Pvt. Steven T. Drees
Photo credit: The US Army. I found this photo of Pvt. Steven T. Drees at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Reading the MySpace entries written by 19-year old Steven Drees took my breath away. He veers from 'bouncy' ("Party in Denver then snowboarding!") to paternal ("Bringin my pit to petsmart to spoil her then food") to quiet rage at the direction his introspection took him ("thinking about life back in the world," Steven wrote, and then capped it with an 'angry' emoticon). His entries seem to chronicle the steps that a young man takes towards maturity, which became especially poignant as I learned from his sweetheart Stacia's MySpace page that the two were expecting a baby.
Giggling in the living room with his sweetheart, Stacia Baker. I found this adorable photo on Stacia's MySpace page.
What comes through loud and clear is the great love that surrounded this young man. In response to Steven's being upset about missing hearth and home, his aunt Michelle wrote, "Whatever life brings you or us back here, we will deal with it together cuz that is what family is all about. We will be here for you when and if you need us. We all love you very much and we are all so proud of you." His mother, Dawn, wrote, "you will make the right move every time you have angels watching out for you son dont ever doubt your next move i love you" and Stacia added, "awwww my pookiebutt it will be ok! i am here for u and u know it! hunny i love u and so does landyn [her son] hope that makes it better!"
The love that embraced Pvt. Steven Drees will now be the love that will hold his family together, as they deal with his untimely death. Pvt. Steven Drees deployed to the Konar Province, Afghanistan on his 19th birthday, and one month later, his family again surrounded him but this time, to say good-bye before he was taken off life support following a grievous head injury sustained during an insurgent attack on his unit on June 24th.
In a final act of love and generosity, Steven had let it be known that he wanted his organs donated so that others could live.
Steven Drees' "my favorite" photo of himself. I found this photo on Steven's MySpace page.
Steven Drees enlisted in the Army in August 2008 shortly after graduating from Peshtigo High School, where Steven played basketball for the Bulldogs. Pvt. Drees was a gunner assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, Colorado.
Photo credit: The US Army. I found this photo of Pvt. Steven T. Drees at KOAA.com.
His grandfather, Henry Drees, told the press that, "He was too good. One of his crew got in touch with my son after [the incident that killed Steven]. They were so happy he stayed with his gun when they were ambushed. He saved their lives." Mr. Drees thought his young grandson "might have made the military a career because he had received awards and promotions, and [he] liked the Army." Among Pvt. Drees' awards were an Army Service Ribbon, a National Defense Service Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, an Army Good Conduct Medal, a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and a Combat Infantry Badge.
A Channel 5 video news story from June 26, 2008:
Steven wrote on his MySpace profile:
My hometown is peshtigo and as much as i hate it at times ill never forget it. it made me who i am and the army just added to it, and ill never change. Im a member of the US Army, Im an infantryman and i love it, i give everything i have to serve my country and the people in it i put the well being of the civilans before my own because i am only a tiny tiny part of my country and the civilans make up the majority of this country and giving one life to free thousands and make their life better is a trade me and my fellow infanty bothers will make in a heart beat we are less than half of one percent of this great country and because of what we are capible of that is all we need so the rest of the United States and become whatever they want to without worry. [I left the spelling as-is]
The magnificent Patriot Guard Riders have Pvt. Drees on their Watch List, where the Riders are leaving messages of support and sympathy for the Drees family. His funeral will be held in the Peshtigo High School gymnasium.
Pvt. Steven Drees and his beautiful mother. I found this photo of the two of them enjoying "Family Day, Turning Blue, and Grad[uation]" over at Steven's MySpace page.
Our hearts are with all who knew and loved Steven T. Drees, including his parents, Paul Drees and Dawn Bayer; his fraternal twin brother, Charlie; his sweetheart, Stacia, her toddler son, Landyn, and their precious baby-to-be. Please know that we stand beside you at this terrible time of loss.