The young dead soldiers do not speak.
Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses:
who has not heard them?
They have a silence that speaks for them at night
and when the clock counts.
They say: We were young. We have died.
Remember us.
They say: We have done what we could
but until it is finished it is not done.
They say: We have given our lives but until it is finished
no one can know what our lives gave.
They say: Our deaths are not ours: they are yours,
they will mean what you make them.
They say: Whether our lives and our deaths were for
peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say,
it is you who must say this.
We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning.
We were young, they say. We have died; remember us.
~ Archibald MacLeish,
1892-1982, American Poet
May we hear them.
(First Lt. Todd W. Weaver is remembered tonight by blue jersey mom.)
On Friday the Department of Defense made the following announcement:
1st Lt. Todd W. Weaver, 26, of Hampton, Va., died Sept. 9 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
Todd Weaver was a Virginia native and a 2002 graduate of Bruton High School in York county. He joined the National Guard after the attacks on 9/11 while he was still in high school, and he served a 10-month deployment to Iraq in 2004.
Lt. Weaver attended the College of William and Mary, where he majored in government and was a cadet in the ROTC. He was commissioned as an officer in 2006.
"Todd Weaver was an outstanding student and leader, one of the very best in his class," John McGlennon, chair of the government department. "We in the government department share in the deep sense of loss that comes with news of Todd's tragic death."
Lt. Col. Barbara Streater, chair of military science, said that Weaver served as a cadet battalion commander during his time with the ROTC, a position assigned only to top cadets for excellence in leadership, scholarship and physical fitness.
"Clearly, he was the best of the best," she said. ~source
In 2008, Weaver received his BA from William and Mary, and he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Friends said that Weaver had a fun side to him - karaoke, for example. "It was good," Tony Wilson said. "We got him to sing and everything." ~source
Weaver's military honors and decorations include:
Army Commendation Medal; Army Achievement Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Mobilization Device; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; Air Assault Badge; Expert Infantry Badge; Parachutists Badge and the Ranger Tab. ~source
Lt. Todd Weaver leaves behind his wife, Emma, a one-year-old daughter, Kiley, and his parents, Don and Jeanne Weaver. A memorial service will be held in Afghanistan. Yesterday during the 9/11 wreath-laying ceremony at William and Mary, a second wreath was laid by the Sunken Garden in Weaver's honor.
May Lt. Todd Weaver rest in eternal peace.
* * * * *
Sgt. Jesse M. Balthaser, 23, of Columbus, Ohio
Sgt. Balthaser died Sept. 4 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Sgt. Balthaser was due home in November, one month before the birth of his first child.
For Jesse Balthaser, becoming a Marine was a goal since his days in high school. He went on to serve two deployments in Iraq before he was sent to Afghanistan in early April.
When he spoke with his girlfriend on Thursday, she told him to be safe, and he promised he would.
But the next day, his unit was involved in a firefight. When the shooting stopped that afternoon, the troops began to survey the area. Balthaser stepped on a roadside bomb.
"It killed him instantly," said his girlfriend, Erin McSweeney, who is pregnant.
(snip)
A graduate of West High School, he was the only child of Rick and Nancy Balthaser. His parents were told of his death Saturday.
"You just don't believe that it's true," Mr. Balthaser said last night. "I sat there and tried to deal with it as best I could."
(snip)
McSweeney, who is due to have their daughter, Reagan Michael, on Dec. 26, met Balthaser in high school. She frequently spoke with him over the phone and communicated with him through Facebook while he was deployed.
"He was the one that made it seem that it was going to be OK and was so happy to come home and have his little girl," McSweeney said.
Source ~ Columbus Dispatch
Photo ~ Memorial to a Marine
Sgt. Balthaser had always wanted to be a Marine.
(Sgt.) Balthaser was so eager to join up that his parents needed to sign paperwork to let the young man enlist while he was still in high school.
(snip)
"He was a smart kid, but he was more of a hands-on kind of guy," said his mother, Nancy Balthaser. "So the Marines was kind of a perfect fit for him at the time."
(snip)
Rick Balthaser said three Marines and a chaplain came to his home on Saturday with the news.
"You just don't believe that it's true," he said. "That's what I said. I thought, this can't be happening."
Source ~ 10TV
Sgt. Balthaser enlisted in the Marine Corps on August 29, 2005. His personal service awards include the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and NATO medal.
Sgt. Balthaser is survived by his parents, Rick and Nancy Balthaser, by his girlfriend, Erin McSweeney, by his grandmothers, Jean Rasor and Rose Balthaser, and by his grandfather, Fred Balthaser.
Sgt. Balthaser’s family will receive friends Monday, September 13, 2010 from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. at the Grove City Church of the Nazarene, 4770 Hoover Road, Grove City, OH 43123, where a funeral service will be held 10 a.m., Tuesday, September 14, 2010. Burial will follow in Green Lawn Cemetery.
Thank you, Sgt. Balthaser. Godspeed. Your mission is done.
* * * * *
Two soldiers based at Schofield Barracks were shot and killed in Iraq on Tuesday, the Department of Defense said.
Sgt. Philip C. Jenkins, 26, of Decatur, Ind., and Pvt. James F. McClamrock, 22, of Huntersville, N.C., were killed by small arms fire in the city of Balad, the Pentagon said.
Source ~ KITV
* * * * *
Sgt. Philip C. Jenkins, 26, of Decatur, Indiana
Sgt. Jenkins died Sept. 7 at Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered in a shooting incident in Salah ad-Din province. This incident is under investigation. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Sgt. Jenkins would have observed his 27th birthday on September 27.
After graduating from Bellmont High School in the spring of 2002, Jenkins entered the Army on July 18 and completed light infantryman training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
He was deployed to Afghanistan in April of 2004 and served until May of 2005. For more than two years, he was a recruiter in Indianapolis, from August of 2006 to October of 2008.
He was sent to Iraq last June and was scheduled to serve until June of next year.
(snip)
Source ~ Decatur Daily Democrat
Sgt. Jenkins’ family received the awful knock on the door on Tuesday.
Phillip Jenkins was deployed to Iraq in June. His mother was called Tuesday night by military officials and informed of his death, said Pam Lengerich of Decatur, a longtime friend of both Jenkins and his mother.
(snip)
Jenkins, a 2002 graduate of Bellmont High School, is survived by his wife and two children, who are living in Hawaii, where he had most recently been stationed.
(snip)
While in high school, Jenkins played saxophone in the band and also was a bagger at Scott’s Food & Pharmacy.
Source ~ The Journal Gazette
Decatur, Indiana is in mourning.
Friends are paying tribute to an Indiana soldier and father who died in Iraq this week.
(snip)
"Phillip was a very dedicated and motivated young man. Always had a smile for you," said Janice Reynolds, Jenkins' band director at Bellmont High School.
(snip)
"You ask why," said Reynolds.
Jenkins played saxophone in Bellmont High's band.
"Very punctual. Did exactly what you asked and always went above and beyond," said Reynolds.
Reynolds says Jenkins always knew he wanted to join the Army.
"He was very excited he was there and ready to do his job. He was dedicated. He loved what he was doing in the Army," she said.
Fritz Bultemeyer served with Jenkins in Afghanistan. He says he'll always remember Jenkins' passion to serve.
(snip)
"He's a great American fallen hero. He has died for his country. He's died for his principals to keep this country free. And that's what we always need to remember him for," said Bultemeyer.
Source ~ WTHR
WANE, the local TV station in Fort Wayne lead the broadcast on Wednesday with the news of Sgt. Jenkins’ death.
Sgt. Jenkins is survived by his wife, Melissa, by a stepdaughter, Lindly, 5 and by a daughter, Piper, 1, all of Wahiawa, Hawaii; by his mother, Rose and his father, David, of Decatur, and by his sister, Cassie.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Thank you, Sgt. Jenkins. Godspeed. Your mission is done.
* * * * *
Pvt. James Fleet McClamrock, 22, of Huntersville, North Carolina
Pvt. McClamrock died Sept. 7 at Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered in a shooting incident in Salah ad-Din province. This incident is under investigation. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
As a baggage screener at the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, Pvt. McClamrock watched the soldiers come and go, his mother said. It was this experience that motivated him to join the Army.
“He wanted to be on the front line. He wanted to make a difference,” his mother, Susan McClamrock, said Thursday as she waited at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for her son’s body to be returned to the U.S.
(snip)
James McClamrock was shot as he and other members of his unit were about to leave for a mission with some of the Iraqi forces they had trained, the military told his father, Mark McClamrock, pastor of Concord Associate Reform Presbyterian Church in Concord.
James McClamrock, who was born in Columbia, S.C., took leave from his job working security for the federal Transportation Security Administration at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport to enlist in the Army (a year ago), his mother said.
It was something he had thought about doing at least since he met his wife four years ago. They had been married for two years.
(snip)
“He’s always had an interest in it as long as I’ve known him. But he’d been praying about it, and he was like, ‘I really feel like this is what God wants me to do,’” said his wife, Shannah, 23. “Who was I to stop that?”
(snip)
She said her family was leaning on their faith to carry them through the loss.
“We have no doubt in our mind at all that we will see him again and that he’s in heaven. That doesn’t make it any easier for us missing him here on Earth, but it does relieve a lot of our worry because we know he’s OK,” Susan McClamrock said.
Source ~ WRAL
Pvt. McClamrock’s family got the terrible knock on the door on Tuesday.
Kathryn McClamrock sat in her upstairs bedroom Tuesday night crying over a "silly TV show," when her younger sister, 10-year-old Caroline, came in sobbing and wiping her face with a wet towel.
"She said, 'There's two people from the Army downstairs. It's about Jamie. He was shot. He's dead.'" Kathryn, 18, recalled Wednesday evening. "After that, I had something to really cry about."
(snip)
Wednesday evening in Concord, where McClamrock's parents and five siblings live, friends gathered at Concord ARP Church, where his father is the pastor.
They recalled a young man deeply religious, who had joined the Army a year ago after feeling a divine calling. They prayed for the families of the other dead soldier and the nine wounded soldiers.
"In the depth of our sorrow, we feel the sting tonight of James' loss," said Eugene Boelte, a retired minister and member of the congregation. "This has shocked us and stirred our emotion deeply.
"...But somewhere in all of this, at some point, we will find the answers of why."
(snip)
McClamrock didn't grow up playing war games, or aching to be a soldier, (his) sister Kathryn said.
He graduated from South Iredell High School in 2006, where he played soccer and tennis and kicked for the football team, she said.
Two years ago, his parents, Mark and Susan McClamrock, moved the family to Concord, where Mark grew up and where James' grandfather, Fleet McClamrock, was once police chief.
After high school, James got married, started college at Mitchell Community College and began working security for the federal Transportation Security Administration at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, she said.
(snip)
"Then one night he declared he was enlisting in the Army because 'God wants me to do this,'" Kathryn McClamrock said. "We're all strong Christians. If he said that, then nobody was going to stop him. His wife understood."
He signed up for a four-year stint and had been in the Army a year when he was killed.
(snip)
As news of James' death spread, a procession of friends brought food and hugs to the family's white two-story house on Marsh Avenue next to the church.
They all searched for answers - except for his sister, Kathryn.
"We don't need to know why," she said. "We don't need to blame anyone. The man who shot my brother is dead now, too. If you believe in God's strength, you know he will get us through this."
Source ~ The Charlotte Observer
At South Iredell High School, Pvt McClamrock is remembered as a “wonderful student.”
(Pvt.) McClamrock joined the Army last year, shipping out to Fort Benning, Ga., for basic training. He graduated in January 2010 and shipped out to Iraq in July. He recently earned the Combat Infantry Badge, Susan said, and was due for a promotion later this year.
(snip)
At the school Wednesday, staff members were notified that a former student was killed in the line of duty while serving in Iraq.
History teacher Jim McCoy taught McClamrock for three years and was shocked to hear the news.
(snip)
“It’s easy to hear on the nightly news that we’ve lost three or four soldiers,” he said. “It’s one of those things that really hit home when it’s somebody you know personally. . . . He really was a wonderful student.
(snip)
David Basinger was McClamrock’s soccer coach.
“He was a really good kid,” he said. “He did anything we asked him to do.”
McClamrock was described as talented on the soccer field — a major team contributor and a joy to have around.
“He was a great guy and everything positive you can think of,” he said.
(snip)
The ARP church is in the middle of the historic district in Concord. Outside on the sign, a bouquet of red and white flowers sat, a silent tribute to the family. The McClamrocks returned to Concord in 2008, when Mark became pastor. The church has a small congregation, but the outpouring of support has been tremendous.
(snip)
Concord Mayor Scott Padgett said the flags at city buildings would fly at half-staff in honor of McClamrock.
Source ~ Statesville Record & Landmark
Pvt. McClamrock is survived by his wife, Shannah, by his parents, Mark and Susan McClamrock, and by five brothers and sisters.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Thank you, Pvt. McClamrock. Godspeed. Your mission is done.
* * * * *
Cpl. John C. Bishop, 25, of Columbus, Indiana
Cpl. Bishop died Sept. 8 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Cpl. Bishop’s mother got the terrible knock on the door on Wednesday, just hours after receiving a letter from him.
On Thursday, she and her older son, Tyson Bishop, 35, of Indianapolis, packed into a car and headed to Delaware, where Bishop's flag-draped coffin was due to arrive at Dover Air Force Base.
(snip)
Bishop had shipped off to Afghanistan not long after the July Fourth holiday, when he and his family spent time fishing along the Ohio River in Madison. He expected to be home in February.
He had reservations about another tour in the battle zone, his mother said.
"It was the Marine in him," she said of his ability to keep going.
Bishop had known since he was a youngster that he was going to be a Marine. The bug bit him when Tyson headed off to the Marines in 1993.
Bishop graduated from Southwestern Shelby High School in 2003 and went straight into the Marine Corps. He and his older brother would banter about who was the tougher Marine.
(snip)
It was in the Marines, too, that Bishop met his wife, Crystle. He was a weapons instructor at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and she was an ammunition clerk.
The couple married less than a year ago and were awaiting the birth of a daughter next month.
Bishop also has a 4-year-old son, K'sean.
His tour in Afghanistan was to be his last, as Bishop planned on leaving the military and going to college to be a conservation officer. For a young man who rarely took life seriously, he was looking forward to starting another chapter, his mother said.
"He was just so ecstatic about it all," she said.
Source ~ Indianapolis Star
Tribute page created by his sister.
Cpl. Bishop was a squad leader assigned to 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7, I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward. He joined the Marine Corps in August 2003 and was promoted to corporal March 1, 2007. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from June 2004 to January 2005 and September 2005 to March 2006. Most recently he deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in July 2010. His awards include the Navy Unit Commendation Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Cpl. Bishop is survived by his wife, Crystle, by a son, K’shan, by his mother, Sarah Thomas, and by his sister.
There will be a memorial service for Cpl. Bishop at Stratton-Karsteter Funeral Home in Versailles on a date that has yet to be set.
Cpl. Bishop will be buried at Cliff Hill Cemetery next to his father, Gene Bishop, who died last year after a long illness.
Thank you, Cpl. Bishop. Godspeed. Your mission is done.
_________________________________________________________
Remember them. Honor their sacrifice.
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.
To date, 4418 members of the United States military have lost their lives in Iraq. The death toll thus far in 2010 is 48.
To date, 1278 members of the United States military have lost their lives in Afghanistan. The death toll thus far for 2010 is 335. 793 members of the military from other countries have also lost their lives.
Assisting our military: Supporting our troops is the RIGHT THING to do.
You can send a care package. Please consider brightening the day of a soldier with a care package.
You can write letters.
You can send a cup of organic coffee.
You can find other ways to give at 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.
You can help the left-behind animal companions of our troops. See how here.
And don’t forget them when they get home! Read welcomebackveterans.org to learn what you can do. Visit VoteVets and IAVA.
About the IGTNT series:
(Our beautiful logo was created by kossack Timroff. Thank you, Timroff.)
The purpose of the I Got the News Today series is 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. It is one of the oldest continuous series on Daily Kos.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, a girl in MI, Spam Nunn, JeNoCo, Janos Nation, True Blue Majority, Proud Mom and Grandma, CalNM, Wide Awake in KY, maggiejean, racheltracks and me, noweasels.
If you would like to contribute to the series, even once a month, please contact Sandy on Signal, or me, noweasels.
To see what these tributes mean to those who have lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan, please read Sandy on Signal’s story about meeting the father of a soldier at NN10.
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 ~ all of whom rest beneath our nation‘s flag ~ I hope that the comments tonight will demonstrate our respect for the sacrifices of our fallen military and our compassion for their families. Please reserve political and other comments for appropriate diaries; this is not one of them.