That is what a sign in a store window said. In the small Texas town of Panhandle, nearly every tree had a yellow ribbon, nearly every utility pole had a red, white and blue one. The word had spread, before the Department of Defense ever made it official, that Staff Sergeant Esau S.A. Gonzales had lost his life in Iraq. On Friday morning, much of the small town's population turned out to see the local VFW post honor him in a memorial at their new building.
The next day, the Department of Defense announced that Staff Sergeant Gonzales had passed away in Mosul.
Esau Gonzales, who was only 30, was the proud son of a small town. A graduate of Panhandle High School, he had joined the Army in 2000. When his enlistment ended, he joined the Navy Reserve to serve as a Seabee (miracle workers who can construct anything from nothing). He was a Seabee in Al-Anbar province, and later decided to rejoin the Army. Last year he graduated Expolosive Ordinance School, and it was as a member of the 38th Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Company that he left Fort Stewart, Georgia to return to Iraq. Although the Army has not yet released the details of the incident that took Esau Gonzales's life, there is no question that EOD is one of the dangerest jobs any human being can ever do.
It is also one of the noblest.
The EOD specialist risks life and limb each day, going to unstable and dangerous weapons to ensure that they never harm anyone. Their task, more than that of most soldiers, is about the future. The bombs they disarm will maim no children in the future; the mines they defuse will cut no lives short.
So it is right that Panhandle grieved. As Wally Lanier, Jr., Esau's uncle, said,
Everybody's hurting, the whole community.
And it is right that the town erupted in signs commemorating-and thanking-this young man who gave of himself so that others might live.
Esau is remembered and loved by a family that includes his father, Atanacio, his mother, Sandra, his sister, Sue Ann, and numerous uncles, aunts, and cousins.
Most painfully, he will be missed by his wife, Melissa, and their two children, Ava Milagro and Sam Atanacio, who are only four and two.
Merciful and compassionate God,
we bring you our grief in the loss of Esau Gonzales
and ask for courage to bear it.
Information for this diary from Amarillo.com, Plainview Daily Herald
The memorial service for Staff Sergeant Esau Gonzales can be viewed here
Helping Our Troops
If you wish to assist our military and their families, consider Operation Helmet, which makes helmets safer, or Fisher House, which provides comfort homes for families near the treatment centers for our wounded veterans. Sponsoring a deployed service member at USTroopCarePackage can provide letters or care packages that make a real difference in a military person's life. To assist the animal companions of our deployed military, information is available here.
When our veterans come home, many will need jobs. Please look at the programs of Veterans Green Jobs and Welcome Back Veterans to see if you can help out.
About the IGTNT Series
"I Got the News Today" is a diary series intended to honor, respect, and remind us of the sacrifice of our U.S. troops. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by monkeybiz, noweasels, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, a girl in MI, Spam Nunn, JeNoCo, Janos Nation, True Blue Majority, Proud Mom and Grandma, Sandy on Signal, CalNM, and Wide Awake in KY. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but are an important service to those who have died, and show our community’s respect for them.
Fallen service members whose names have been released by the US Department of Defense will usually be diaried two days after the official announcement on the DoD website. This allows the IGTNT team to cover each person more fully, but still in a timely manner.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members mentioned here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.