God Willing
So as you walk out the door
Take care, and always be sure
That the ones in your life
Know that you love them tonight
Fate has one guarantee
And we all must agree
That the best laid plans
May all change by tomorrow
God willing, It's the last time I'll say goodbye
God willing, I'll see you on the other side
It's the last time I'll put my arms around you
The last time I'll look into your eyes
I've come here to put my arms around you
And say one final goodbye
Yeah, I'll see you on the other side
by Dropkick Murphys from The Meanest of Times (2007)
Tonight we remember three young men who died far from their homes while serving their country: Marine 1st Lt. Jason D. Mann, Navy Aviation Boatswain Mate Third Class Petty Officer Daniel R. Verbeke and Army Pfc. Willington M. Rhoads.
1st Lt. Jason Mann
DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
1st Lt. Jason D. Mann, 29, of Woodlynne, N.J., died July 17 from a non-hostile incident in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Prior to his death, Lt. Mann rushed to the site of a crashed helicopter and pulled the pilot to safety, in spite of the threat of an explosion due to spilling fuel.
"He was definitely a hero and the sad part is that he was a hero before the helicopter crash; he was a hero to all of us," said William Mann, Lt. Mann’s older brother, a veteran of the Iraq War. "He absolutely loved his country, definitely believed in what he was doing and wanted his family to be strong."
Two weeks after this latest example of Lt. Mann’s commitment to his mission and to his job, he was at his accommodations at a forward-operating base in Afghanistan, while British engineers were working on the facility and the roof collapsed, killing him. The investigation into the incident is on going. It is thought that the engineers did not know the building was occupied.
The Inquirer article continues:
"He was highly trained and such a smart kid. He was quick on his feet and definitely could handle himself. This was the only way he they would get him," according to his brother.
Jason had been a bit overweight when he was younger and kept to himself in high school, but he "broke out in the Marines. People didn’t know him. He went from not being involved in anything to doing marathons. He did the most rigorous training and excelled at it," Mann goes on to say.
Lt. Mann graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in finance and received top honors in his Marine Corps officer’s class. While the Marines and the job he was doing was very important to him, he was torn between his family and his country.
"His wife and child were his top priority; at the same time, he was definitely a true Marine. His wife understood and stood behind him." Lt. Mann’s wife, Shannon, is also a Marine and lives with the couple’s two year old daughter, Isabella, in Quantico, VA.
In addition to his wife, daughter and brother, Lt. Mann is survived by his mother, Alfina Mann, his father, Orville and sister, Jennifer Cleaver.
William Mann told the Inquirer, "His life was too short. I want people here to know of his sacrifice and his loss. He had such high goals and expectations, so many plans, so many things to accomplish. He lived 100 percent in the moment."
Rest in peace, 1st Lt. Jason Mann.
ABE3 Daniel R. Verbeke
DoD Identifies Navy Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Aviation Boatswain Mate Third Class Petty Officer (ABE3) Daniel R. Verbeke, 25, of Exton, Penn., died July 14 in Paoli, Penn. of complications from injuries he suffered in a flight deck accident in December 2005 while serving aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, CVN-71.
ABE3 Verbeke didn’t take "No" for an answer. When he first attempted to join the Navy, he was turned down because he was a bit overweight. Not to be discouraged, he began working out and was later accepted when he applied again, according to DailyLocal.com. That was in June 2004.
In December 2005, while serving aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, ABE3 Verbeke was hit by a piece of equipment while trying to repair a cable on the flight deck. The Iraq Page describes the grave injuries he sustained as a result of the accident—traumatic brain injury, a collapsed lung, fractured vertebrae and fractured ribs. He was initially comatose, but after months of intensive therapy he was able to begin speaking again, though a quadriplegic.
He was treated at military hospitals in Kuwait, Iraq, Germany and Bethesda, MD and was then a patient at the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center in Richmond, VA. He was finally moved to Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital in June 2006, where he continued to made steady progress enough to be transitioned to his home in June 2008.
The Iraq Page relates that he enjoyed visits from his former shipmates and listening to hip hop and classic rock. He was an avid Phillies fan and became upset when anyone blocked his view of the games he watched on television. He was looking forward to attending the Phillies-Atlanta Braves game July 27, which would have been the first game he would have attended since his injury. Instead, following a brief, critical illness, ABE3 Verbeke succumbed to his injuries on July 14.
According to The Pilot Online, Verbeke’s father, Robert Verbeke, fought for better care in the VA hospitals, following his son’s injury. He testified at a Senate Committee on Veteran’s Affairs in March that his son had received inadequate care at various facilities run by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. He said a VA official had recommended his son be placed in a dementia ward.
"The VA is still worrying more about cost than they are about proper amount of care to these guys," he told Hampton Roads. "Maybe what we have done will enable someone else to come home sooner with the type of care they need versus what they’re being told."
In the meantime, ABE3 Verbeke is remembered for his easy-going, friendly nature. He was "the guy when you were down—he’d pick you up," according to Chaplain Gary Taylor. "His friends on this ship loved him a lot."
In addition to his father, ABE3Verbeke is survived by his three year old daughter, Savanna; mother, Melanie North; step-mother, Katherine Verbeke and sister, Sarah Verbeke-O’Neill.
Rest in peace, ABE3 Daniel R. Verbeke.
Pfc. Willington M. Rhoads
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Pfc. Willington M. Rhoads, 23, of Las Vegas, Nev., died July 16 in Bagram, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion (Airborne), Vicenza, Italy.
According to the website dedicated to the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion (Airborne):
The 173d Airborne Brigade was constituted 5 August 1917 as an infantry brigade and organized 25 August 1917 at Camp Pike, Arkansas as an element of the 87th Division.
Later,
Deployed to Vietnam in May 1965, the brigade was the first major ground combat unit of the United States Army to serve there. They were the first to go into War Zone D to destroy enemy base camps, introduced the use of small long-range patrols, and conducted the only combat parachute jump in the Vietnam conflict on 22 February 1967 (Operation Junction City). They fought in the Iron Triangle and blocked NVA incursions at Dak To during some of the bloodiest fighting of the war in the summer and fall of 1967, culminating in the capture of Hill 875. Elements of the brigade conducted an amphibious assault against NVA and VC forces as part of an operation to clear the rice-growing lowlands along the Bong Song littoral.
The troopers of the 173d Airborne Brigade wear their combat badges and decorations with pride. During more than six years of continuous combat, the brigade earned 14 campaign streamers and four unit citations. Sky Soldiers serving in Vietnam received 13 Medals of Honor, 46 Distinguished Service Crosses, 1736 Silver Stars and over 6,000
Purple Hearts. There are over 1,790 Sky Soldiers' names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. The brigade was deactivated on 14 January 1972 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The 173d Airborne Brigade was then reactivated on 12 June 2000 on Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy, where it serves as European Command’s only conventional airborne strategic response force for the European Theater.
On March 26, 2003, the 173d added to its distinguished history by making the largest mass combat jump since WWII when the brigade’s Soldiers landed in the Bashur Drop zone effectively opening a northern front in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The actions of the brigade caused the Iraqi defenses to commit forces to the area making it safer for swift progress to Baghdad by other U.S. forces. Nine Sky Soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In the spring of 2005, the 173d began its second deployment in three years to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom VI. The 1-508th spearheaded the deployment in February by deploying forces along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Regional Command East. The remainder of the brigade deployed to Regional Command South, with all elements of the brigade demonstrating unparalleled bravery fighting anti-coalition forces in the bloodiest spring since original invasion in 2001. The brigade excelled in all aspects of the deployment to include facilitating a peaceful parliamentary election process in the fall of 2005. 17 Sky Soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice in support of operation Enduring Freedom VI.
It was in the spirit of this service that Pfc. Willington Rhoads lost his life. Rest in peace.
About "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT)
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, noweasels, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, chacounne, twilight falling, moneysmith, labwitchy, joyful, roses, SisTwo, monkeybiz, mediaprof and me, JeNoCo.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.