Every step I take
Every move I make
Every single day
Every time I pray
I'll be missing you.
- Sting, "I'll Be Missing You"
On Wednesday this past week a U.S. soldier, Staff Sgt. Raphael A. Futrell, of Anderson, South Carolina, died in Iraq. Please join us below in honoring his memory.
RAPHAEL FUTRELL: "Anything he did, he put his most into it"
On Friday, the death of a soldier serving in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Raphael A. Futrell, was announced:
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Staff Sgt. Raphael A. Futrell, 26, of Anderson, S.C., died March 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 13th Military Police Detachment, 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, Fort Shafter, Hawaii. The incident is under investigation.
After graduating from Pendleton High School in Pendleton, South Carolina, in 2001, Raphael Futrell followed a family tradition and joined the army. His grandfather had been a lieutenant colonel, and his older brother, Wilson Winters, is a captain who'll be heading for his fourth tour overseas in a few months.
High school guidance counselor Teresa Horton recalled Futrell's smile and his personality: "We just loved him.... He wasn’t one to call attention to anything or to himself, but you could always count on him."
Futrell's mother, Vicki Futrell, said that her son had always wanted to work in law enforcement. "He just loved what he did. He liked defending his country.... Anything he did he put his most into it," she said. Known to friends and family as Ralph, Futrell had served a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005. He was on his first tour of Iraq, working as an explosives detector with trained dogs, when he died.
"He liked being a police officer, anything that dealt with investigating," his brother said. "He was a dual canine operator - bomb-sniffing dogs and attack dogs. He was certified in both. He enjoyed handling the dogs."
Futrell was a family man who leaves behind a three-year-old son, Chance Jerome. Chance and Futrell's former wife, Angela Futrell, live in Hawaii. "He loves his grandparents and his family and his son. Anything they needed, he was there for them," his mother said. "He did things around the house every time he would come home on leave. He'd clean out my refrigerator, clean out my garage. He'd take care of my dogs."
Futrell has received an Afghanistan Campaign Medal, an Iraq Campaign Medal, six Army Achievement Medals, an Army Commendation Medal, two Army Good Conduct Medals, a National Defense Service Medal, and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Futrell's mother said, "I want him to just walk through the door and say, 'Hey, ma, how you doing?'"
"You don’t really know what to think when those two officers show up at your door to tell you your son has died," she said. "My heart bleeds for all men and women serving in uniform. They are doing a fantastic job, and they deserve our support."
A TV news video clip with additional photos and family remembrances of Raphael Futrell is here.
May he rest in peace.
***
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and families of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.
If you want to do something to assist our military and their families, please visit anysoldier.com or Fisher House. If you have frequent flyer miles you would like to donate to hospitalized veterans or their families, see Fisher House's Hero Miles program. If you would like to assist the animal companions of our deployed military, information is available here. Sending a care package to a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan is; read how at anysoldier.com. Other ways to support the troops are in this diary. And don't forget them when they get home. Visit welcomebackveterans.org and Hire Heroes USA to learn what you can do.
As of this writing, 4,260 members of the U.S. armed services have been confirmed killed in action in Iraq, one is pending confirmation, and one is missing or captured; 318 other coalition forces have died. In Afghanistan, 673 U.S. forces and 449 other coalition forces have died. (The Department of Defense news releases can be found here.) More than 31,000 U.S. servicemen and women have been wounded in Iraq, and the suicide rate among servicemen and women is very high. The death toll among Iraqis is unknown but is at least more than 90,000 and probably is in the hundreds of thousands. At least 156 journalists have been killed in Iraq during the war.
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. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories. The series, which was begun by i dunno, is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, JeNoCo, mediaprof. If you would like to participate in writing these tributes, please contact Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, or noweasels.