53 posts tagged “honor the fallen”
Please open the youtube link in a seperate window and listen to the song as you read about Sgt John Penich~Forever Young, Always Missed, Never Forgotten.....
One Blood
Where the hills forever burn
At the feet of our heroes
We try hard to learn
But the lesson is lost there
In the smoke and the mud
That we are one flesh, one breath, one life, one blood
That ran red with shame
I stood in the killing fields
Where death had no name
I stood with my brothers
And away it flood
And we were one flesh, one breath, one life, one blood
Then I fell to the ground
Tasted ashes on my tongue
Thinking that only the dead
Are forever young
There was peace in the twilight
And for a moment among
It was a world without danger
A world without war
And I will take all your suffering
It will do any good
Cause we are one flesh, one breath, one life, one blood
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Sgt. John M Penich, U.S. Army, was killed on October 16, 2008 while serving our country in Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan. Sgt. Penich was assigned to Viper Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, as a light infantry rifleman. John had enlisted in the Army in March 2006 and was promoted to Sergeant in March 2008.
Sgt. Penich's awards include the Silver Star Medal, Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Bronze Star (Posthumous), Purple Heart Medal (Posthumous), the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal (third award), Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, the NATO-ISAF Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the Army Parachutist Badge, the Expert Infantry Badge, and the Combat Infantry Badge. Sgt. Penich was also awarded the Brigade Soldier of the Year award in 2007.
He will be greatly missed by all those whose lives he enriched!! He was a devoted son, brother, uncle, friend, and soldier.
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Richard Engel visits Sgt John Penich's mother on Dec 16 2008-
Report after Viper Co returns home, and the Memorial Poker Run to honor Sgt John M. Penich-
After witnessing the 2001 terror attacks, John M. Penich told his family he wanted to serve his country. But his career took a detour managing a hotel, a banquet hall and then a nightclub before enlisting.
"He kind of ignored his calling and bounced around," said his older brother Jeff Penich. "But he had no regrets of joining the Army. It was a calling to him in 2001, and it didn't catch up with him until later."
Penich, 25, of Beach Park, Ill., died Oct. 16 in Karangol Village of wounds suffered from indirect fire. He was a 2001 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Hood.
Penich enjoyed the outdoors, especially hunting, mountain biking, riding four-wheelers and Harleys, and playing paintball.
When sending care packages to him in Afghanistan, Jeff said his brother used to ask for things for his fellow soldiers.
"It was never 'I would like this.' Never, 'I want this.' It was always, 'What can I get for my guys?' He always put everyone before himself, including his country," Jeff said.
By Amanda Kim Stairrett Nov. 14, 2008
Killeen Daily Herald
"Did you get any new medals?" she asked once.
"Yeah," her son answered. "There should be a big one coming."
"What did you do to earn it?" Garross asked.
"You don't want to know," was the response. "Let me just tell you, I took care of business."
Garross never got to hear from her son just what he did to earn a Silver Star, the third-highest honor given to service members for valor. Sgt. John Penich died Oct. 16 in Karangol Village, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from indirect fire, according to information from the Defense Department.
It wasn't until after his death that Garross learned of her son's heroics. They were heroics that earned him a Silver Star and a Bronze Star Medal with Valor. They were heroics that, on multiple occasions, led Penich to save the lives of his brothers in arms.
Garross and Penich's father, James, received their son's Silver Star on Thursday following a memorial ceremony in his and three others' honor.
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Today's Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday September 26th is dedicated to the memory of father, husband and soldier, James "Tre" Ponder
Tre made the ultimate sacrifice for his brothers in arms on a rescue mission in eastern Afghanistan. The date was June 28, 2005. He was killed when his MH-47D helicopter was shot down by enemy fire on it's way to rescue a Navy SEAL team that had run in to trouble. He was a member of the Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR).
From his wife, Leslie Ponder:
Tre was in Afghanistan only to train his fellow soldiers, not to fly. But flying was him and when the opportunity arose for him to be on an aircraft and the QRF (the quick reactionary force), he jumped at the chance. His aircraft dropped off a SEAL team on the mountain and as always, promised those men that if they needed him, he would be there. And so when on June 28, 2005 there was a call for help Tre and his men quickly and without hesitation answered the call. That would be his last earthly mission....his helicopter was shot down by a RPG and all on board were killed. The hero that called for help was Lt. Mike Murphy...a soldier that was honored in the Empire State Challenge.
"Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13
Tre was born in Alabama on June 24, 1969 and he grew up in Franklin, TN. He graduated from Battle Ground Academy in 1987 and attended Auburn University. He married Leslie Miller in 1994, they were married in Franklin. Tre was a CH-47 Chinook crew chief and was accepted into 160 Special Operation Aviation Regiment in 1992, and stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY. He held various positions within the Regiment.
Tre was the proud father of Samantha (born 1997) and Elizabeth (born 1999)...Tre worshipped his girls. He called them and his wife "his three crazy girlz". His face would light up at the sight of Samantha and Elizabeth...his family was his everything.
His awards and decorations include: the Air Medal with Valorous device, the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Valorous Unit Award, the Army Superior Unit Award, the Good Conduct Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Overseas Service Ribbon. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal and an Air Medal with Valor device.
A Hunter Army Airfield hangar has a new name honoring the memory of an eight-person Night Stalker crew [including MSG James "Tre" Ponder] who died in combat on June 28, 2005. The 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) hangar, formerly known as Building 7902, is now named 'Turbine 33' after the aircraft crew's call sign. It was formally dedicated in a ceremony at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., on June 7
.
Known as the Night Stalkers, the 160th is an elite aviation unit deployed in nearly every conflict since Grenada in 1983 to transport Special Forces units around the world by night in specially modified helicopters. It specializes in flying over water and developed many flying techniques now standard to Army aviators.
The secretive unit was formed in 1981 following the botched rescue attempt of hostages in Iran. It was not until a decade later that the military acknowledged the unit existed.
Keep reading about Tre here.
Donations to Soldier Ride can be made by sponsoring TEAM TRE
To learn more about Soldier Ride and it's mission, click here.
"Nothing was going to stop him," said Joe Garcia, a family friend. "He wanted to join the Army at 17 and he wanted to fight for his country."
Joseph Gonzales Sr. spoke about his firstborn child as the family prepared to bury him in Tucson later in the week.
Gonzales Jr. and a fellow soldier were killed Saturday by an improvised explosive device in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan.
On Tuesday his remains were at Dover Air Force Base, awaiting a flight to Tucson. He will be buried at South Lawn Cemetery, 5401 S. Park Ave.
Gonzales Sr. said that whenever his elder son looked at the photograph of himself as a toddler in a miniature military uniform taken at a local mall, "he would say that was destiny for him."
As he trained at Fort Bragg, his father said, his affinity for his new fighting skills were reflected on his MySpace page:
One song title he posted, "Bullet With Your Name," by a group called Scars of Life, was typical, his father pointed out.
He considered his enlistment in the Army in Phoenix at age 17 his birthday gift to himself, his father said. Gonzales Sr. and his wife gave their permission so their son didn't have to wait another year.
Gonzales Sr. said his own brother served in Kuwait but that neither he nor Gonzales Jr.'s mother, Ana, wanted their son to go to war.
"We were trying to go the opposite way with him," he said. "But we couldn't stop it so we went with him" and supported his military commitment.
"After he saw the towers go down (on 9/11) it changed him alot," his father said. "It was payback time for him. That's what he wanted, to get ready for war."
Gonzales Sr. said the family's only remaining son, Jorge, 15, wants to join the miltary, too.
"He wants to do payback for his brother," Gonzales said.
Gonzales Jr. attended Sunnyside High School and played football for two years. At 16, he enrolled in a National Guard-operated school in Carefree.
He was a cadet there until his 17th birthday in March 2007.
"He wanted to go into the Marines. I didn't want him to," his father said. "I tried talking him into the Navy or Air Force, something farther away from (the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq)."
In the Army, he wanted to go to Army Airborne School, "but they didn't have any openings," Gonzale Sr. said. "They had an infantry spot, so he took that."
He trained in California for a July deployment in Operation Enduring Freedom.
He saw his family last on July 4th, when he visited in Tucson with his family and cousins.
Gonzales said his son had "an extremely large heart" and "would try to help the homeless out with money. If he had it, he would give it to them. He was one of those types."
Laura Garcia, a friend from their time at Sunnyside, learned about his death while watching TV Monday.
The two have been corresponding on MySpace since he joined the Army. They had a standing lunch date for whenever he returned to Tucson.
He wanted to be a Tucson Police SWAT officer once his Army commitment was fulfilled, she said.
"I am very proud of him and thank him so much for serving his country," she said.
Omar Perez said they played football at Sunnyside two years.
"He was a great friend, always smiling and having fun," he said in an e-mail.
"He moved and all we heard from him was that he joined the Army. Then one day, a group of soldiers came to our school and talked to us about the Army."
One of the soldiers was Gonzales. "That was the last time I spent time with him," Perez said.
Afghan war claims Pvt. Gonzales of Tucson
Army infantryman Joseph F. Gonzales, a Tucson native serving in Afghanistan, told his family when he last saw it July 4 not to worry about him.
On Tuesday, he was buried with full military honors at South Lawn Cemetery, 5401 S. Park Ave.
Gonzales, an 18-year-old Army private, was killed Sept. 20 in the Korengal Valley by an improvised explosive device, according to the Department of Defense. Another soldier, Staff Sgt. Nathan Cox of Walcott, Iowa, also died in the blast.
After he was sent to Afghanistan in July, Gonzales kept in close touch with his family, exchanging e-mail or text messages with his father daily, family friends said.
He spoke with his dad, Joseph Gonzales Sr., the day before he died.
Gonzales was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
The medals were presented Tuesday by Army Brig. Gen. Susan Lawrence, who attended the service with a Fort Huachuca honor guard and family members and friends.
Among them was Pvt. Jermaine Decker of Logan, Iowa, who served with Gonzales and was shot in the thigh in Afghanistan a month before Gonzales was killed. He was too overcome with emotion to talk about his friend.
Decker sat, crutches at his side, with the family at the church service at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 602 W. Ajo Way, and with the family at the cemetery.
His Army brothers called him "Gonzo" but to his family he was "The Bear," Lawrence said, after presenting Gonzales' parents with his medals.
She said his last duty was "a tough mission" that he volunteered for. "They knew what they were going to face," she said.
"He was always the first to stand up and say, 'Send me.' "
"Nothing was going to stop him," said Joe Garcia, a family friend. "He wanted to join the Army at 17 and he wanted to fight for his country."
"I told him, mijo (my son), be careful," said Mary Garcia, Joe Garcia's wife. Joe Garcia worked with Gonzales' father for several years in a janitorial service.
Mary Garcia said Gonzales told his family about two weeks ago that he was coming home on leave in a few days.
"He said, 'Don't worry about me. I'll be back.' He came back. . . ," she said.
The Garcias learned of his death on TV news.
Their daughter Rosa, 17, a Sunnyside High School student, said she's going to join the Army soon, in honor of Gonzales.
When she heard he was dead, she said she asked: "Why did it have to be someone I know?"
Mary Garcia said Joseph Gonzales Sr. urged Rosa on Tuesday to change her mind.
"Don't go," he told her, she said in an interview after Gonzales' silver casket was lowered into the ground.
Gonzales' family members each laid a white rose in the casket before it was sealed.
The casket was covered with a full-length image of the American flag blowing in the wind.
The body was carried to South Lawn Cemetery in a 19th-century horse-drawn hearse.
Church bells tolled slowly as an Army honor guard from Fort Huachuca escorted the casket to the hearse.
About 150 relatives and friends of Gonzales and parishioners of the church attended the mariachi Mass there.
Mariachi Mixteca and the Rev. Robert Gonzalez praised Gonzales for his service to his country.
Gonzalez prayed for "all our sons and daughters" who are serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Claudia Lorena Ballesteros, a cousin of Gonzales, said in Spanish that she was grateful to the Army for all it had done for the family.
She also thanked "all the soldiers" who came to the funeral.
Gonzales joined the Army in April 2007 as an infantryman and had been assigned to the 1st Infantry Division since October 2007, according to the public affairs staff at Fort Hood in Texas.
Link to the video of his funeral procession is here
Staff Sgt. Nathan Cox, 32, of Davenport, Iowa died one year ago today. He was a well-loved and highly respected Soldier, husband, father, son and brother. He is sorely missed.
Nate attended Davenport Central High School. He joined the Army and served three years in Bosnia in the mid 1990s. He then went to work as a security officer for two years at the Genesis Medical Centers in Davenport before he rejoined the Army when he was 29 and decided to make it a career, serving for a year in Iraq before he was sent to Afghanistan in July 2008.
Nathan was E-6 staff sergeant of Viper Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. He was very interested in foreign affairs and wanted to help the people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Known as a leader who took the time to listen to his soldiers, he had a magnetic personality that drew people towards him. Nathan married Annie Volrath Madden on July 15, 2005 in Eldridge, Iowa, and he loved to spend time outdoors, cooking for family and friends; sitting quietly with a cup of coffee contemplating life and all it's joys; sports; visiting with friends; just doodling; as well as being an avid reader and writer. The things that Nate loved and cherished most in life were his family; he was a very devoted son, husband, father, brother and solider. Nathan was also very generous, and during a period in his earlier years he shared a gift of life that he always carried with him in his heart and soul.
Staff Sergeant Cox died as a result of a roadside bomb in the Korengal Valley. He received many awards and during his military career, including the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart, posthumous. He is survived by his wife Annie, a daughter Sophia, at home; step daughter, Nichole Madden, and a step son, Jake Madden, a granddaughter Alyvia, his parents, Les E. and Jane M. (Corbett) Cox, Walcott, Iowa; a sister and brother-in-law, Hannah Cox and Carlos Encarnación, their daughter, Aryanne; his maternal grandmother, Rose Corbett; mother-in-law, and her spouse, Carolyn and Jim Hamilton; father-in-law, and his spouse, George and Marge Volrath; as well as sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Debbie (Dave) Kopf; Jay (Sheila) Volrath; Martha (Wade) Schneider; Liz (Dan) Allison; and Zack Volrath; a special gift, Katie, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Jack Martin Corbett, and Lester and Ava Moore Cox.
Sign his Legacy Guestbook
On Christmas Day, they planned to catch a movie and then spend a night by the fire at home, but for Nathan Cox’s wife and daughter, memories of him are never far away.
Sgt. Cox, a Davenport native, and one of his fellow soldiers died from an explosion along a road in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley on Sept. 20.
His wife, Annie, and 6-year-old daughter, Sophie, recently moved back to the Quad-Cities from Fort Hood, Texas. Annie found a house for them in Davenport and enrolled Sophie in a local school.
The transition has been a challenge, not to readjust to civilian life, but to their first holiday season without Nathan. Sometimes, tears still come with little warning.
A few days before Nathan’s death, Annie had a dream in which he died, and she told him about it.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry, sweetie, nothing is going to happen to me, these guys aren’t going to get me,’ ” she recalled. “I said you’re not in control of that.”
Annie, who is originally from Princeton, Iowa, said it was hard on their daughter when Nathan was first deployed to Afghanistan in July. Sophie was confused and told a friend her father was dead, her mother recalled. Annie had Sophie see a counselor, who helped her cope with her dad’s absence.
When news came of her husband’s death, Annie had to explain to her daughter that Daddy wasn’t coming back, but she thinks the counseling helped prepare Sophie somewhat.
“She was a little angry, a little sad and angry,” Annie said of her daughter. “He did a lot of things with Sophie. She’s got a lot of good memories.”
Annie said her daughter is making new friends.
“She’s happy and well-adjusted,” she said. “I don’t know how this will affect her in the future.”
Annie has her husband’s journal and an autopsy report. She knows what his life was like in the days and weeks before his death and read the details about how he died. She recently found out that his autopsy pictures are available, and she would like to see those, too, if only to bring her more closure.
“You can’t escape death,” she said. “I could have a million questions and how could anyone answer them?”
The narrow road
Right before the explosion, the four men were laughing about how their truck was bigger than the road and how they might fall off into the ravine if they weren’t careful.
Sean Hollins was driving. Nathan Cox was next to him in the passenger seat. The medic, Keith Young, was behind Hollins, and Joseph Gonzales Jr. was manning the machine gun behind Cox.
That’s all Hollins remembers. Young had to fill him in on the rest, although his memory was spotty. Hollins also has pictures of the mangled truck he was driving. The only seat left inside was his.
“I still don’t know how in the world me and Young are up and walking and talking,” Hollins said.
A tree caught most of the truck while Young and Hollins were thrown down the hillside toward a river. Young remembered the boom and waking long enough to see Hollins being airlifted out.
Before the attack, the men turned around short of their destination because they were getting reports of a possible ambush, Annie Cox was told. There were four trucks, and Nathan’s was third in line until they made the turn, and he waved the fourth to go ahead.
Annie said the men probably drove over the explosive on the way out, which is why she thinks someone was watching and set it off on their return trip. She was told the insurgents often target the first or last vehicle in the line.
Hollins said the men were using a metal detection device to scan the road for explosives.
“Sometimes, we find them in a different way,” he said.
They knew how dangerous the job was. As it turned out, Hollins and Young were the first men from their company to survive an explosion on that road.
“It’s always in your head when you go out on the road,” Hollins said of dying. “It’s always in the back of your head.”
Hollins suffered traumatic brain injuries and broken ribs. He underwent surgery on his spine and was laid up in a hospital at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, before he was sent home to Chicago in November. Young eventually went home to Kentucky.
Hollins said he still wants to go back to Afghanistan if the Army gives him a medical clearance.
“All of my buddies are back there, and I know how undermanned they are,” he said.
Annie said the last time she talked to Nathan was a few days before the explosion. He was running late for a meeting and just happened to catch her at home on a day she took off from work. He promised to call back soon, but there was a blackout at his base followed by a hectic schedule. They never reached each other.
When she later visited Young and Hollins at the hospital in Texas, she asked Hollins why Nathan didn’t get a chance to call. He said there just wasn’t time.
The military life
Annie and Nathan Cox met in 2001. For a while, he was looking at a career in law enforcement and worked in security for Genesis Medical Center. Eventually, he decided he wanted to join the Army and make it his career. He had served previously, right out of high school, and spent time in Bosnia in the mid-1990s.
“I don’t know if he didn’t care for the jobs out there, but he decided he was going to enlist,” Annie Cox said. “He said we would all go.”
The family went to Fort Bragg in North Carolina in 2005, and within two months, Nathan was deployed to Iraq. When he returned, they were relocated to Fort Hood, where they spent a year and a half together until Nathan was deployed to Afghanistan.
“He was in a lot of training, and he was gone a lot,” Annie said, adding that right before he left, he was in training at Fort Hood, which gave them more time together.
While Nathan was deployed, Annie worked as a family readiness support assistant, helping other soldiers and their wives with various needs. In that job, she realized the importance of being prepared in case something happened to her husband. She and Nathan discussed what they would do if he died, where she and Sophie might live and what kind of schooling their daughter should receive.
She said a lot of the soldiers’ wives don’t make such preparations and find themselves not knowing what to do when their husbands are killed.
“There are a lot of widows in Killeen,” she said, referring to the city outside Fort Hood.
Annie Cox knows in the years that follow a soldier’s death, they are often forgotten by all but those closest to them.
“I don’t want anyone to forget Nathan or to forget what sacrifice we made as a family,” she said. “And it’s not out of heroism or anything. He wanted to do that. Our Army right now is a volunteer Army, so the people that are there want to be there. They don’t want to be war heroes.”
The meeting
Shortly before they were deployed, Sean Hollins and some of his fellow soldiers were arrested for a fight in Austin, Texas.
One of the first people to come see them at the jail was their sergeant, Nathan Cox of Davenport, who brought his wife and daughter along but had them wait in the car. Hollins was relieved to see him.
“Sgt. Cox was just like a dad to me,” Hollins said. “These weren’t just people I worked with, these were family.”
Annie Cox, Nathan’s wife, remembered how Nathan rushed to Austin to check on his men. She said as long as his soldiers were honest and confessed to any wrongdoing, he would do what he could to help them.
Hollins was driving the truck Sept. 20, when Cox and fellow soldier Joseph Gonzales Jr. were killed by a roadside explosive in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley.
He told stories about Cox during a recent phone interview while recovering at a military hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
Hollins said it was also Cox who helped him with paperwork so he could go home when his father died last January. He said Cox’s influence went beyond that of being his squad leader.
“I wish I could be like him, I really do,” Hollins said. “He would make the best of any situation, and I enjoyed him being my squad leader.”
Joseph Gonzales Sr. of Tucson, Ariz., said Cox was an inspiration to his son as well. The teenager often talked about Cox when he called home.
“He mentioned Nathan a lot, that was his sergeant and he loved him,” Gonzales said. “He idolized him and wanted to be like him. (Nathan) was the type of soldier he wanted to be.”
Annie Cox said her husband would take time on his days off to work with soldiers who weren’t meeting weight requirements and would counsel them when they had problems. He also knew when to keep his distance and declined numerous requests to go out drinking with the men.
“He really looked out for the soldiers,” Annie said. “Nathan remembered being a young soldier like they were.”
Gery Ryan, a senior personnel service sergeant from Dubuque, Iowa, assigned as Annie Cox’s casualty assistance officer, has been in the military more than 20 years. He said younger soldiers are quick to recognize a leader they can trust.
“You always know they look up to those guys because they lead by example,” Ryan said. “You show me first, and then I’ll follow you. (Those leaders) give them that ease when they’re in harm’s way no matter what happens.”
Army held appeal
From an early age, his son was an “action junky,” Joseph Gonzales Sr. said.
At 12, he started working with his father in construction and enjoyed tearing things up with a sledgehammer. The Army appealed to that energetic side of his personality, but the decision to join still surprised his father.
“It’s something you didn’t want, but you back up what he wanted,” Gonzales said.
Once in the service, the younger Gonzales wanted to join the Airborne, but when he didn’t qualify, he took a liking to operating the machine-guns on the back of Humvees, his dad said. He stayed in touch with his family by phone as much as he could.
Shortly after the men arrived in Afghanistan, Gonzales told his father about one of the first fights they were in.
“Cox was up there telling everyone to get to their guns,” Gonzales said. His son “ran to the Hummer and started nailing everything as fast as he could.”
Any time Gonzales’ family expressed their concern for his safety, the teen assured them he would be OK, thanks to Cox.
“Every time he told us not to worry because his sergeant was over there a couple of tours,” Gonzales recalled. “He said he’ll know what to do.”
Hollins said it was by chance that Gonzales ended up in the same truck with him and Cox the day of the explosion because Gonzales was in a different squad at the time.
When the two were neighbors at Fort Hood, they would hang out on occasion. He remembers Gonzales sending paychecks home to his family in Tucson.
Staying in touch
In the weeks following their sons’ deaths, the parents of Nathan Cox and Joseph Gonzales stayed in touch and shared information.
“I’m even continuing to learn things I didn’t know,” said Jane Cox, Nathan’s mother.
Both families have found talking to one another comforting.
“I find it a relief because she is a parent of a son who was with him,” Gonzales said of Jane Cox. “There is a little bit of relief between us.”
“He’s more or less just checking on our family and seeing how we’re doing,” Jane Cox said of Gonzales. “It’s kind of light conversation. We’re both kind of in the same spot.”
"You should be certain and proud at the times of their death that their thoughts were solely to keep each of you alive," Lt. Col. Brett Jenkinson, 1-26 commander, said. "So what was the value of their lives? The value of their lives was exactly that: a demonstration of values, both moral and physical courage, to do the right thing in truly desperate times. They saved the day when the day was almost lost."
"One had been to Iraq for more than a year," Jenkinson said. "He had some experience and a reputation. The other was a brand new private. What they both had in common on the day of their deaths is they both took a dive for you all, not for themselves. They both gave everything for your protection. That quality is what separates a Soldier from a warrior."
Knight stood out amongst his fellow Soldiers, not because of his towering height, but because he used his experience to be a roll model.
"Spc. Knight was one of those people who everyone knew," Capt. Jimmy Howell, Viper company commander, said. "It was impossible for him to blend in, largely because he towered over everyone, but also because he was such a role model for so many young Soldiers."
Army Spc. Marques I. Knight, 24, San Juan Capistrano; killed in ambush in Afghanistan
By James Wagner
November 16, 2008
Marques I. Knight had a tough childhood. As his sister, Summer, recalled, their parents died when they were both young in Alabama.
The siblings spent a brief time with a grandmother in Idaho and eventually were adopted by an uncle, Jerry Knight, in Florida."He refused to be what life had dealt him," Summer Knight wrote of her brother in an e-mail. "He wanted better and he wasn't gonna stop til he got it."
Part of that desire led Knight to California. With the help of a friend's mother, Kathi Conroy, he was beginning to establish roots in California in recent years.
Knight met her in 2002 while he and Conroy's son, Chris Naganuma, served in the same Army unit stationed at Ft. Lewis, Wash. Both eventually served together in Iraq in 2004.
With little left to do after his first stint in the military ended, Knight moved to Washington with Naganuma and eventually to San Juan Capistrano at the end of 2005.
Conroy said Knight was a man with varying talents and interests -- beaches, laughing, cooking and playing with her younger sons.
"How many grown men bounce on a trampoline with a huge smile on their face?" said Conroy, whom Knight occasionally called "mom."
Knight held down a brief job performing maintenance on homes and tried studying at Saddleback Community College for a semester.
When he rejoined the Army in late 2007, family and friends said, it was a chance for him to solidify finances and, eventually, complete a college degree.
Instead of psychology and physiology, Knight realized that he wanted to major in computer animation -- "what I should have done all along," he wrote on a personal Web page. The goal: to run a Pixar-type business but also with a focus on Web design and gaming, another one of his loves.
In late July, while he was in Afghanistan, his sister sent him an e-mail: "Hey buddy. Please be safe and make it home. I dunno if ur still into the church thing -- but pray too."
Less than two months later, Spc. Marques I. Knight, 24, was fatally shot Sept. 6 in Aliabad in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province.
An uncle, Shelp Knight, said the Army told him that his nephew and fellow soldiers were ambushed while on foot patrol near the Pakistani border.
A day after the ambush, Shelp Knight, who lives in Dothan, Ala., got a call from his brother Charles with the news. "I hung up," he said. "I didn't want to hear it."
To his sister, Knight was a beautiful and funny man, who would be your best friend, once he warmed to you. As Shelp Knight put it: "He's a kid everybody needs to know."
Marques Knight was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas. It was his second tour of duty.
He had long been interested in the military. He participated in the ROTC at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla. Family members also recalled that, as a boy, Knight dreamed about drawing and animation -- a hobby he loved but relegated to his free time.
Knight cared as much for his body as for his drawings. He ordered nutritional supplements and weight gainers to supplement his weightlifting, he told his sister in an e-mail.
He would ask Conroy to ship him foods high in protein -- tuna, sardines and salmon. He wanted to bulk up his lean, 6-foot-5 frame. Knight would easily run nine to 12 miles a day and lift weights twice a day, she said.
In addition to his sister and adoptive parents, Jerry and Addie Knight, he is survived by a large extended family, including brothers Jerry G. Knight and Jeffery D. Knight.
Knight was buried at Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Kinsey, Alabama on September 20, 2008.
Specialist Knight joined the army in August of 2002 as an infantryman and was living in San Juan Capistrano, California.
He has been assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas since August of 2007 and was deployed to Afghanistan in July of this year.
Specialist Knight’s family resides in the Wiregrass area.
His mother lives in Altamonte Springs, Florida and his father lives in Dothan.
His awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
USN SEAL Lt Michael P. Murphy 5K Run/Walk - New Island Hospital
"Help Us Honor a Hero-Medal of Honor Recipient Lt Murphy"| Host: |
New Island Hospital- Bethpage NY |
| Type: | |
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| |
| Price: |
$25 pre-registration (before 9/11) $30 day of race- free parking |
| Date: |
Sunday, September 13, 2009 |
| Time: |
8:00am - 12:00pm |
| Location: |
Bethpage State Park- **Polo Field** (entrance near Seaford-oyster bay pkwy) |
| Street: |
99 Quaker Meeting House Road |
| City/Town: |
Farmingdale, NY |
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| Phone: |
5165202487 |
| Email: |
See the United States Navy's page to learn more about Lt Murphy and the heroic actions that resulted in him being posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
http://www.navy.mil/moh/mpmurphy/
New Island Hospital in Bethpage is creating a new NAVY LT. MICHAEL P. MURPHY EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT. All proceeds will be going to purchase new emergency medical equipment and supplies. New Island Hospital's ED delivers rapid fire life-saving care to nearly 40,000 patients a year. Murph himself always took on the role as protector, as a SEAL, and in earlier days as a dedicated lifeguard, and ALWAYS as a big brother.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2009
CHECK-IN 7:30-8:45 AM
RACE START 9AM RAIN OR SHINE
After race activities include: award presentations, raffles, a live band and a health fair so bring the family and friends. For more information call Community Relations at 516-520-2487.
New Island Hospital is a proud participant in the 2009 Long Island Track and Field Cross Country Challenge.
Cash prizes will be awarded for the top overall finishers in all age categories. Accurately measured 3.1 Mile Cross Country Course. Preregistered participants will receive a gift bag and t-shirt, while supplies last. (last year they ran out-so get there early!)
$25 entry fee (before 9/11/09) pre-registration $30 on the day of the event. No parking fee. To pre-register-see link http://www.newislandhospital.org/5kwr/
Online and mail-in registration available.
**Lt Michael P. Murphy challenge coins will also be available for purchase for $20 each.** A picture of the coin is in my photo album or see the link below for last year's blog.
Last year's event pictures and description at
http://longislandgirl.vox.com/library/post/follow-up-report-5k-benefit-in-memory-of-usn-seal-lt-michael-p-murphy-bethpage-ny.html
Any questions-please email me at jolo219@optonline.net or email the Community Relations contact person at New Island Hospital-Rita Raio rraio@nihli.org
Never Forget the Ultimate Sacrifice our Nation's heroes have made for our freedom-LIG
The Empire State Challenge Soldier Ride in the Hamptons on July 25th is in memory of many local fallen heroes, including Cpl Christopher Scherer.
Christopher George Scherer, was born on June 29, 1986 and was raised in the town of East Northport, NY. A fun loving and energetic boy, he played soccer, baseball, lacrosse and was also a member of Boy Scout Troop 52. He was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout at the age of 17. Chris played two years of Varsity Lacrosse at Northport High School and graduated in June of 2004. One month later he was on his way to Parris Island, SC for a thirteen week job interview. He successfully completed boot camp and, on November 5, 2004, he earned the coveted title of United States Marine.
He completed his infantry and combat engineer training at Camp Lejeune in spring of 2005 and was then stationed at Camp Fuji, Japan until spring of 2006. He returned to the United States and spent the next year honing his Combat Engineer Skills at Camp Pendleton, Ca. On April 11th, 2007 Chris and his fellow Marines of the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division shipped out on the 13th MEU as part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. The MEU stopped in Guam and Singapore before arriving in Kuwait. There, Chris’s platoon trained for several weeks before they were sent to Iraq. While training in Kuwait, Chris earned the rank of Corporal on his mother’s birthday, June 1st.
On July 21, 2007 in the province of Al Anbar, Iraq, Chris lost his life serving the Country he loved. He was felled by a single bullet from the gun of an enemy sniper.
When Lieutenant Colonel Wayne Sinclair spoke at Chris’s funeral he said the following: “Chris’s platoon commander called him the most likable marine in the platoon, no one griped or had a bad day if Cpl Scherer had anything to say about it. Lieutenant Douglas Orr told me that though the living conditions in the field have been harsh over the past two months, and the marines have been working and fighting in 120 degree temperatures while wearing body armor and carrying ammunition, weapons, water, and equipment that typically weighs over 70 pounds for each marine, he never heard Chris complain or even question their circumstances - not once. Not ever.”
Lt Col Sinclair further stated: “Lt Orr also shared with me some of the unique traits that Chris' mates will forever remember him for. For starters, there was his sense of humor - paradoxically at its best when stress and privation were highest. Most notably, he had an uncanny ability to lift spirits with his voice impressions. He was a superb mimic of more actor’s voices and accents than anyone could count. One of his favorites was that from the movie Jaws…”Captain, I think you better get a bigger boat.” He would often say this when things got particularly rough.”
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released the following statement regarding Chris’s death. “The death of Corporal Christopher Scherer is a tremendous loss to our nation. Maria and I, along with all Californians, mourn the loss of this brave individual and express our sincere gratitude for his selfless service in defense of our country. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family in this time of grief.”
Although his family misses him terribly, they are without question supportive of his decision to join the Marine Corps to defend our countries freedoms and urge all of you to support the rest of our Armed Forces who are doing the same.
Through pictures, poems, and emails from his family, friends, and fellow Marines, they hope you will join us in celebrating the life of their son Chris.
Please visit Chris' website to see how you can donate or do more.....
From Newsday, after Chris' ultimate sacrifice~
His family laughed and cried Monday as they shared memories of a funny, loving and loyal boy who played high school lacrosse, became an Eagle Scout and yearned to join the Marines.
He told them he was ready to join when he was 15, and he did so two years later under an early enlistment program. Before leaving for boot camp in August 2004, he and his father erected a flagpole in the front yard and hoisted the Stars and Stripes.
"The only person that can take that flag down is you," Tim Scherer recalled telling his son.
When Christopher Scherer came home on leave, he would replace the worn flag with a new one. On Saturday, when the Scherers learned of their son's death, they faced a heartbreaking dilemma: Who would replace the flag, and raise it to half-staff in tribute to their son?
On Saturday, a member of Christopher Scherer's Eagle Scout troop helped Tim Scherer raise a new flag donated by the New York State police.
In its company are yellow ribbons dotting houses along the street.
Christopher Scherer's sister Katie, 18, Monday recalled that in 2004, after her brother had completed boot camp, she wrote him a letter telling him how scared she was.
"He wrote me back saying, 'I'm ready for anything that comes my way,'" Katie Scherer recalled Monday.
Scherer was stationed in Fuji, Japan, in 2005, and at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in March 2006. Assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, he was deployed to Iraq in April, his family said.
He wore a silver-and-gold cross that had belonged to his grandfather, the late Kevin Joseph Scherer, an Air Force staff sergeant who served in Alaska during the Korean War.
"He didn't do it to be a hero," Katie Scherer said of her brother's decision to join the Marines. "He did it because it's what he believed in."
Scherer also is survived by his sister, Meghan, 18, and his mother, Janet Scherer, 48. The family will travel tomorrow to Delaware to accompany his body home to Long Island.
Visitation will be at Nolan and Taylor-Howe Funeral Home on Laurel Road in Northport both Thursday and Friday from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Centerport Methodist Church on Little Neck Road in Centerport. Burial will follow in Northport Rural Cemetery.
As friends and neighbors streamed into the house Monday night, the Scherer family looked at a photograph of Christopher Scherer taken in an Irish fishing village during a long-anticipated trip with friends in 2005. Sitting on a bronze dolphin, he was smiling, his arms spread wide.
"That picture is the real Chris," said his grandmother, Margaret Burr. "He lived like he had the whole world in his hands."
Daily News article here
~Lost Heroes of Operation Redwing~
Daniel R. Healy
July 17, 1968-June 28, 2005
Never Forget
From Marcus Luttrell: "...scrambling aboard, came the massively built Senior Chief Dan Healy, the man who had masterminded Operation Redwing, who apparently looked as if he'd been shot as he left the barracks." "He loved us all with equal passion ... He guarded his flock assiduously, researched every mission with complete thoroughness, gathered the intel, checked the maps, chats, photographs, all reconnaissance. Also, he paid attention to the upcoming missions and made sure his kids were always in the front line. That's the place we were trained for, the place we liked to go."
Healy grew up in Exeter, where he graduated from high school in 1986. He joined the Navy in 1990 and later volunteered to become a SEAL.
His first assignment took him to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One in San Diego. He left the team in 1996 to study Russian and after that was assigned to a SEAL unit in Little Creek, Va., for two years. In March 2000, he was sent to Pearl Harbor, where he joined ECHO Platoon as leading petty officer. He was later promoted to chief petty officer. He deployed to Afghanistan in March 2005.
His awards include the Bronze Star (with Combat V), the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
He is survived by his wife, Norminda; his children, Chelsea, Jasmine, Sasha, Jacob, Nia, Nathan and Chris; parents, Natalie and Henry; sisters, Jennifer Healy and Shannon Keane.
Lost Heroes of Operation Redwing
Michael P. Murphy
May 7, 1976-June 28, 2005
Never Forget
Naval Station Newport to get new command, dedicate new pool
01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Journal Staff Writer
NEWPORT — The arrival of a new command — and with it 20 military positions and 40 civilian jobs — will be cause for celebration at Naval Station Newport on Wednesday.
And the following day, Navy brass will gather to dedicate a $4.5-million pool that will be used to train the rapidly rising number of students who come through Newport every year.
The two events underscore how Newport has emerged from the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process with a bright future as a Navy education center. The federal initiative resulted in the downsizing, closing and consolidation of many military installations.
The Center for Service Support shut down in Athens, Ga., late in June, and will resume operations here on Wednesday in Fitzgerald Hall on Coasters Harbor Island. The command oversees 13 Service Support schools around the country that provide training in administration, logistics and media for 12,000 officers and sailors annually.
“It’s a big deal,” said spokeswoman Lisa Rama. “It represents more employment in this state.”
Many of the civilian employees in Georgia chose not to relocate, which will result in the need for hiring in Newport, Rama said.
Officer Candidate School returned to Newport in 2008 — after a 15-year absence — bringing with it not only jobs but close to 1,000 students who go through the program each year. Chief Warrant Officer/Limited Duty Officer School also arrived last year.
The Navy Supply Corps School, also being relocated from Athens, is slated to open in new facilities in January, bringing 2,500 students a year, 100 active-duty positions and 80 civilian jobs.
By 2010, the number of students attending educational programs in Newport is expected to increase by 3,600 from the pre-BRAC levels.
Construction of the pool, in an 11,280-square-foot building, began in March 2008. It will be used for combat and survival training, including basic swim instruction and man-overboard exercises. The pool is next to Callahan Hall and was built by Consigli Construction, of Milford, Mass. Training will no longer take place at the pool built on the base in 1945 during World War II.
The new pool will be dedicated to Lt. Michael P. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., a 2001 graduate of Navy Officer Candidate School who was killed in action while conducting counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan in 2005.
His four-man Navy SEALs team was covertly conducting reconnaissance east of Asadbad, in Kumar Province, when discovered by local nationals. The team soon found itself surrounded and under attack by about 50 fighters allied with the Taliban.
Under heavy fire, Murphy left cover to radio for support. He was shot in the back and dropped the transmitter, but he picked it up, completed the call and then rejoined his team.
A helicopter arrived to rescue the SEALs. But a rocket-propelled grenade hit it, killing all 16 men aboard, before it could land. Three of the four SEALs, including Murphy, died in the battle.
Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2007. Members of his family will attend the dedication.
Operation Red Wings
Afghanistan June 28, 2005
This Park is named in recognition of the substantial Hawaii connection and contribution to Operation red Wings. On June 28, 2005 Deep behind enemy lines in the remote Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, an elite four-man Navy SEAL team including three SEALs from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was on a reconnaissance mission. At unforgiving altitudes over 10,000 feet, the SEALs had the vital task of finding Ahmad Shah, a terrorist who grew up in the adjacent mountains to the south. The SEAL mission was compromised when the team crossed paths with local sheepherders who, after being released as non-combatants by the SEALs, reported their position to the Taliban.
Soon, a fierce firefight erupted between the four SEALs and a much larger Taliban Force. The enemy had the advantage of higher terrain as they launched a three-sided attack on the seals. The firefight continued relentlessly as the Taliban militia forced the vastly outnumbered SEAL team deeper into a ravine.
Despite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave gunshot wounds, Lieutenant Michael Murphy risked his own life to save the lives of this teammates. Murphy, realizing that calling for support would be impossible from the ravine position, and with complete disregard for his own life, moved into the open to transmit a call to get help for his men. Away from his position of cover, Murphy was shot again causing him to drop the transmitter. Purphy picked up the transmitter and completed the call. Severely wounded, Lt. Murphy returned to his cover position with his men and continued the battle.
An MH-47 Chinook Helicopter, with SEAL team and Army Night Stalker volunteers aboard, was sent in to extract the four embattled SEALs, escorted by heavily armored Army attack helicopters. Knowing their warrior brothers were badly, shot, surrounded and severely wounded, this rescue team opted to enter the battle by attempting to land in the well-defended and brutally hazardous terrain. But, as the Chinook raced to the battle, a rocket propelled grenade fatally struck the helicopter, killing all 16 men aboard.
On the ground and nearly out of ammunition, the four SEALs, Murphy, Luttrell, Dietz, and Axelson, continued the fight. By the end of the two-hour gunfight that careened through the mountains and over the cliffs, Murphy, Axelson, and Dietz had been killed while eliminating an estimated 35 Taliban. Luttrell, the badly wounded fourth seal, evaded and escaped and was later rescued.
On this fateful day, Naval Special Warfare Forces experienced the single greatest loss of life in its history, as 11 SEALs and 8 ARMY NIGHT STALKERS were killed in action. Lieutenant Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
We will forever remember June 28, 2005 and the heroic efforts and sacrifices of our Special Operators. We hold with Reverence the ultimate sacrifice so that others may live in peace and Freedom.
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Marques was a young man who struggled with the desire to belong to a loving family and the fear that he didn't deserve it. He had a tender heart, a wicked sense of humor, was very intuitive and overflowed with compassion for others. Our family was blessed to call him our son and brother for the last 7 years of his life. The heartache we feel in losing him is covered in knowing that what Marques wanted most in life, to be held in loving arms and belong to a loving family, he now has with his Father and family in heaven. He is finally at peace.
I am a resident of San Juan Capistrano & was just at a concert in the local park, there were Marines there & they held a silent prayer for you, everyone stood & a large crowd was silent & I cried a tear for you today. I am so very sorry for your life was way too short. I will remember that moment, even though I didn't know you.
Marques was a strong person, growning up he always wanted better for himself and those he loved. He was the type of person if he could do it on his own, he wouldn't hesitate to do so. He was so amazingly tall, and so gorgeous in every aspect...and most of all he could keep you laughing for days with no end. I always looked at him amazed, one because he stood over everyone like a giant, and also because despite his life and the hand he was dealt he never quit, never stumbled without a quick recovery and never lost hope of making a better future for himself and those he truly loved. Always in my memories and in my heart will be your smirks, your sense of humor, your beautiful eyebrows and the way they raised while you were giving "the look", the way you always seemed so big and how I could never be as big as you, I love you dearly and I not only thank you for being who and what you were to me but protecting not only me but everyone with your service. Love you always and forever.
Mark was part of my family. Not by blood but by love. I first met him in high school and then we became good friends when we moved into the same neighborhood while in high school. He was just a marvelous person inside and out. I miss his laugh more than anything else. No matter how hard he had it, he would always have us laughing. He loved his sister with every ounce of his heart and did a great job being a great big brother. He even adpoted my little brother and sister as his own. He lives in all our hearts and will be dearly missed. I want people not to just remember the true solider that he was, but remember the man who knew how to show love even when it wasn't shown to him.