Good evening, dear ones. Will you please join me and the IGTNT team as we honor two young men who lost their lives on foreign soil:
1st Lt. Eric Yates, 26, of Rineyville, Kentucky, who died September 18, and Staff Sgt. Jaime C. Newman, 27, of Richmond, Virginia, who died September 17.
Both men died in the Zhari district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
As you read this diary, please remember that friends and loved ones of the soldiers honored here may read your comments. Please, whatever our personal feelings about the war may be, may our comments only reflect compassion for their grief and loss. Thank you.
Will you dear Kossacks kindly take a moment to send a warm thought or prayer to the hundreds of thousands of forgotten or unnoticed souls who have suffered, and continue to suffer, from the insanity of war? This is not their diary but still, we all feel and grieve the pain of a broken human spirit.
Blessings and Light to all who share our world.
The photos for this diary are in the comments.
Staff Sgt. Jaime C. Newman
Staff Sgt. Jaime C. Newman entered the Army in July 2003 and arrived at Fort Campbell in March 2004.
SSgt. Newman's many awards and decorations include a Purple Heart Medal; an Army Achievement Medal; an Army Good Conduct Medal; an Army Commendation Medal; a National Defense Service Medal; an Afghanistan Campaign Service Medal; an Iraqi Campaign Service Medal; a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; a Non Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon; an Army Service Ribbon; an Overseas Service Ribbon; an Combat Infantryman Badge; a Expert Infantryman Badge; an Air Assault Badge and a Driver and Mechanic Badge.
The magnificent Patriot Guard Riders have SSgt. Newman on their Watch List, where their members are leaving messages of love and support for the Newman family.
Jaime Newman is survived by his son Damarques J. Newman of Powhatan, VA; his daughter Jaidan I. Cox of Richmond, VA; his mother, Helen C. Newman of Richmond, VA and his father, Angel Ramos.
Our hearts are with all who knew and loved Jaime Newman. Please know that we stand beside you at this terrible time of loss.
1st Lt. Eric Yates
Eric Yates graduated John Hardin High School in 2003, where he is remembered as being "quiet and likable, with a soft sense of humor" by former classmates. Michael Leasor, who went through school with Eric from elementary grades, said Eric wanted to join the military from an early age. Mr. Leasor last spoke with Eric about a month ago, shortly before his deployment to Afghanistan.
"He was just his usual self," Mr. Leasor said. "He was always kind of quiet...He looked at it as just doing his job."
The news of Eric's death was quite a blow. "You don't want to believe it was him," Mr. Leasor admitted.
Former John Hardin High School Principal Brent Holsclaw said, via a Hardin County Schools news release, "He was a rather quiet young man, a good student who did all that was expected of him. Eric served his country with honor and made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. I think that says a lot about the character of this young man who we were so fortunate to know at John Hardin. I know the John Hardin family is proud of him, and will sorely miss him. Our prayers and thoughts are with his family." Mr. Holsclaw is now superintendent of Bardstown City Schools.
A memorial service will be held at 4PM this Thursday at Western Kentucky University's Guthrie Bell Tower. 1st LT. Yates was a December 2008 graduate of WKU, with a double major in social studies and history. He received his military commission through WKU's Reserve Officers' Training Program.
"Its tough to lose a member of the family even if your family is 21,000 students, 2,200 employees and 100,000 alumni," WKU President Gary Ransdell told reporters. "We suffered a loss last weekend that brings world events close to home. This, to my knowledge, is the first ROTC cadet that I knew as a student to be killed in action. We salute Eric Yates and his family for his service, his courage and his WKU spirit. This loss also deepens my respect for ROTC cadets currently training on our campus. We owe our freedom to young men and women like Eric Yates."
"Its a sad day here," said LTC Jason T. Caldwell, head of WKU's Department of Military Science and Leadership. "It reminds us about what our WKU ROTC graduates can experience when they become officers in the military and defend our country." LTC Caldwell remembered 1st. LT Yates as, "a great cadet who represented WKU and the ROTC program well."
WKU's Department of Military Science and Leadership has set up a "Fallen Soldier" table in the EA Diddle Arena, Room 1513, where notes of support, photos, or other condolences may be left to pay respect to 1st LT. Yates. All items received will be passed along to Mr. and Mrs. Yates.
The following came to me in email this afternoon from one of Eric's former professors at the Department of History at Western Kentucky University:
"Eric was a double History and Social Studies major, and aspired to be a teacher. His senior seminar Paper on Gandhi's years in South Africa was quite remarkable and is still mentioned in the department as an excellent piece of scholarship. He was a wonderful student, and a joy to have in the program. His major had put him on track to one day become a teacher.
He was known as a friendly and outgoing student who was studying to become a teacher. Given his outgoing personality, his easy nature, love of history, there is no doubt that he would have made an outstanding teacher.
The Department of History has set up a scholarship fund in Eric's name: The 1LT Eric D. Yates Memorial Scholarship Fund. Expressions of sympathy can be sent in care of the College Heights Foundation at WKU, 1906 College Heights Blvd. 41016, Bowling Green, KY 42101-1016. Those notes will be forwarded to his parents.
Donations to the fund may be made online via www.wku.edu/makeagift. Type "1LT Eric D. Yates Memorial Scholarship Fund" in the designation box offered in Step 2 of the process."
Thank you for sharing your memories and the scholarship information with us, Professor.
The magnificent Patriot Guard Riders have confirmed 1st Lt. Yates as a Mission, to escort him on his final journey (details pending). The Riders are leaving messages of love and support for the Yates family on their forum.
1st LT. Yates many awards and decorations include a National Defense Service Medal; an Afghanistan Campaign Medal; a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; an Army Service Ribbon; an Overseas Service Ribbon and a Combat Action Badge.
Eric Yates is survived by his father, David L. Yates, and his mother, Kathy Yates, both of Rineyville, Kentucky.
Our hearts are with all who knew and loved Eric Yates. Please know that we stand beside you at this terrible time of loss.
I can't think of a better way to honor the fallen than to contribute to the well-being of their fellow soldiers still on active duty.
The following fine organizations could sure use your support and your donations:
AnySoldier.com, Books for Soldiers, Fisher House, the Military Pets Foster Project, Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pets, Operation Baghdad Pups, Operation Enduring Christmas, an organization that sends holiday presents to the children of our fallen troops, and Helping Udders, an organization that sends cooling vests to the Military Working Dogs stationed with their handlers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Click here to see other IGTNT diaries, a series which was begun by i dunno and which is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, noweasels, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, TrueBlueMajority, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, maggiejean, JaxDem, and racheltracks.
These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but, we believe, an important service to those Americans who have died, and to our community's respect for and remembrance of them. Fallen soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and National Guard whose names have been released by the 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 fallen service member more fully, but still in a timely manner.
PEACE AND BLESSINGS