"I have searched my soul trying to understand why God would demand such a terrible sacrifice. I do not know the answer. No one does." |
JONATHAN M. ROSSI, died July 1, 2007, aged 20
For a moment they stood in the small chapel at Curlew Hills Funeral Home, unable to speak or move as they stared at the gray casket with silver rails containing their fallen soldier, Pfc. Jonathan Michael Rossi.
Kathleen Rossi, Jonathan's stepmother, stepped forward and knelt in front of the flag-covered casket. Michael Rossi reached out and slowly placed his hand on his firstborn's casket. Brother Jason Rossi moved forward and laid his head on the flag's stripes.
On July 1, a uniformed military officer notified Michael that his 20-year-old son had been killed fighting in Iraq. Sunday, Jonathan came home.
"It became real today, " Michael Rossi said, his eyes filling with tears. "It's been a week, but seeing his casket come off that plane - the realization just hit me."
Jonathan Rossi of Safety Harbor was killed July 1 in Baghdad. Insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire, the Department of Defense said. The 2005 Countryside High School graduate is the fifth service member from Pinellas to die in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Rossi was a member of the 1st Cavalry Division, stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas. One of eight siblings and stepsiblings, he joined the Army two months after graduation.
Michael Rossi's best friend, Reginald Bazemore, is on U.S. Air Force active duty. He met Jonathan's casket at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, then traveled with it to Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base, where the plane landed, then moved beneath a water arch created by the base Fire Department.
"Today was the hardest time for the family, hands down, " said Matthew Reif, 21, Jonathan's stepbrother.
After a 30-minute military ritual performed by an honor guard, the casket was placed in a hearse. Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies escorted it to the Courtney Campbell Parkway, where it was met by Pinellas County deputies.
The caravan snaked through Rossi's hometown. Firefighters at Safety Harbor's Station 53 saluted as he passed.
The hearse was led down Curlew Road to the Curlew Hills Funeral Home, where the casket was placed underneath a crucifix. A kneeler was placed before it.
Pinellas Deputy Rafael Navarro, who spent 18 months in Afghanistan, said, "We are guiding our fallen solider home."
Jonathan M. Rossi dies 'of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device and small arms fire'
Jonathan Rossi comes home
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"When you were having a bad day or thought that you were down and out, he always found a way to make you smile and make you laugh ... I'm going to miss that kid. I'm going to miss him a lot." |
RAYMOND R. BUCHAN, Died July 1, 2007, Aged 33
MICHAEL L. RUOFF JR., Died July 1, 2007, Aged 31
WILLIAM C. CHAMBERS, Died July 1, 2007, Aged 20
JEREMY L. TINNEL, Died July 1, 2007, Aged 20
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"I understand he was supporting his country, but I wish he had been given the chance to have a family of his own, to live the American dream." |
JUAN M. GARCIA-SCHILL, died July 1, 2007, aged 20
The young Marine serving in the dangerous, dusty world of war-torn Iraq was clearly tickled with the goodies he received out of the blue.
"Muchimas gracias for sending the care package!" Lance Cpl. Juan Manuel Garcia-Schill, 20, wrote Maria Saldivar in Plano, Texas. "My good friend Jose Sanchez and I took to it like children to candy!
"We use the hand sanitizer all the time," added the Marine, a 2005 graduate of Grants Pass High School. "We greatly appreciate the cup of noodles. They are preferred amongst the Marines. I swear that they are like currency here and I'm rich."
He also thanked her for the other items, from toothbrushes to tuna.
"Enough about our slobbering over your kindness," he continued. "I would like to let you know that we are more indebted to you than you could be towards us."
Saldivar received the letter via regular mail on June 27. "His letter was very moving, full of gratitude -- I was so happy to get it," she said.
"But last Saturday, when I got online to see if he had posted anything new, it said he was gone."
Four days after his letter arrived, the lance corporal, known fondly by friends and family as "Manuel," was killed. He died July 1 during combat operations in Anbar Province in Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
"You don't realize how something like this is going to affect you," said Saldivar, 22, who said she cried when she learned of the Marine's death.
"We had picked him so randomly," Saldivar said, reiterating she was devastated to learn of his death. "But I'm so glad he got the care package and knew someone cared."
His death brings to more than 3,610 the number of Americans in uniform who have died in Iraq since the war started in March 2003, according to The Associated Press. That number includes 61 from Oregon.
"It didn't seem fair -- he was just 20 years old," Saldivar said.
Juan M. Garcia Schill dies 'while conducting combat operations'
Juan Garcia-Schill remembered
Juan Garcia-Schill laid to rest
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VICTOR A. GARCIA, died July 1, 2007, aged 22
My wife and I met Victor Garcia when we visited our son Jonathan in Tacoma, Wash., in May 2005.
Jonathan was excited because "Garcia" - as Victor was known by his fellow soldiers - was his roommate. They had been at Fort Knox together for boot camp and were part of a selected group after tanker school who were assigned to the Stryker brigade that was being formed for 2nd Infantry.
Victor was a soft-spoken, skinny 20-year-old boy. It struck us then that it was so ironic that here were two guys with such different backgrounds who had become good friends.
Our son was a Kansas kid who went to a rural high school with fewer students in the whole school system than Victor had in his high-school class.
Their friendship continued to grow as others joined their new brigade at Fort Lewis. We remember Jonathan calling us and telling us about Victor being selected to attend language school. He was proud of Victor's ability to master Arabic. They would help each other study and quiz each other over the details they needed to know for their daily work as soldiers.
They loved to tease each other and had a passion for college football. Jonathan cheered for his Kansas State Wildcats and Victor was loyal to his USC Trojans. It wasn't hard to find them on Saturday afternoons in the fall because they would be watching college football with their other Notre Dame and Ohio State friends. Eventually they were able to move off post and into their own apartment, which made their football Saturdays that much bigger with friends coming over for a weekend break from their daily duties.
Jonathan and Victor reminded me of an old married couple when we would call because we would ask a question to Jonathan and he in turn would ask Victor, "Garcia, how many do you think were at that ceremony yesterday?"
"Hey Garcia, do you know how much they wanted for that car?"
"Garcia, how far is it the airport?"
To Jonathan, his best friend always seemed to have the answers.
On April 4, the day before they deployed, we had the privilege to be there for Victor's commendation for his service. The company's captain took special time as he shook his hand and congratulated him on completing language school. As we congratulated him after the ceremony, Victor smiled and shrugged his shoulders and made it seem like it was just another day.
Jonathan called us the day after we received word Victor had been killed by a sniper. He told us that they had teased each other last Sunday morning in the latrine as they were shaving and getting ready for their day's mission. Jonathan wept on the phone as he told us, "I wish I had taken the time to tell him how much he meant to me and how much I love him."
We assured Jonathan that Victor knew, but deep down his statement reminded us that no one does a very good job of telling people we care for how much we love them.
Just another soldier?
Not to my son.
Victor A. Garcia dies 'of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire'
Victor Garcia remembered
Victor Garcia remembered by friend's father
Victor Garcia laid to rest
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"He had super high-respect for women. He would say that's why he doesn't have a girlfriend: 'They all think I'm their best friend'." |
CHRISTOPHER N. RUTHERFORD, Died July 2, 2007, Aged 25
STEVEN A. DAVIS, Died July 4, 2007, Aged 23
SCOTT A.M. OSWELL, Died July 4, 2007, Aged 33
ANDREW T. ENGSTROM, Died July 4, 2007, Aged 22
MICHELLE R. RING, Died July 5, 2007, Aged 24
ANTHONY M.K.VINNEDGE, Died July 5, 2007, Aged 24
KEITH A. KLINE, Died July 5, 2007, Aged 24
JAMES M. AHEARN, Died July 5, 2007, Aged 43
STEVEN A.STACY, Died July 5, 2007, Aged 23
JEREMY L. STACEY, Died July 5, 2007, Aged 23
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JEREMY D. ALLBAUGH, died July 5, 2007, aged 21
Marine Cpl. Jeremy David Allbaugh always knew he wanted to be in the military.
"He dressed in fatigues for Halloween. He had camouflaged backpacks for school," his brother, Jason, said Monday.
Three years ago, Allbaugh joined the Marines even before he graduated from high school in Harrah. He was two months shy of his 18th birthday.
His parents, Jon and Jenifer Allbaugh, gave their permission with that combination of support and concern that parents often are asked to give.
"You know that's what they want to do, but it is always a very scary thing," Jenifer Allbaugh said.
"We also knew that if we didn't, he would just do it in two months anyway. So, we supported him."
Army 2nd Lt. Jason Allbaugh recalled during Friday's funeral at the First Christian Church some special moments and a brief conversation they had at his farewell party just before his younger brother deployed to Iraq with his Marine unit.
"He said, 'Jason, if something happens to me, do me a favor,'" Jason Allbaugh said.
"He said, 'Do two things for me. Take care of Mom and Dad,' and there was a pause in his voice," Jason Allbaugh said.
Then Jeremy said, "remember me."
Jeremy Allbaugh reported killed in Iraq
Jeremy Allbaugh laid to rest
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"It's been rough for all of us. Every few minutes, I remember something about him, and I just can't believe he's gone" |
ERIC A. LILL, Died July 6, 2007, Aged 28
KORY D. WIENS, Died July 6, 2007, Aged 20
BRUCE C. SALAZAR JR., Died July 6, 2007, Aged 24
GENE L. LAMIE, Died July 6, 2007, Aged 25
LE RON A. WILSON, Died July 6, 2007, Aged 18
STEVEN P. DAUGHERTY, Died July 6, 2007, Aged 28
ROBERT R. MCRILL, Died July 6, 2007, Aged 42
JASON D. LEWIS, Died July 6, 2007, Aged 30
JON M. LOCKEY, Died July 6, 2007, Aged 44
ROBERTO J. CAUSOR, Died July 7, 2007, Aged 21
JASON E. DORE, Died July 8, 2007, Aged 25
MARIA I. ORTIZ, Died July 10, 2007, Aged 40
JEFFREY R. McKINNEY, Died July 11, 2007, Aged 40
COURTNEY T. JOHNSON, Died July 11, 2007, Aged 26
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"I can remember when we were being our dorky selves and he decided to steal our Cheetos. He took them and jumped into a cat bed and curled into a ball and ate them." |
CHRISTOPHER D. KUBE, died July 14, 2007, aged 18
It was sad, and sadly unremarkable.
U.S. Army Spc. Christopher D. Kube was memorialized Thursday in a packed theater at this outpost in east Baghdad. Another fallen soldier. Another reminder, far from the public spotlight, of the grief that hits not only families of this war's casualties but also their comrades in arms.
He was 18.
He was a newlywed.
He was killed on July 14, eight months after he arrived in Iraq on a deployment that made him nervous from the start, as one fellow soldier remembered. Back at his home station, Fort Carson, Colo., he drew attention for being so young, so short, so slight and so cheerful.
"When I saw him I asked, 'How old are you, 10?'" recalled his platoon sergeant, Staff Sgt. Eugenie Byron-Griffin. "'What are you doing here? You're a baby.' He looked me straight in my eye, with his chest poked out like he does, and he said, 'I'm 17, and I ain't no baby. I'm a man.'"
Tears flowing, she added: "Everyone in the unit used to mess with him because he was so small. And almost always he would fight hard to prove his manhood. Like when he purchased his first vehicle and bragged about how little he paid for it."
He was determined, Byron-Griffin said: "Even when he was afraid, he would face his fear straight-up. And that was what he did when he enlisted in the Army. He said he was afraid he would deploy to Iraq. But he wanted to make a better life for himself and his family."
Born on Sept. 7, 1988, in Sterling Heights, Mich., Kube enlisted on Oct. 25, 2005, just making the minimum legal age of 17 for joining the military.
Last November he and his unit said their goodbyes and headed for war.
Last Saturday, as he stood in the gun turret of an armored Humvee that was ferrying a team of soldiers to a meeting to promote reconciliation among rival Iraqi religious rivals, a roadside bomb - the leading killer of American soldiers - struck him, killing him instantly.
His memorial was, in some ways, like those held almost every evening across Baghdad and beyond. A chaplain gave an invocation. The soldier's commander gave a heartfelt tribute. Fellow soldiers recalled their time together, their sense of loss, their grief and pain.
In their remembrances, no soldiers questioned the war. Instead they honored a life. They sat in silence as a series of photos of Kube were projected on a large screen. Words of tribute flashed on the screen.
"You were like a little brother to us all," wrote one.
"I feel sorry for the rest of the world," wrote another.
The Rev. Tomasko told mourners of a young man whose small stature led him to be the target of teasing as a youth. But that didn't stop Kube from pursuing a goal of one day joining the Army.
"Kube was not a very big man," Tomasko said. "He was a little fellow. But he sure did have a big heart."
Christopher D. Kube dies 'of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device'
Christopher Kube remembered
Christopher Kube honored by comrades
Christopher Kube laid to rest
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"He missed that baby. He was worried about him learning to walk without being there. He said there are things you just can't make up in life." |
ALLEN A. GREKA, Died July 14, 2007, Aged 29
JOHN R. MASSEY, Died July 14, 2007, Aged 29
TREY (BENJAMIN B.) BARTLETT JR., Died July 15, 2007, Aged 25
ERIC M. HOLKE, Died July 15, 2007, Aged 31
ROBERT D. VARGA, Died July 15, 2007, Aged 24
SHAWN V. STARKOVICH, Died July 16, 2007, Aged 20
BRANDON K. BOBB, Died July 17, 2007, Aged 20
RON J. JOSHUA, Died July 17, 2007, Aged 19
NATHAN S. BARNES, Died July 17, 2007, Aged 23
PATRICK L. WADE, Died July 17, 2007, Aged 38
JEFFREY L. CHANEY, Died July 17, 2007, Aged 35
SPANKY (JAMES J.) HARRELSON, Died July 17, 2007, Aged 19
ZACHARY CLOUSER, Died July 18, 2007, Aged 19
DANIEL E. GOMEZ, Died July 18, 2007, Aged 21
RICHARD GILMORE III, Died July 18, 2007, Aged 22
LUIS E.GUTIERREZ-ROSALES, Died July 18, 2007, Aged 38
RONALD L. COFFELT, Died July 19, 2007, Aged 36
BRANDON M. CRAIG, Died July 19, 2007, Aged 25
RHETT A. BUTLER, Died July 20, 2007, Aged 22
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"This feels like falling with nothing to hold on to. I don't know what next to do. You're just falling, falling, hoping for some ground, some answer to this whole thing." |
CHRISTOPHER G. SCHERER, died July 21, 2007, aged 21
Christopher Scherer grew up loving all things military. He admired uniforms and loved to ride the fire trucks at the Centerport Fire Department where his grandfather volunteered.
Scherer, a Northport High School graduate who enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at age 17, was killed Saturday in Iraq, three months into his deployment there.
He was 21, having just celebrated his birthday on June 29.
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?
Scherer's younger twin sisters, Meghan and Katie, both 18, said they looked up to him as a hero before he became a Marine, when he protected them in school.
Most of all, his family remembered his sense of humor. Even on this saddest of days, his parents, big brother, Timothy Jr., 22, and sisters smiled in the pews as one speaker after another recalled Scherer's hijinks, especially his impressions of actors.
"When I think about Chris, I can't help but smile," said Meghan Scherer. "He always had us laughing."
It was a trait that extended to the barracks. Lt. Col. Wayne Sinclair, Scherer's battalion commander, said many Marines recalled Scherer's bushy mustache
in Iraq and how he reacted when a commander ordered all Marines to shave.
"Sir, I can't shave it off," Scherer told his platoon commander, Lt. Doug Orr. "I ain't got nothing else."
"What do you mean?" Orr said jokingly, according to Sinclair. "We got each other right?"
Then Scherer started singing Bon Jovi's hit, "Without Love," at the top of his lungs.
"He had the platoon in stitches," Sinclair said.
Scherer's favorite drink was Guinness, and the family buried him with one bottle in the coffin. Last night, Scherer's father said, they had plans to drink a 12-pack with Scherer's friends, with one rule: You must tell a story about Scherer with every swig.
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."
Christopher G. Scherer dies of 'wounds suffered while conducting combat operations'
Chris Scherer laid to rest
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"He used to tie a towel around his neck and pretend to be a hero." |
JACOB S. SCHMUECKER, Died July 21, 2007, Aged 27
SHAWN G. ADAMS, Died July 22, 2007, Aged 21
BOBBY L. TWITTY, Died July 22, 2007, Aged 22
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"He was given the nickname 'Wild Thing' once in high school. We had this motivational speaker and we were in an assembly and he got up and sang 'Wild Thing' in front of the whole school. He brought the house down." |
HEATH (JAMES H.) McRAE, died July 24, 2007, aged 22
Marine Cpl. James McRae volunteered to go to Iraq so many times that he jokingly threatened to fill up his barracks room on Camp Kinser with sand and sleep on the floor unless the Corps cut him orders.
McRae, 22, a diesel mechanic, was killed July 25 by a homemade bomb planted in the Diyala province of Iraq.
In Camp Kinser Chapel on Wednesday, about 130 people gathered to memorialize McRae as an exemplary Marine who excelled at his duties and a loyal friend who kept everyone laughing.
"He always set the example and led from the front," said Col. Brant Goddard, commanding officer of Combat Logistics Regiment 35. "He definitely taught us how to live by the Marine Corps motto, 'Semper Fidelis.'"
The mood in the chapel alternated between somber and lighthearted. As images of McRae clad in a straw hat or knocking golf balls into the ocean rolled across the screen of a large television, several of his platoon mates were unable to contain their laughter.
At Camp Kinser, McRae was known for the stunts he pulled off.
Whether it was welcoming new members of his unit by bursting into their rooms in the middle of the night with a ski mask and an electric guitar, or rappelling off the third floor of his barracks to fetch his DVD player that he had just thrown out a window, McRae was the guy you could never dare to do anything, even in passing, because he would walk off and do it, his friends said.
Sgt. Joseph Wunrow, 22, of Berlin, Wis., told a story after Wednesday's service about some recliners McRae purchased.
McRae went to a military surplus auction on Camp Kinser and saw two recliners attached to a pallet. He bid $5 for them. At the end of the auction, he and his platoon were the proud owners of 36 chairs. Apparently, the two chairs were samples of a larger lot.
"They were all $5, and no one else outbid him, so he got them," Wunrow said, smiling.
When asked about McRae, Cpl. Lucas Koerner, 21, of Appleton, Wis., smiled and said he was beyond description.
"It would take forever to explain," he said.
Heath (James H.) McRae dies 'while conducting combat operations'
Heath McRae remembered
Heath McRae honored by comrades
Heath McRae laid to rest
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"I feel so sorry for everyone that didn't get to know him like we did. I feel bad for them, worse than I feel for any of us because you know he was a wonderful person and we had him for 23 years and it's just sad to me for people that won't ever get to know him." |
COURTNEY D. FINCH, Died July 24, 2007, Aged 27
MATTHEW R. ZINDARS, Died July 24, 2007, Aged 21
ROBERT A. LYNCH, Died July 24, 2007, Aged 20
DANIEL S. NOBLE, Died July 24, 2007, Aged 21
CAMY FLOREXIL, Died July 24, 2007, Aged 20
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"We never heard from him again after he crossed into Iraq." |
JOSHUA P. MATTERO, died July 24, 2007, aged 29
Army Staff Sgt. Joshua P. Mattero was far from the highways he fearlessly explored on his motorcycle when the bombs exploded Tuesday.
The 29-year-old from Chula Vista was working to neutralize improvised explosive devices in Baquba, Iraq.
Later that day, Sara Mattero heard a knock on her front door. She had recently finished reading an e-mail from her son in Iraq and felt uneasy about its many typos.
"I know he did it fast before leaving," Mattero said yesterday.
It wasn't the first bomb attack her son confronted, but he had always escaped relatively unharmed. This time, two soldiers sat in her home and told her that Joshua's death saved others from harm.
"They said he was a hero," Sara Mattero said, "but that doesn't bring him back."
She and her son were corresponding through e-mails about him possibly getting out of the military. An opponent of the Iraq war from its start, Sara Mattero wanted him to leave the Army. But she emphasized that the ultimate decision rested with him.
The two also talked about the issue last fall, when Joshua Mattero came home for a visit. The Army had offered him a hefty bonus to re-enlist, and the money proved an attractive draw.
But mother and son shared an ominous feeling, Sara Mattero recalled. That reunion was the last time she saw her son alive.
"I had a horrible feeling when he went back over there this time. I think he did too," she said.
Mattero had deployed for his third combat tour in the Middle East in December. He belonged to the 749th Ordnance Company, 63rd Explosive Ordnance Battalion, a bomb unit stationed out of Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
His Army service began in 1998, two years after he graduated from Castle Park Senior High School in Chula Vista. He chose the bomb squad because its tight-knit camaraderie and highly technical work suited him.
Mattero possessed engineering skills since childhood. Family members remembered coming home to find various appliances disassembled.
"I remember when he was in high school, he brought home a stereo and took it apart into 10 million pieces," said Melissa Mattero, his younger sister. "He would take it apart and put it back together again just to see how it worked."
Despite their seven-year age difference, the siblings developed a special bond as they grew older. Sometimes they went out on the town, sometimes they rode motorcycles.
"He went with the flow," Melissa Mattero said.
Joshua's easygoing demeanor, confidence and charm made him well-liked.
He had no qualms about being the only male cheerleader on the Castle Park High squad. Mattero often drew standing ovations during pep rallies and became the envy of other guys.
"They were in awe of him," said his older brother, Scott Mattero.
Josh was a smart young man who drifted a bit after high school graduation. He joined the Army for some direction, and learned to love it. He married young, too.
When he was 18, he walked into a McDonald's one day wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, carrying a backpack and a bicycle. Analynn was working the counter.
She watched this young buck hoist up his bicycle and head up to place an order.
"I thought two things: What is this guy doing? And, damn, is he cute!" she says.
They got married two years later on July 18, 1999, in a small ceremony on a San Diego beach. Two weeks after that, Josh shipped out on his first deployment.
Months later, Analynn joined him in Germany, but couldn't adjust to the military.
"To all those military wives, I give them my support, because I couldn't do that," she says.
Josh was deployed for half their married life, she says. They divorced in 2004, but remained close.
The funeral was in four days, and Analyn was helping Sara clean out part of the garage.
It was filled with reminders of Josh: tattered board games, his track uniform, a Cub Scout book, a rifle he had asked Sara to safeguard while he was in Iraq.
The women finished with the pantry and began sorting photos for the slide show the funeral home was preparing for the visitation Monday night.
Piles of snapshots covered the kitchen table.
There was Josh blowing bubbles. Josh running to second base in his Little League uniform. Josh making his sister and cousins watch as he pounded nails into a piece of wood. Josh at the prom with a girl much taller than he was. Josh in uniform standing in front of a wrecked sport utility vehicle in Kosovo with a huge smile on his face.
Sara stared at the photo of her son on his fourth birthday, sitting in front of a pink cake with white frosting.
She had always let him choose what kind of cake he wanted.
"He liked rainbow," she said. "He liked the colors."
Joshua P. Mattero dies 'wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device'
Joshua Mattero remembered
Joshua Mattero remembered by family
Joshua Mattero laid to rest
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DANIEL A. LECKEL, died July 25, 2007, aged 19
The fall after Daniel Leckel graduated from high school, he wanted to go back to Glendale High for the senior night game against the Riddle Irish.
Leckel had moved to Medford, where he was working and attending Rogue Community College and he didn't have a way to get back to Glendale. Instead of calling someone to drive down and pick him up, Leckel decided to walk the 56 miles from Medford to Glendale.
He set out the night before the game, spent three hours under a freeway overpass in Grants Pass to get out of a heavy rainstorm and get some sleep. By 8 o'clock the next morning, he arrived in Glendale, soaked from the continuing rain.
Bret Prock, who was a senior that year, 2006, remembered coming to school that day and being amazed that the game would mean so much to Leckel that he would walk that far. Leckel had served as the team manager for both the Pirate football team and the baseball team during his four years in high school and both teams were important to him.
"That was just Daniel. He was going to be there no matter what," said Prock, who played on the team, which won its game that night. "It showed how much he cared."
When Steve Prock, Bret's dad and coach of the Glendale High football team, spoke to reporters at the end of the 2005 season, he included Leckel, his manager, among the players he said he would miss the most.
"I said it jokingly, but I really meant it. He was my right-hand man," Steve Prock said.
Leckel injured his hand during pre-season practices his freshman year and could not play. However, he still wanted to be involved with the team and Prock asked him to be the manager. While other students might not see the position as that important, Leckel approached it with enthusiasm and made it his own.
"He took it like it was the coolest job in the world," Steve Prock said.
He laid out uniforms in front of the players lockers. He also carried around a small air pump in a fanny pack he kept around his waist and pumped air into the supportive pads in each player's helmet. During games, he would sprint down the sidelines trying to keep up with Pirate pass receivers headed toward the end zone.
During Bret Prock's senior year, Leckel had gone to basic training and his friends went several months without seeing him. Then, one day, he showed up before a baseball game in his full Army dress uniform. He greeted the team and was asked to take batting practice, in his uniform.
Leckel, known to his friends as either "Leck" or "De-Leck-table," wanted to become a sports reporter, Bret Prock said. He wrote for the Glendale High paper and there were times when the paper contained only sports news that Leckel had written. He planned to return to Oregon after his service in the Army and pursue his goal of becoming a journalist, he said.
Daniel Leckel was just a few weeks short of his 20th birthday when he died.
Daniel Leckel reported killed in Iraq
Daniel Leckel remembered
Daniel Leckel remembered by friends
Daniel Leckel laid to rest
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"He was leery about going to Iraq this time because the unit had a history of casualties." |
JAIME RODRIGUEZ JR., Died July 26, 2007, Aged 19
WILLIAM R. HOWDESHELL, Died July 26, 2007, Aged 37
MICHAEL A. BALOGA, Died July 26, 2007, Aged 21
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"He once told me it didn't matter if he came home, just as long as those boys under him did." |
CHARLES E. BILBREY JR., died July 26, 2007, aged 21
Charles Bilbrey, Charlie as his family calls him, had dreamed of being in the army since the age of 10.
That dream came to a tragic end on Thursday in Iraq.
His family says the oldest brother of four wasn't a fighter, but a peacemaker.
"He had a very strong sense of what's right and what's wrong. Very early on he knew he wanted to be a United States soldier," said his mother Barbara Bilbrey.
His father last spoke with Charlie a week before his death.
"You knew he was fine for the rest of that day. But the next day you go back to worrying," Charles Bilbrey Sr. said.
His mother will always remember his last visit home.
"He couldn't be within a foot of me those 15 days where he didn't pull me, grab me, and hold me, and hold me as tight as he could. And that's what I'll always carry with me," Barbara Bilbrey said.
His sister, Brianne, 19, recalled her brother's love of the Japanese card game YuGiOh! and how he taught younger brother Patrick to count at the age of 3 by playing the game. She also laughed about Charles' antics in school.
"Charlie was a riot," she said. When he won the position of class treasurer at Owego Free Academy his speech was, "I'm Charles Bilbrey and I'm too cool for this microphone. Peace out," she said with a laugh.
His parents laughed as they recalled their son's recent chance meeting with Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar in an airport.
While Sammy signed an autograph, Charles Jr. said, "I liked Van Halen better when it had David Lee Roth (the band's original lead singer)." Hagar ripped up the autograph.
"He was just that type of kid," said his father.
They also said Charles Jr. would be proud for people to know that he and his friends were once asked to leave an all-you-can-eat buffet because they ate so much food.
The mood changed in the house, however, when Charles Sr. played an answering machine message his son left a week ago. Charles Jr.'s tired voice greeted his parents through a broken satellite transmission.
"We'll keep that always," said his father.
Charlie's death is still too tough for his nine year old brother Patrick to talk about.
Charles E. Bilbrey Jr. reported killed in Iraq
Charlie Bilbrey remembered
Charlie Bilbrey laid to rest
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"He was a really comical kid. He was just so light-hearted. But when it was time to be serious, he was serious. You couldn't ask for a nicer kid... It rips my guts out to hear what happened." |
CODY C. GRATER, Died July 29, 2007, Aged 20
WILBERTO SULIVERAS, Died July 29, 2007, Aged 38
SEAN A. STOKES, Died July 30, 2007, Aged 24
JASON M. KESSLER, Died July 30, 2007, Aged 29
ALFRED H. JAIRALA, Died July 31, 2007, Aged 29
CHARLES T. HEINLEIN JR., Died July 31, 2007, Aged 23
ZACHARIAH J. GONZALEZ, Died July 31, 2007, Aged 23
DANIEL F. REYES, Died July 31, 2007, Aged 24
BRADLEY W. MARSHALL, Died July 31, 2007, Aged 37
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"He was my life, and I will be forever broken" |
STEPHEN R. MADDIES, died July 31, 2007, aged 41
Stephen R. Maddies' smiling face filled the big-screen TV at the front of the auditorium at the National Guard Armory on Sunday night.
Hundreds gazed at the lively photo of the fallen soldier while the solemn and powerful tones of the hymn "Amazing Grace" reverberated through the armory, the home of Troop F, 2nd squadron of the 278 Armored Cavalry Regiment.
A few words faded in over the soldier's picture: "We Will Always Remember."
And that is exactly what everyone did.
Maddies' military career spanned 15 years of active duty in the U.S. Army and five years with the Tennessee National Guard. He toured in Bosnia, Honduras and Kuwait, plus two stints each in Korea and Iraq.
He died while serving his country, and the memorial service paid tribute to his career. But more than honoring Maddies the soldier, friends and family took time to honor Maddies the man.
"If you had a bad day, he knew how to fix it," said Staff Sgt. Andy Collins, who served with Maddies.
John Spears, who first met Maddies in 2001 and shared a room with him and seven other soldiers while in Iraq, remembered him for his sense of humor.
"He was always messing with someone. It was funny -- it made the time go by faster," Spears said. "He was one of those guys, if he was thinking it, he said it."
The conversation was full of "remember whens," and each memory sparked smiles and laughter. During the service, several fellow soldiers stood at the podium to speak. They talked about Maddies, fighting tears, and pausing from time to time.
Staff Sgt. Donald Furley remembered the time Maddies dared him to wrap a band-aid around the rim of the "nerdy glasses" he had to wear for protection. Furley said he'd put the bandage on, but only if Maddies agreed to steal the bus parked behind them.
Maddies agreed, and for the next couple of days he drove himself and his fellow soldiers to and from the chow hall.
Maddies left behind a wife, four children, his mother, and brothers and sisters. It was obvious Sunday night that he also left behind a number of friends.
At the end of the service, Command Sgt. Maj. John Cartwright delivered the last roll call.
He called each name of the men in the troop:
"Staff Sergeant John Spears."
"Present, Sgt. Major," Spears said.
"Staff Sergeant Andy Collins."
"Present, Sgt. Major," Collins said.
The list went on, and one by one, and each soldier stood. Then Cartwright called the final name three times, by tradition:
"Staff Sergeant Stephen Maddies."
"Staff Sergeant Stephen Maddies."
"Staff Sergeant Stephen Maddies."
A cool breeze drifted through the silent auditorium. No one said a word.
Stephen R. Maddies dies 'of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire'
Stephen Maddies remembered
Stephen Maddies honored at memorial service
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"He didn't understand why he was there, but he was going to fight for his country. He didn't agree with what was happening there, but he was still willing to fight." |