It is tradition to have a small table set up at military dinners with an empty chair. It symbolizes the missing and fallen service members who will always be remembered by their comrades. This table will now be set for three more of our fallen:
- Marine Lance Corporal Ross S. Carver, who was from North Carolina
- Army Captain Jason T. McMahon, who was from Kansas
- Army Private First Class Diego M. Montoya, who was from Texas
Lance Corporal Ross S. Carver
Ross S. Carver was born in Kittridge, Colorado. His family moved to North Carolina in 2000 and Ross graduated from Wilmington's Laney High School in 2007. He joined the ROTC program in high school and enlisted in the Marine Corps immediately after graduating. Ross attended boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina.
In March of 2008, after Ross completed boot camp, he married his high school sweetheart, Brandy. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force. He was with the 2nd battalion 6th Marines Echo Company out of Camp Lejeune, when he left for Afghanistan in June.
On September 3rd, Marine Lance Corporal Ross S. Carver was on a special mission in Marjah, which is in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. He was shot in a firefight while on patrol there. The Lance Corporal was 21 years old.
At the WWAY TV News site the widow of Ross Carver is quoted:
Ross and Brandy were Laney High School sweethearts. A year after they graduated, they got married. In June, Ross left for Afghanistan, just a few months after their son William was born...
She couldn't have more pride in the man Brandy calls her prince charming, her hero. "I'm proud of him. I don't regret the day he joined the military. I backed him up 24/7 and I still do."
Brandy works as a family readiness assistant, helping other military wives who lose their husbands in war. Now she's having to go through it herself. Brandy says she's gotten more than 700 calls from people in Wilmington who knew her husband.
In addition to his wife, Lance Corporal Ross S. Carver is survived by their 5-month-old son, William, of Jacksonville, NC; his father, Douglas Carver of Rocky Point, NC; mother, Angie Welgatt of Evergreen, CO; his step-mother Jessica Carver; three brothers, Sgt. Robert Carver of Sneads Ferry, NC, Dolten Carver and Jordan Carver of Rocky Point, NC; and a sister, Annie Carver.
The Marine's widow, Brandy Carver, recently returned from Dover, where she and the family met the casket. She asked that instead of flowers, donations be made to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund and Toys For Tots.
The funeral service will be held September 11, 2010, at McClure Memorial Presbyterian Church. Graveside services with full military honors aided by the Patriot Guard Riders will follow at Pike Creek Cemetery, near Burgaw, North Carolina.
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Captain Jason T. McMahon
Jason T. McMahon was from Mulvane, Kansas. He joined the National Guard as a senior in high school to earn money for college. Later he went to Emporia State University in Lyon County, Kansas, just east of the Flint Hills, where he participated in ROTC and left college to enlist in 1996.
Jason McMahon served in the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, and as an Army Ranger. After training in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), McMahon worked his way to commanding a unit as a lieutenant.
McMahon earned his officer's commission in 2006 and arrived at Fort Campbell in September 2008, where he commanded the 744th Explosive Ordnance Company, 184th Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance Group based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Captain McMahon disabled more than 200 explosive devices the past several years in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once he broke his leg, but came back to disarm the bomb despite his injury.
According to The Wichita Eagle site:
"He lived the life of that guy in the movie, what was it called?" Ron McMahon said Tuesday.
"The Hurt Locker," said his wife, Sherry, Jason's mother.
"When he saw the movie, he laughed and said, 'That's what I do,' " Ron McMahon said.
While in Afghanistan, McMahon's explosive ordnance disposal unit received indirect fire from insurgents in Jalahabad. McMahon was shot and died of his wounds on September 5th at Bagram Airfield. He was 35 years old.
Captain Jason T. McMahon earned more than 20 commendations, including the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, and a Purple Heart.
McMahon is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and their daughters, Trinity, McKenzie, and Azlyn, of Dover, Tennessee; and his parents, Ronald and Sherry McMahon of Mulvane, Kansas.
Funeral plans have not been made public, but are expected to be in his hometown of Mulvane, Kansas.
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Private First Class Diego M. Montoya
Diego M. Montoya was a Texan. He was born in Mcallen, lived in Mission, and moved with his parents to San Antonio about four years ago. Montoya had been a student at the Veterans Memorial High School in Mission, Texas, before he transferred to San Antonio where he graduated from Taft High School in 2009. Montoya took part in the ROTC program for two years.
Montoya joined the US military in July of 2009. In December of 2009, he was assigned to the 64th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade. The battalion was based at Fort Hood in Texas.
Private First Class Montoya was deployed to Afghanistan in April and was serving his first tour, in northern Afghanistan, as a military policeman.
Diego's sister is quoted at the My San Antonio News website:
His favorite song was John Michael Montgomery's "Letters From Home," about a soldier getting letters from loved ones.
That song also resonates with Gabriela Montoya.
She drives her brother's black Ford Ranger pickup, and while cleaning the interior recently, she found a surprise — all of the letters she'd written him.
Private First Class Diego M. Montoya died September 2nd in Laghman province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect fire. He was 20 years old.
Montoya's awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, NATO Medal, Army Service Ribbon and Combat Action Badge.
Private First Class Diego M. Montoya will be buried in Mission, Texas and the Patriot Guard Riders will be attending to honor his service.
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Helping our troops:
If you wish to assist our military and their families, consider Operation Helmet, or Fisher House. Sponsoring a deployed service member at US Troop Care Package 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. Also, you could visit:
When our veterans come back home, they need jobs. Look at the programs of Hire Heroes USA and Welcome Back Veterans to see if you can help out. The new KINship Project has also been of help to our veterans and other Kossacks In Need.
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 US troops. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, JeNoCo, Mediaprof, TrueBlueMajority, JanosNation, Proud Mom and Grandma, Ministry of Truth, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, Ms Wings, maggiejean, racheltracks, JaxDem, and kestrel9000. 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 diarized 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
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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.