Tonight we honor a dedicated and courageous young man, who gave up a scholarship to Rochester Institute of Technology, in order to serve in the U.S. Army. Staff Sgt. Edmond Lo had a promising future as an engineer, but felt a duty to serve in the U.S. military. He was killed in Iraq on his second tour of duty.
Since 2003, there have been 4315 American troops killed in Iraq and 706 American troops killed in Afghanistan. Please take a moment to honor and remember their sacrifice.
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Edmond L. Lo, 23, of Salem, N.H., died June 13 in Samarra City, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device that his explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team was acting to neutralize detonated. He was assigned to the 797th Ordnance Company, 79th Ordnance Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas.
Edmund Lo joined the ROTC in high school and after graduation chose to enlist in the Army. He specialized in bomb disposal. His mother, Rosa Lo, told wbztv.com her son was very determined in whatever he wanted to do. There was not stopping or getting in the way of his decision. She told the station
"He's a great kid. He's anything you can ask for from a son and he's really determined. Whatever he wants to do he just goes ahead to do it."
On Saturday morning, Rosa Lo, received the dreaded knock on the door:
"Two well-dressed military guys at the door, I was kind of stung," said Lo. "I feel a lot of sorrow to have him go away."
Rosa told the Concord Monitor.com:
"They start telling the story. Simple. Two sentences," Rosa Lo said yesterday. "They say Edmond was in Iraq, and a bomb accident. And then they say he was killed in the accident. He died in the accident."
"We were all in a dream," she said. "And we are all still in a dream."
Rosa and her husband emigrated 40 years ago from Hong Kong. The family runs a computer repair business. Her son excelled in science and mathematics and wanted to study engineering. He was offered a 3 year scholarship to Rochester Institute of Technology. His ROTC teacher, a retired Air Force Master Seargent, Thomas Puzzo thought highly of Lo. He told the Union Leader:
"After his first tour in Iraq, Lo visited Salem High and showed photographs of his tour and travels in Iraq. He didn't tell a lot of stories or details, but he found the Iraqis gracious," Puzzo recalled. "The military was hard work, and he warned the students they had to stay on their toes," Puzzo said.
"I would call him a quiet professional," Puzzo said.
Puzzo added Lo earned the nickname "Mr. Dependable" because he was always there and it was always done right.
The Governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch, expressed his condolences to Lo's wife, Susan, and the family. He issued the following statement.
"Sgt. Lo served his nation with dignity, courage and honor and sacrificed protecting all of us. He is a hero to us all. On behalf of the citizens of New Hampshire, our deepest sympathies go out to the entire Lo family," he said.
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, rb137 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.