
He married his high school sweetheart, whom he met when he was 9, and
they have an 11-week-old girl, Kadence, whom he saw for the first time
when he visited home on leave in October.
MAHLENBROCK, DAVID PAUL
SPC US ARMY
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 12/03/1994 - 12/03/2004
DATE OF BIRTH: 04/02/1984
DATE OF DEATH: 12/03/2004
DATE OF INTERMENT: 12/15/2004
BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 8086
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Photo Courtesy of Holly, August 2005
Posted: 10 December 2004 Updated: 11 December 2004 Updated: 13 December 2004 Updated:
14 December 2004 Updated: 16 February 2004 Updated: 6 January 2005 Updated: 21 August
2005