Tonight we honor the life, service and memory of Pfc. Jeremiah Monroe. Pfc. Monroe, a New York native, lost his life in Afghanistan on Thursday. On Saturday, the Department of Defense made the following announcement:
Pfc. Jeremiah J. Monroe, 31, of Niskayuna, N.Y., died Sept. 17 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 7th Engineer Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.
Please follow me below the fold to learn more about Jeremiah Monroe and the family he leaves behind.
Jeremiah Monroe attended the North Warren Central School where he played baseball. While his brother, Robert, joined the army right out of high school, Jeremiah became a tradesman. He enjoyed fixing and building things.
Pfc. Monroe decided to join the Army in March of 2008, and he arrived at Fort Drum in July of that year. His service in Afghanistan was his first deployment. Pfc. Monroe returned home in March of this year when his father, Rob, lost his three-year battle with brain cancer.
Monroe's brother says that Jeremiah
"...will be remembered as a guy who will take his shirt off his back without wanting anything in return," Robert said. "That transformed him to being a great soldier. He should be remembered as a hero." ~source
His aunt, Barbara French, described him as a "very quiet, loving young man." ~source
His great aunt, Netty Manning, noted that Pfc. Monroe's military service had helped him mature.
"It made him grow up a little bit more," she said. "He was happy to be there and protecting us and doing what he could protecting his country. But there are so many others over there still." ~source
The Monroe family has requested privacy because Pfc. Monroe is the fourth family member to have passed away this year. His brother Robert returned from Italy for the funeral. Pfc. Monroe will be buried in Chestertown.
Pfc. Monroe was a decorated soldier whose medals and decorations included:
the Purple Heart, National Defense Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and Combat Action Badge. ~source
Jeremiah Monroe is survived by his mother, Delores, his brother, Robert, and his 9-year-old daughter, Delilah, as well as his grandmother and several members of his extended family.
Thank you Pfc. Monroe. May your family find comfort and strength. Poppies are the universal symbols of remembrance. May we always remember Pfc. Monroe and his selfless service to our nation.
From the World War I poet, Laurence Binyon:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
RIP, Pfc. Monroe.
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. 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.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, greenies, blue jersey mom, chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, JeNoCo, MediaProf, rb137, and TrueBlueMajority.
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.