There are three to honor tonight: one was a Soldier and loving family man, who was killed in Iraq; and, two were dedicated Soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan. Since 2003, there have been 4299 American troops killed in Iraq and 686 American troops killed in Afghanistan. Please take a moment to honor and remember their sacrifice.
Thank you, Timroff, for our beautiful logo.
.
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. David A. Schaefer Jr., 27, of Belleville, Ill., died May 16 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, Schweinfurt, Germany.
David Schafer was a husband and father to 3 children. His wife, Shelley, told the Bellville News Democrat:
"He was born to serve his country," his wife, Shelly, said. "He wanted to be a soldier -- that's all he talked about when he was younger -- and that's what he did."
Shelley told the newspaper, she was making arrangements to move the family to Germany in November, when her husband completed his duty in Iraq. She said her husband took good care of the them and loved his children.
Spc. Shaefer's funeral will be on Tuesday and burial will be at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.
My deepest condolences to the Schaefer family.
DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died May 15 at Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their patrol was attacked by enemy forces using small-arms fire in Chak, Afghanistan.
The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.
Killed were:
Staff Sgt. Esau I. De la Pena-Hernandez, 25, of La Puente, Calif.
Sgt. Carlie M. Lee, III, 23, of Birmingham, Ala.
Norma Lee eagerly awaited the return of her son Nicky (Carlie), whom she affectionately called "her joy", from Afghanistan in July; instead, she received the dreaded knock on the door. Norma Lee told ABC news in Birmingham:
"They were like 'your son, Nicky Lee has died in combat, small arms fire in Afghanistan."
"All the families that's had to go through this, I know what they're going through," said Lee. "I care about them, too, and they're going to be in my prayers."
Sgt. Carlie Lee loved his country. His family is proud of his service. He is survived by his parents, Carlie and Norma Lee; brother, Jus-In-Tyme Lee; sisters, Jett and Spring and numerous neices and nephews. My heart goes out to all who loved him.
Killed along with Nicky in the attack, was a highly decorated soldier, Staff Sgt. Esau De la Pena- Hernandez. The young man from California was a dedicated and modest soldier. After graduating from high school, Esau enlisted and served with the Marines in Iraq. After his tour was finished, he enlisted in the Army and worked his way up through the ranks to Staff Sgt. He earned 20 Medals during his service and never told his family about any of them. The family told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune
His father Mario J. De La Peña said his son was a man of dedication and determination who knew what he wanted to do with his life and went for it.
"He used to always call me and ask `Are you proud of me?'," Mario De La Peña said. "I told him `You are my hero."
"I'm proud of what my son did for our country," Mario De La Peña said. "I always will be."
My deepest sympathy to the family of Staff Sgt. Esau de la Pena-Hernandez
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. 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.
All of the U.S. fatalities can be seen here and here. They all had loved ones, families and friends. The DoD news releases are here. I Got the News Today is intended to honor, respect and remind. Click the IGTNT tags below for previous diaries.
Click the IGTNT tags to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by monkeybiz, noweasels, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, a girl in MI, Spam Nunn, JeNoCo, Media Prof, and me, Sandy on Signal. .
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.