Tonight we gather to honor Spc. Darrell L. Fernandez, who answered his last call to duty this week. Please join me and blue jersey mom in paying tribute to this brave young man who, knowing full well that he might pay the ultimate price, answered that call anyway.
Day after day they ask me
"Why do you go away?
What makes you leave your family?
I think that you should stay."
My child who's standing at the door
Clutching Daddy's hand so
Pleads again with choking voice
"Mommy, please don't go."
For me, I must answer them,
I need for them to know.
It is not for fame or glory
Or riches that I go.
I go for each of you,
For all that have a son,
For all that have a daughter
Or a special loved one.
I go that when they hurt,
Or harm's bullet has settled deep
Someone will be there for them,
To ease them as they sleep
I go to hold them as they die,
In some deserted place
To listen to their last goodbye
And still their troubled face.
I go because you can not go
And hold them when in fear
And soothe the troubled brow
As they cry for home so dear.
So when you see me pack my bags
And leave for lands so far away,
It is not hardness of the heart
Or mother's conscience gone astray
Its for love of country, freedom,
Duty and honor too,
But most of all I go
To bring them back to you.
- Capt. Cheryl Lockhart, USAFR, NC 914th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron
Spc. Darrell L. Fernandez
Spc. Darrell L. Fernandez, 25, of Truth or Consequences, N.M., having survived a serious wounding and two prior tours of duty in Iraq, died Jan. 31 in Kirkuk, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a motor vehicle accident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
http://www.defenselink.mil/...
Spc. Fernandez joined the Army in 2002, right after graduating from Hot Springs High School. After graduating he also married his high school sweetheart, Katrina. Today would have been their wedding anniversary. Fernandez's father-in-law, Richard Fair, said that Darrell and Katrina had planned to start a family when he returned from Iraq.
Darrell Fernandez was on his third tour of duty in Iraq at the time of his death. He worked as a mechanic during his priortours of duty in Iraq. He was wounded by shrapnel and experienced a partial loss of his hearing during one of those prior tours. Spc. Fernandez was a decorated soldier; he received the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and other awards.
Grandma Remembers:
In the toughest neighborhoods of Truth or Consequences, people are touched by the loss of a hometown hero on his third tour of duty in Iraq. Ida Hamilton, 70, remembered how Army Spc. Darrell Fernandez came home from fighting in Iraq in 2006. Her grandson was partially deaf and seriously injured from a shrapnel wound.
And Hamilton remembers how her grandson fought to get healthy, so he could fight for his country, for his third tour of duty. On Tuesday the military reported he died from injuries received in a vehicle accident Saturday in Kirkuk. "It's been real rough for all of us," Hamilton said. "He did not say why he wanted to go back or nothing else," she said. Hamilton is holding on to memories of the child she helped raise, and a man she saw head off to Iraq last year for his third tour of duty.
Fernandez's death is hitting home at Hot Springs High School where flags now fly at half staff. It's where former Marine Harry Nordgren taught him American History.
"These young men and women are every bit as great as my father that was in the Second World War", Nordgren said. "A lot of Americans have a tendency to think that this generation can't be a great generation." "Darrell's sacrifice puts the lie to that concept."
http://www.krqe.com/...
High School Years:
Before Fernandez enlisted in the Army just after he graduated from Hot Springs High School in 2002, Doug Anderson taught him in drafting and woodshop. "You can't prepare for this," said Anderson. "This is...this is hard. If there were more Darrells, it would probably be a better world that we live in right now."
Another teacher said Fernandez didn't demand the spotlight. "He's just a rock solid person," said teacher Harry Nordgren. "You knew he was going to have his work done. When we had debates in class, you knew he was going to defend that position eloquently."
It was Spc. Fernandez's third tour of duty in Iraq. He was 25 years old and leaves behind a wife. They would have celebrated their wedding anniversary this Friday.
http://www.koat.com/...
Doug Anderson taught Darrell woodshop and drafting at Hot Spriings High School. He said the following when learning of Darrell's passing:
You can't prepare for this. This is...this is hard. If there were more Darrells, it would probably be a better world that we live in right now. ~source
Here is a song by Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden called He's Gone Away. I'm not sure why, but the sadness of this song just seems appropriate for this diary.
God Bless Darrell Fernandez and Katrina, and those who love them.
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 http://www.dailykos.com/... to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by monkeybiz, noweasels, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, moneysmith, labwitchy, joyful, roses, SisTwo, a girl in MI, JeNoCo, mediaprof and me, SpamNunn.
I Got the News Today and MoJo Friday are working together to send care packages through Netroots for the Troops. It is a great way to support our troops who are already in Iraq and Afghanistan. Please consider helping our troops by writing a letter or sending some donating some items for the care package, or if you aren't able to do this, money donations are very welcome. We appreciate all the kindness and support this community has shown to our Armed Services. Thank you, Daily Kos.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. Many of us have strong feelings about this war and, for that matter, all wars, but this diary is intended as a memorial service for these soldiers. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion, rather than politics.