If you should die, think only this of me
In that still quietness where is space for thought,
Where parting, loss and bloodshed shall not be,
And men may rest themselves and dream of nought:
That in some place a mystic mile away
One whom you loved has drained the bitter cup
Till there is nought to drink; has faced the day
Once more, and now, has raised the standard up.
And think, my son, with eyes grown clear and dry
She lives as though for ever in your sight,
Loving the things you loved, with heart aglow
For country, honour, truth, traditions high,
--Proud that you paid their price. (And if some night
Her heart should break--well, lad, you will not know.)
~ May Herschel-Clarke
The Mother
Sgt. Eric J. Hernandez, 26, of Waldwick, New Jersey
Sgt. Hernandez died December 4 in Bayji, Iraq from wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device in Bayji, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
Sgt. Hernandez’s dreams remained out of reach. Offers for the jobs he had applied for arrived after he had shipped out, his mother said. "They came too late," she said. "Way too late."
Nearing the end of a four-year stint in the Army, Sgt. Eric Hernandez wanted nothing more than to pursue a career in law enforcement.
He was a decorated soldier, an accomplished marksman, a leader on and off the battlefield.
Yet his dream remained out of reach. Time and again, he was told no positions were available.
Out of options, Hernandez re-enlisted in the Army earlier this year. In September, he arrived in Iraq for his second combat tour with the 101st Airborne Division.
On Tuesday, he died there.
(snip)
His mother, June Augusta, said that after her son shipped out, he received offers for two jobs that would have kept him home.
"They came too late," she said in a brief interview yesterday outside her Waldwick home. "Way too late."
Initially, the military seemed a natural career for Hernandez, a tall, strapping man who spoke often during his youth of becoming a soldier.
"Since he was a little kid, he played army with his friends," said his stepfather, John Augusta. "He just always wanted to be a soldier."
Hernandez joined the Army in 2003, and it wasn't long before he served his first tour of duty in Iraq, his stepfather said. Assigned to Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Hernandez more recently began to reconsider his options, and law enforcement seemed the right path.
He scored well on civil service exams in Bergen and Passaic counties, his mother said. But his frustration mounted as he heard there were no jobs to be had.
(snip)
(His former neighbor Rich) Giannone's wife, Lisa, said she has seen the same frustration in other soldiers seeking a career change.
"It's hard," she said. "These guys are coming home. They can't find their way. They aren't getting any help. And they're going back over there."
The Giannones and other former neighbors recalled Hernandez as a friendly, handsome young man who was quick to help out around the neighborhood, a woodsy area not far from a state park.
"He was a good kid, the kind of kid you can have a conversation with," Lisa Giannone said. "He knew a little bit about everything."
(snip)
(Hernandez) attended West Milford High, and while Hernandez dropped out before graduating, his mother said he soon obtained his GED.
Principal Maureen Bernstock began to softly cry yesterday after hearing of Hernandez's death. Bernstock said she didn't know Hernandez, but he is the third former student of the school to die in Iraq since the war began, a difficult toll on any school.
(snip)
Bernstock said several more recent graduates are about to ship out.
(snip)
(Friday) morning, Bernstock (announced) Hernandez's death on the public address system and ask(ed) for a moment of silence. Then she (embarked) on what is becoming an unwelcome routine.
She will gather photos of Hernandez and write a short biography. She will mount the items alongside a miniature American flag and place them in the main office, a display of sorts to honor the fallen soldier.
"They're wonderful people, all of them," Bernstock said.
Source ~ Newark Star-Ledger
The town of Garnerville, New York is in mourning.
The town will line its major roadway with American flags to honor the memory of a Garnerville man's son who was killed in Iraq this week, officials said today.
Sgt. Eric J. Hernandez, 26, died with two other soldiers in Iraq after their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, the Pentagon said last night.
Hernandez, the son of Craig Hernandez of Garnerville, and June Augusta of Waldwick, N.J., was killed on Tuesday in Beiji.
(snip)
Haverstraw Town Supervisor Howard Philips said the town will honor Eric Hernandez by putting American flags on Route 202. Residents will be asked to fly American flags in Hernandez's honor during the week of his funeral, which has not yet been set.
"He sacrificed his life for this country and we will honor that sacrifice," Philips said.
Source ~ NY Journal News
Eric Hernandez Guestbook
Sgt. Eric Hernandez joined the Army in October 2003 and arrived at Fort Campbell in October 2006. His awards and decorations include: Army Achievement Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon; Army Service Ribbon; Combat Infantry Badge; Expert Infantry Badge; Air Assault Badge; and Weapons Qualification, M4, expert.
Sgt. Eric Hernandez is survived by his father, Craig Hernandez, of Garnerville, N.Y. and mother, June Augusta, of Waldwick, N.J., a brother, Craig, and a sister, Antoinette.
Thank you, Sgt. Hernandez. Your mission is done.
Pvt. DeWayne L. White, 27, of Country Club Hills, Illinois
Pvt. White died December 4 in Bayji, Iraq from wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device in Bayji, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
Pvt. White’s mother can still hear his laughter. "I hope I don’t lose that sound," she said.
The last time DeWayne White called home from Iraq, his mother was staring at a crimson sunset unlike any she had ever seen.
"Baby, you should see this sky," Sandra Miller told her eldest soldier son. "It's so beautiful. I wish you were here to share this with me."
They talked a few minutes more about nothing in particular. Then White signed off as with a trademark "see ya" and his breathy, staccato laugh.
"I can hear his laughter," Miller said, her eyes puffy and bloodshot. "I hope I don't lose that sound."
(snip)
It was White's second tour in Iraq. The Army private and his Fort Campbell-based 1st Brigade Combat Team were deployed in September.
"We are so proud of him," his mother said, pulling his Army portrait from the pages of her Bible.
White's younger brother DeShaun was hours away from boarding a flight for his second tour in Iraq when he learned of DeWayne's death.
(snip)
Chester Miller, stepfather to DeWayne, DeShaun and their sister Nekita, said DeShaun will not return to a combat assignment.
"We'll not send another son over there to die," said Miller, a police officer in south suburban Phoenix.
DeWayne and DeShaun's father, Lenell White Jr., is retired from the Air Force. The boys grew up admiring his uniform and playing with toy guns, DeShaun said.
The brothers joined the Army together in November 2004 and attended boot camp at the same time.
(snip)
"DeWayne wouldn't talk about the casualties or the danger because he didn't want us to worry," said his mother, who works as a private mortgage insurance processor in Downers Grove.
White grew up in Chicago's Woodlawn community and attended Curie High School. When his mother and stepfather moved to Country Club Hills during his senior year, White earned his GED and trained to be a welder through a Job Corps program.
For the next few years, he worked a series of jobs in Tennessee, Kansas and the Southland.
It was during one of his stints in Clarksville, Tenn., that White met Synaca. They were married in February. The Millers missed the celebration because of a snowstorm in Chicago.
The snow also was falling Tuesday when they got the news of his death.
Sandra Miller was a passenger in her cousin's car when Synaca called.
"She said, 'Mom, there's been an accident in Iraq,'" Miller recalled. "Then she said DeWayne didn't make it."
(snip)
White loved to dance, draw cartoons of hip-hop characters and play pool. He adored the family's dog, a Rottweiler named Zeus. And he did a dead-on impression of Donald Duck, his siblings said.
(snip)
When he was about 7 years old, a neighbor gave him a dollar for being a good boy. White gave the money to charity, without urging from adults, because he wanted to help the children of Ethiopia, his mother said.
He maintained that spirit of giving while in Iraq. He always carried candy to pass out to the children, his mother said.
"He loved to give, not receive," she explained. "He was always happy and wanted to make every person happy. Even the little babies would just smile and smile at him."
(snip)
Country Club Hills lowered the American flag flying outside the city hall to half-staff on Thursday.
"Our heart goes out to the family at this time," Mayor Dwight Welch said. "Our community shares their grief since this young man gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. God bless all our military men and women."
Source ~ Southtown Star
This U.S. Army photo of Staff Sgt. Jacob Sprenger and Pvt. DeWayne White (right) was taken exactly one year before Pvt. White’s death, on Dec. 4, 2006.
DeWayne L. White Guestbook
Pvt. White joined the Army in November 2004 and arrived at Fort Campbell in February 2005. His awards and decorations include: Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; and Weapons Qualification, M4, expert.
Pvt. White is survived by his wife, Synaca, his stepfather and mother, Chester and Sandra Miller, his father, Lenell White Jr., his brother, DeShaun, his sister, Nekita, his stepsister, Kimberly Highsmith, and his stepbrother, Chester Miller Jr.
Thank you, Pvt. White. Your mission is done.
Capt. Adam P. Snyder, 26, of Fort Pierce, Florida
Capt. Snyder died December 5 in a field hospital in Balad, Iraq, from severe burns he suffered December 4 when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device in Bayji, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
A Christmas package Capt. Snyder had packed for his mother arrived the day after she learned of his death.
Everyone knew Adam Snyder was something special, even before he graduated in the top 10 percent at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with studies in Arabic and Middle Eastern history, became an Army Ranger and set off for Iraq.
At Fort Pierce's Lincoln Park Academy, he was named "Mr. LPA." Classmates crowned him homecoming king. His lead performance in The Music Man his senior year earned rave reviews. In the yearbook section titled "Most Likely to Appear On the Cover Of," Snyder is shown on an Entertainment Weekly headlined "Adam Snyder Wins Tony for Music Man."
He had plans to take a shot at Hollywood after the Army.
But this week, two months into his second tour, U.S. Army Capt. Adam Paulson Snyder died from severe burns suffered when a roadside bomb ripped through his Humvee, friends and family said. He was 26.
(snip)
"We lost somebody top-notch," said the Rev. Dale Ingersoll, his pastor at Westside Baptist Church.
Capt. Snyder's mother, Fran Frazer, a librarian at the Fort Pierce Library, on Tuesday heard her son had been hurt. Her phone rang for the sixth time that day when she walked in the door around 5:30 p.m., she said. He had been badly burned, she was told.
When she called to check his condition the next morning, a man came on the line. "We're sorry to inform you ..." the speech began. She was then told that someone was en route to deliver the news.
"When they told me he died, honestly, I was almost relieved he didn't have to suffer," Frazer said, fighting back tears next to a coffee table set with a thick photo album and some newspaper clippings about her son. "There was a sense of relief that he died apparently quickly."
(snip)
(Iraq is) a long way from Fort Pierce, where Capt. Snyder was born and raised until leaving for West Point. Through high school, he kept himself constantly busy with track, his part-time job as a busboy, his acting and especially his church.
"He was always on the go," Frazer said.
(snip)
He loved acting. As a child, he attended three years of theater camp at the Pineapple Playhouse, the local community theater. He struck a deal with his family: After the Army, in 2009, he would go to Hollywood for a year to try his hand at acting.
(snip)
Capt. Snyder's grandfather helped convince him to try for West Point, where he would excel.
The year he graduated, Capt. Snyder volunteered to be a bone marrow donor before heading to Ranger School, his mother said.
(snip)
In Iraq, Capt. Snyder sent long missives home to friends and family. He described what he could about his mission, the successes and the frustrations.
He made lists of supplies he and his men could use: T-shirts, socks, paper towels. His friends and congregation took collections, filling his wish lists with large care packages.
And just last week, he told his mother he would soon be assigned to a desk job, out of harm's way.
"He knew I'd be happy, but he wasn't," she said. "He wanted to be with his guys."
Source ~ Palm Beach Post
Gene Jenkins recalled his first encounter with Adam Snyder as being unforgettable.
During a Christmas play at Westside Baptist Church, Snyder recited from memory a narration of the names of God found throughout the Bible.
"When he did that oratory, I thought, ‘Man, I just had to know who that kid was,’" Jenkins said. "He was so outstanding in his performance. His delivery was so great that he just kept me spellbound. He just was someone you could not ignore."
(snip)
As a fourth generation Snyder who served in the U.S. military, (his father, Joseph Snyder, of Vero Beach, said): "He would not have wanted to survive when his men were killed in action. I believe that he would rather have died with his men. He was a dedicated leader. Adam is/was an inspiration to anyone that was in contact with him. Adam represented the true humanity of mankind. He loved everyone and no hatred was in his heart."
Adam Snyder was Alan Snyder’s only child.
(snip)
The director of the St. Lucie County School Board Summer Musical program, (drama teacher Patrick) Madden came to know Snyder when he tried out in his senior year for the play, "The Music Man."
"His drama teacher told me how talented he was and little did I know he would show up and snag up the leading role out of a couple hundred kids in the county," he said. "He was really fantastic in the show and had Hollywood potential. He stands out to me because he is the music man. He’s the charmer, the performer. He’s an all-around great guy."
(snip)
"I am devastated about Adam," said Gerri McPherson, Snyder’s former principal at Lincoln Park Academy and vice president of Florida Atlantic University Treasure Coast Campus. "What a nice gentle student and just a perfect child, honestly, and a perfect young man. He was very proud of serving the country."
Source ~ tcpalm.com
Snyder's mother received a Christmas package containing tree ornaments from her son Thursday. Fran Frazer said her son was supposed to move to a desk job in January because of his duties as a captain.
(snip)
Snyder was resourceful in finding extra gear for the men in his command, said Breck Barker of Raleigh, N.C., whose son Snyder mentored at West Point.
"He would ask, and we would respond," Barker said. "I had just sent him individual body armor side plate carriers so that all of his men would be protected, and he had confirmed Monday that all were deployed and the men were happy."
Source ~ Miami Herald
Capt. Snyder starred in the 100 Days show during his last year at West Point. An original musical is traditionally performed by Firsties (seniors), one hundred days before graduation. In a photo from that show, in March 2004, Capt. Snyder is on the far left:
Adam Snyder Guestbook
Capt. Snyder joined the Army in May 2004 and arrived at Fort Campbell in May 2005. His awards and decorations include: Bronze Star Medal; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; Combat Infantry Badge; Ranger Tab; Sapper Tab; Parachutist Badge; and Weapon Qualification, M4, expert.
Capt. Snyder is survived by his mother, Frances Frazer, of Fort Pierce, Fla.; and his father, Joseph Snyder, of Vero Beach, Fla.
Thank you, Capt. Snyder. Your mission is done.
To date, 3886 members of the United States military have lost their lives in Iraq. Of these, 100 have been women. The death toll thus far for December is 5. More than 30,000 men and women have been wounded, and 130 have taken their own lives while on active duty. All of the fatalities can be seen here. The Department of Defense Press Releases, from which the information at the start of each entry in this diary was drawn, can be seen here. The death toll among Iraqis is unknown, but is at least in the tens of thousands.
To date, 469 members of the United States military have lost their lives in Afghanistan. The death toll thus far for 2007 is 111. 273 members of the military from other countries have also lost their lives.
Other sites have stories, video, pictures and remembrances, including: Honor the Fallen.
If you want to do something to assist our military and their families, please visit anysoldier.com or Fisher House. If you have frequent flyer miles you would like to donate to hospitalized veterans or their families, please see Fisher House’s Hero Miles program. Finally, if you would like to assist the animal companions of our deployed military, information is available here.
Sending a holiday care package to a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan is easy. Read how in this great series by Ninepatch. Reminder: Packages must be mailed by this Tuesday, December 11.
And don’t forget them when they get home! Read welcomebackveterans.org to learn what you can do.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, silvercedes, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, Wee Mama, twilight falling, labwitchy, moneysmith, joyful, roses, SisTwo, Avila and me, noweasels. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but, we believe, an important service to those Americans who have died, and to our community’s respect for and remembrance of them. If you would like to volunteer, even once a month, please contact Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, silvercedes or me, noweasels.
As you read this diary, please consider that the families and friends of those profiled here also may read it and that many members of our community have served in Iraq or Afghanistan or have loved ones currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the very proud daughter of a Navy pilot, and the granddaughter of a Marine pilot and a submariner, I hope that the comments tonight will demonstrate our respect for the sacrifices of our fallen military and their families, whatever our personal feelings about the war and occupation happen to be.