Hawaii says a final "Aloha" to its son, Specialist Christopher P. Sweet, who died February 6th in Kirkush, Iraq.
Massachusetts says a mournful "Goodbye" to Lance Corporal Kevin T. Preach, who died February 7th from wounds he received January 24th while supporting combat operations in Farah province, Afghanistan.
Illinois says a doubly sad "Farewell" to two of its sons who died February 8th in Kabul, Afghanistan. The two men were First Lieutenant Jared Southworth and Staff Sergeant Jason Burkholder
Specialist Christopher P. Sweet
Christopher Sweet from Maui enlisted in the Army in 2006. His first assignment was to the Republic of Korea as a motor transport operator for Alpha Company, 602nd Aviation Support Battalion.
Specialist Christopher P. Sweet was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade, which was stationed at Grafenwoehr in Germany.
The 28-year-old soldier from Kahului, Hawaii, was injured February 6th in Iraq in a non-combat related incident. Sweet died in Kirkush, a military training base northeast of Baghdad. The circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated and the Army did not provide further details.
Since March 2003 when the U.S. invaded Iraq, 93 soldiers, four sailors, 84 Marines, two Air Force personnel and one civilian with Hawaii ties have been killed there.
An article in the Maui News indicates that Specialist Sweet and his family were remembered well:
KAHULUI - Christopher P. Sweet, a 1999 Maui High School graduate who died last week in a noncombat incident in Iraq, was remembered Wednesday as a good person and one who would take his ailing father to the doctor when he came home to Kahului while on leave from the Army.
"He was quiet . . . never caused trouble," said Cindy Natividad, manager of Luana Gardens, where Sweet and his family lived for more than 10 years.
Natividad, who saw Sweet grow up, said his family moved away from Maui around three years ago to join Christopher, who was already in the service. She said the Sweets did not have any family here on Maui.
Natividad called Sweet's death "so sad" as she looked at a recent photo of the 28-year-old specialist, who died Friday in Kirkush, a military training base northeast of Baghdad.
According to the Honolulu Advertiser:
Sweet, a 1999 graduate of Maui High School, died less than three months into a yearlong mission to Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade based in Grafenwohr, Germany, according to a report in Stars & Stripes.
Capt. Justin Wegner, 172nd Rear Detachment executive officer, told Stars & Stripes the death is the first suffered since the unit deployed to Iraq in late November from Grafenwohr.
A memorial ceremony to honor Sweet will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Grafenwohr.
Sweet's awards included the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and Overseas Service Ribbon.
A memorial statement from the Army said Christopher Sweet was a "quality soldier."
"His presence will be missed by all the soldiers of the Task Force Black Knights. His dedication to his duty, to his family and to his faith were an inspiration to us all," it said.
Sweet is survived by his mother, Christina Sweet, his father, Peter Sweet, and his younger brother, Kyle.
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Lance Corporal Kevin T. Preach
Kevin Preach from Bridgewater, Massachusetts. was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Lance Corporal Preach was deployed to Afghanistan on Nov. 12, 2008. It was his first deployment. Preach served in southern Afghanistan, in the Farah Province.
Lance Corporal Preach had been severely injured when his Humvee was hit by an improvised explosive device on Jan. 24. Kevin Preach lost both legs and a hand and suffered severe burns.
According to theEnterprise News, Kevin was remembered as being a "quiet kid with a beautiful smile":
Preach was injured on Jan. 24 when the Humvee in which he was a gunner was hit by an improvised explosive device. He was at Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio in a medically induced coma last week. According to his mother, Laurie Hayes of Bridgewater, Preach lost both legs and a hand and was badly burned.
He was the first Bridgewater soldier to lose his life in service since the Vietnam War, says Bridgewater Veterans’ Agent Roderick K. Walsh.
"He was the funniest person I have ever met," said Brianna Kelliher of Bridgewater, 18, Preach’s girlfriend of three years. "He would always make sure that everyone around him was comfortable, so he would always tell jokes. He was a gentleman, always opening car doors for girls and looking out for everyone around him, and he was the most selfless person. He was always happy and always made everyone around him happy. And of course he was the best boyfriend I will ever have."
The Lance Corporal died February 7th. He was 21 years old.
Kelliher is quoted atBoston.com as saying that in a phone conversation 2 weeks before the explosion, "We said our I-love-yous but we never said goodbye. It was always, See you later.":
Preach, a lance corporal gunner, was riding in a Humvee on Jan. 24, when an improvised explosive device detonated. He lost both legs, a hand, and was badly burned. Another Marine who was in the Humvee died. Preach had been in a medically induced coma until his death last Saturday.
His mother, Laurie Hayes, was in Texas yesterday, where he had been hospitalized.
Since World War I, the town has lost 42 service members. A plaque hanging in the tidy office of Roderick Walsh, the town's director of Veteran Services, bears their names. Soon, Walsh will take it down and add Preach's.
Kevin Preach’s father was a Marine. When Kevin became a Marine too, it helped inspire his younger brother, Dan, to go into training to become a Marine too. Kevin was being kept on life support until his 18-year-old brother, Dan, could see him.
According to thePatriot Ledger late January was a bad time for soldiers from the area:
In the same week, soldiers from Rockland and Swansea died in accidents in Iraq. Since the war began, 74 servicemen and woman from Massachusetts have been killed.
Amid the tragedy, Dan stuck with the basic training and on Friday finished the final test — "the Crucible," a 54-hour endurance test in which Marine recruits survive on just three meals and four hours of sleep.
Exhausted, he flew that night to Texas to see Kevin, who was in a medically-induced coma at a military hospital in San Antonio.
Dan and his mother, Laurie Hayes, decided not to keep him on life support any longer, and Kevin died that night after the family had left the hospital...
On Sunday morning, after his death, Bridgewater people started lowered flags at half staff as soon as they heard the news that Kevin Preach had died.
His awards included the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
The Patriot Guard Riders have been asked to attend the funeral services, once the plans are finalized.
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Illinois lost two of its own on Sunday, February 8th. The WMBD/WYZZ-TV News reports that:
"The deaths of 1st Lt. Southworth and Staff Sgt. Burkholder are a loss felt by all of us in the Illinois National Guard, both overseas and here at home," said Maj. Gen. William Enyart, Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard. "When we lose an Illinois National Guard Soldier, it's like losing a brother or sister.
On behalf of the men and women of the Illinois National Guard, we offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of Lt. Southworth and Staff Sgt. Burkholder. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all."
...Southworth and Burkholder are the 20th and 21st casualties the Illinois National Guard has suffered since operations in Afghanistan and Iraq began. No information on funeral arrangements has been determined at this time.
According to an AP article on chron.com the two died when a roadside bomb they were trying to defuse exploded.
A group of American soldiers and Afghan officials had been traveling through the world's largest opium poppy producing region — the southern province of Helmand — when they discovered the roadside bomb and tried to defuse it, said Kamal Uddin, Helmand's deputy provincial police chief.
Two American soldiers died in the blast, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias. Uddin said an Afghan translator and a police officer also died.
Helmand is a stronghold of Taliban militants, who control wide swaths of territory in the province. Helmand has long been the domain of British forces in the 40-nation fight against the Taliban, but the U.S. is expected to send thousands of troops there this year to help battle a militant movement that has grown in strength in the past three years.
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First Lieutenant Jared Southworth
Jared Southworth graduated from Oakland High School in Illinois in 2000. He continued his education at Lakeland College and received an Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in General Studies at Eastern Illinois University in 2006.
The Oakland native was a member of the Oakland Police force He lived in Oakland with his wife and four children.
Southworth enlisted in the Illinois Army National Guard in October of 2004 and was commissioned through Eastern Illinois University Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program in May 2006.
He had been in Afghanistan for just a few weeks during his first tour overseas. He was 26 years old when he died.
According to the Illinois Homepage, his mom, Kimberly Southworth, said:
"He just wrote his son a letter last week," said Kim. "He was trying to explain to his son that he was trying to get the bad guys."
While overseas Jared knew his family was leaning on each other back home.
"He knew we were here taking care of things so he didn't have to worry back here."
Though her son was a husband, a father and a hero, Kim remembers him most as the energetic boy who loved life and hated to sit still.
Lieutenant Colonel Coblentz, a professor of military science at Eastern, talked to The Daily Eastern News about the Second Lieutenant’s visit to the university:
Southworth came back in 2006 when he was commissioned as an active duty soldier and a gold bar recruiter as a second lieutenant.
Coblentz said Southworth worked with the recruits and told them about the advantages and benefits of Army ROTC and military service.
"He was a good liaison with the students and the Illinois National Guard," Coblentz said. "He had contacts and knew about the requirements.
"He was a very hard worker, tactically proficient individual, very engaging and personable. He was great to have around, worked well with others all the time."
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Staff Sergeant Jason Burkholder
Jason Burkholder was listed by the DoD as a resident of Champaign, Illnois, He graduated from Elida High School in Ohio in 2000. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps that same year. He completed his obligation to the Marine Corps in January of 2004 and enlisted into the Ohio National Guard in December of 2004. In April 2008, Burkholder transferred into the Illinois Army National Guard. Burkholder was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment of Marion, Illinois.
This was Burkholder’s second deployment. His first deployment was in Iraq from September 2006 to September 2007.
He was 27 years old when he died and leaves behind a wife. They were married in November before he was sent to Afghanistan. He's the third soldier from his small town to die in Iraq or Afghanistan.
According to LimaOhio.com, Amanda Burkholder commented on February 3rd, in an entry on her husband's Facebook profile, that she couldn't wait to see him in 27 days. Later she wrote:
"It can't be true. You can't be gone," Amanda Burkholder wrote. "We have so much left to do. I need you. I know you are in Heaven looking over me and my heart will always be with you. You are my one true love and always will be. I will never let you go."
There were many quotes in the article, including this one:
Tom Rose, of Kent, who served as Burkholder's platoon leader and company commander in Iraq, said he was a superstar soldier who could be counted to deliver under pressure or help lighten the mood.
"Everybody liked him. I liked him, his soldiers liked him, his peers liked him," Rose said. "He was a really good person. To me, that's the value of a man - what you're like when no one is around. He was the heart and soul of the platoon. He made people feel good about what they were doing."
Burkholder's unit left Illinois in September and arrived in Afghanistan in December of 2008, officials with the National Guard said. His unit is scheduled to return home in October of this year.
Burkholder, the son of Bruce and Diane Burkholder, of Elida, was the third soldier from Elida killed in either Iraq or Afghanistan.
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About the IGTNT series:
"I Got the News Today" is a diary series intended to honor, respect, and remind us of the sacrifice of our troops. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, JeNoCo and Mediaprof. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but 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 me, Sis.
Fallen service members whose names have been released by the Department of Defense will usually be diaried two days after the official announcement on the DoD website. This allows the IGTNT team to cover each person more fully, but still in a timely manner
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