Never the spirit is born,
The spirit will cease to be never.
Never the time when it was not.
End and beginning are dreams;
Birthless and deathless and changeless.
Remains the spirit forever.
Death has not touched it at all,
Dead though the house of it seems.
Sioux Prayer of Passing
Tonight we remember and honor a courageous young soldier, an American hero and member of the Great Sioux Nation. Nearly 120 years ago this month, his ancestors fought the 7th Cavalry at the infamous battle of Wounded Knee. On December 9, he lost his life fighting for our nation in Afghanistan. Please join me over the fold as we say good-bye to Corporal Tanner J. O’Leary.
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Cpl. Tanner J. O’Leary, 23, of Eagle Butte, S.D., died Dec. 9 in Musa Qal’eh, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Tanner J. O’Leary: "He was my happy little clown"
In every IGTNT diary, there is usually one quote about the fallen soldier that brings that person to life and at the same time, brings tears. In writing about Tanner O’Leary, the words of his grandmother spoke volumes, even though they were few:
His grandmother Arlene O'Leary, 77, clings to memories of that smile. She watched her grandson grow up just next door. He worked hard on the ranch, at school and at life, she said.
"He was my happy little clown," Arlene O'Leary said. "He was a trickster. I loved him so much from infancy."
Source
You can see the smile she wants to remember forever in this photo of Tanner and his little daughter, Alexis, where his spirit, intelligence and playfulness shine through.
O'Leary grew up on the Cheyenne River Reservation, on his family’s ranch, with his mother, Carmen, sister Tully, 16, and a network of close relatives and friends. Many of those people have left personal comments, like this one, from an article in the Rapid City Journal:
We send out our sincere condolences to the O'Leary family since they are family to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. We grieve with the family since they are so well known on our reservation. Any young man who fights as valiantly as Tanner did for his country and his people deserves a warrior’s honor as he makes his journey to the Grandfathers above. May he always remain in our prayers and hearts as one of many of our fallen warriors. May the Eagle take you on your journey beyond this life Tanner. Thank you for giving the absolute sacrifice for your country and People. YOU will always be a BRAVE SOLIDER TO your PEOPLE!!
In 2003, Tanner graduated from Timber Lake High School, where he had distinguished himself in athletics, as linebacker and fullback for the football team and as a wrestler. But he was outstanding in academics, too. One of Tanner’s teachers, Chris Bohlander, remembers him as a "dedicated student," who won high honors for an ambitious science fair project and who challenged him to become a better teacher.
"I can picture his face with that smirk, because I knew something was coming. But I knew with all his smart-mouth comments, he had a question, he had a ponderance: 'How does this work? How does that work?' Geez, Tanner, I don't know."
Once, Bohlander noted in anatomy class that the human heart pumps five liters of blood per minute.
"He said, 'What does five liters a minute look like?' " Bohlander said. So the class went to the sink and ran the faucet until they got it to that rate of flow.
"That's the type of learning he wanted. He wanted to know what things look like."
Source
After studying for a time at Northern State University in Aberdeen, Tanner became the third generation of his family to serve in the military by enlisting in the Army in January, 2005. Five months later, at Fort Benning, Georgia, he graduated Infantry One Station Unit Training and then completed the Basic Airborne Course. In August of this year, he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, 508th Paratrooper Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
In Afghanistan, Tanner was part of a newly launched operation to retake Musa Qal’eh from the Taliban, with the assistance of the Afghan army and NATO's International Security Assistance Force. During his service, Tanner was honored with numerous awards, among them: the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Parachutist Badge.
Although Tanner was an outstanding soldier, he'll be remembered by those who knew him for his engaging personality.
"He was extremely kind, very funny ... just very fun loving," Melissa O’Leary said. "He was really so smart. He was absolutely a joy. Most important, he was a wonderful father."
(snip)
When he came home on leave in August, he brought his daughter to his mother’s house and spent every minute with her.
"He didn’t go out and party. He stayed right with that little girl," Arlene O’Leary [his grandmother] said. "He was going to be the best father in the world."
Source
Tanner's cousin, Melissa, said the young man’s death is difficult for everyone who knew him, but particularly for his mother.
O'Leary would be proud of his mother's courage this week, Melissa O'Leary said.
"He was proud of her anyway, but he would be especially proud of her now," she said. "We all want to honor Tanner."
Source
Rest in peace, Tanner O’Leary. Your service and sacrifice will not be forgotten.
Douglas H. Hatfield and Richard H. Simpson
Tonight we also honor two airmen from the Korean War, who have been missing in action since 1951, when the plane carrying them crashed in North Korea. From the Department of Defense:
Airmen Missing in Action from Korean War are Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
They are Col. Douglas H. Hatfield, of Shenandoah, Va., and Capt. Richard H. Simpson, of Fairhaven, Mich., both U.S. Air Force. Funeral dates have not been set by the families.
On April 12, 1951, Hatfield and Simpson were two of eleven crewmembers on a B-29 Superfortress that left Kadena Air Base, Japan, to bomb targets in the area of Sinuiju, North Korea. Enemy MiG-15 fighters attacked the B-29, but before it crashed, three crewmembers were able to bail out. They were captured and two of them were later released in 1954 to U.S. military control during Operation "Big Switch." The third crewmember died in captivity. He and the eight remaining crewmembers were not recovered.
In 1993, the North Korean government turned over to the United Nations Command 31 boxes containing the remains of U.S. servicemen listed as unaccounted-for from the Korean War. Four sets of remains from this group were subsequently identified as crewmembers from the
B-29.
In 2000, a joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) excavated an infantry fighting position in Kujang County where they recovered remains which included those of Hatfield and Simpson.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains recovered in 2000.
I am sorry to say that I have not been able to find details on either Colonel Hatfield or Captain Simpson, other than a small item in the Richmond Times Dispatch. Colonel Hatfield’s son, Steve Hatfield, who now lives in Westcliffe, Colorado, was notified last summer that it was possible his father’s remains had been identified. He recalled that his mother, who passed away four years earlier, had hoped to learn one day what had become of her husband. Now, in a touching tribute, Steve Hatfield says he plans to unite his parents once again when he sprinkles their ashes over the Pacific Ocean.
Rest in peace, Douglas Hatfield and Richard Simpson. Your mission is done and you are home at last.
The Iraq Coalition Casualty Countreports that total number of US casualties confirmed by the Department of Defense is now 3889 in Iraq, with 2 additional deaths pending notification of relatives, and 471 in Afghanistan. The DoD news releases can be found here.
All these service people had friends and loved ones. Please visit the Iraq Veterans Memorial for a moving look at how a few of their survivors remember them. If you'd like to help our soldiers, consider sponsoring a soldier at TroopCarePackage.com or anysoldier.com. Operation Helmetand Fisher Houseare also wonderful organizations that offer additional opportunity to help out American soldiers.
Finally, if you would like to assist the animal companions of our deployed military, information is available here. Animal companions can provide such joy and comfort.
About the IGTNT series:
IGTNT stands for "I Got the News Today." The phrase most likely refers to the Beatles’ song, and it is meant to symbolize that terrible knock on the door that any number of families got today, bringing with it the news that a loved one has died. IGTNT is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and is maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, silvercedes, MsWings, noweasels, blue jersey mom, chacounne, twilight falling, Wee Mama, greenies, labwitchy, roses, joyful, sistwo, Avila and me, moneysmith.
If you would like to help out with IGTNT -- even once a month -- please get in touch with silvercedes, Sandy on Signal, noweasels or monkeybiz.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. We ask that your remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics or personal opinions about the war.