Three men have now taken their last journey home. The soldiers who have been welcomed back are:
- Specialist Riley S. Spaulding who was from Texas
- Sergeant Kevin W. White who was from New York
- Private First Class Robert B. Bayne who was from Maryland
Specialist Riley S. Spaulding
Riley S. Spaulding was from Sheridan, Texas. The town is located south of Columbus and is about 70 miles west of Houston. When he was 17, he asked his mother to sign paperwork allowing him to join the US Army. After his graduation from Rice High School in 2007, Specialist Riley Spaulding completed basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and served a tour in Iraq.
Spaulding was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, which is based in Vilseck, Germany. He had just finished a tour in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan. He was about to return to Germany, and then back to Texas.
Army specialist Riley S. Spaulding died May 4th in Afghanistan from injuries which, according to the US Department of Defense, resulted from “a non-combat incident.” He was 21 years old. Army officials are gathering information about the incident and will not release more details until the investigation is complete.
The Army specialist's mother, Micki Spaulding, is quoted at the Houston Chronicle News site:
Spaulding was described by his mother as an "energetic young man" who loved to fish on a lake near their home, and to hang out with his friends…
Spaulding said the tight-knit Sheridan community has rallied to her family's support since learning the news.
"I am surrounded by a community of wonderful people who have just flooded me with their love and concern," she said.
The remains of Specialist Riley S. Spaulding arrived at Dover Air Force Base last Thursday. Funeral arrangements for him are pending.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Sergeant Kevin W. White
Army Sergeant Kevin W. White died of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Governor Cuomo directed all the flags on state buildings be lowered to half-staff in honor of Sergeant White and stated the following: "In his hometown of Westfield and across the State, all New Yorkers join with the family, friends and fellow soldiers of Sergeant White in mourning his loss. Sergeant White dedicated himself to serving his country after graduating from Westfield Academy and Central School in 2006."
While in school, Kevin was active in the school Rifle Club and Ski Club, and he played soccer, tennis, and volleyball.
Sgt. White joined the Army on July 25, 2006. He has served in Germany, Iraq, Hawaii and Afghanistan. Sgt. White had been deployed to Afghanistan since April 7, 2011. An article from the
Buffalo News says:
The family spent time together at Christmas time in Hawaii.
"He hadn't been able to get home a lot," his mother said, explaining all of his deployments were far from home. "So, we took Christmas to him."
Stationed at Schofield Barracks, White "lived large" during his time in Hawaii, his mother said, pointing out he enjoyed fishing and bought a Subaru Impreza that he had souped up to his liking. He planned to get his motorcycle license when he returned home.
White was a young man surrounded by friends. He enjoyed techno music and loved his brothers, David and Stephen, his mother said. He regarded POWs and soldiers in foreign wars as his "heroes" and had hoped someday to have children of his own.
His military training and awards include Air Assault training in 2010 and the Warrior Leader Course for Military Education in 2011 where he made Commandant's list. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, posthumously, The Purple Heart, posthumously, the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the NATO Medal, posthumously.
Sgt. White is survived by his parents, Paul L. and Patricia J. (Baer) White and his two brothers: David J. and Stephen J. White, all of Westfield, NY., his maternal grandparents, James W. and Joan Baer of Busti, N.Y. and his paternal grandmother, Mary Ann Wheeler and her husband, Woodrow of Mayville, N.Y. The funeral service was last Friday morning at the First Baptist church of Westfield. A private Burial with full military honors was held at the Westfield Cemetery.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Private First Class Robert B. Bayne
Robert Bayne enlisted in 1944 and served in the infantry. At age 26, he volunteered for a risky mission crossing the Rhine.
On March 28, 1945, while patrolling the Rhine River in an inflatable raft, PFC Bayne, with a lieutenant and two other enlisted men were attacked near Schwegenheim, Germany. Bayne and the officer were wounded, forcing all four men into the swift waters of the river. The lieutenant was rescued but the enlisted men were not found.
Between 1945 and 1946, Army Graves Registration personnel exhumed remains of three men from two different locations when German citizens reported the graves contained remains of American soldiers recovered from the river in March 1945. Among items found with the remains were military identification tags. Two of the men were identified as enlisted men from the raft -- Pvt. Edward Kulback and Pfc. William Gaffney -- but due to a mistake in the dental records and limited forensic science of the time, the remains of the other individual could not be identified and were interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery in St. Avold, France as "unknown."
The remains of the unknown soldier were exhumed in 1948 to compare them to available records for Bayne. After several years of analysis the remains could not be identified and were reinterred in 1951 as unknown at the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial in Draguignan, France.
In 2010, the remains were exhumed again for analysis. Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC used dental comparisons and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA -- which matched that of Bayne's brothers -- in the identification of his remains.
At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000 Americans. Today, more than 74,000 are unaccounted-for from the conflict.
Private First Class Robert B. Bayne was buried on May 7th in his hometown of Dundalk, Maryland. It was just days past the 66 year anniversary of the day he was declared missing in action from a World War II battle. For his service, Robert Bayne had been awarded a Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and the European Medal with three battle stars. All are carefully preserved by his younger brothers along with letters and photos. They never stopped trying to locate his remains and bring him home.
The following is from an article on the
Jewish World Review site, which paints a picture of the long-awaited meeting of the twin brothers and their big brother, gone so long from home:
Calvin and Kenneth Bayne stood silently among Army officers, watching their brother's remains transferred from a plane to a waiting hearse. Kenneth kept his hand on his heart. Calvin saluted and then walked directly to the flag-draped casket and kissed it.
The somber ceremony on a tarmac at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport offered the two men the first tangible contact with their older brother in more than 66 years. Pfc. Robert B. Bayne went missing in action in 1945 as he fought along the Rhine River near Mannheim, Germany. The Army officially identified his body in March of this year, largely spurred by the constant urging of the 83-year-old fraternal twins who were teens when the man they called "Buddy" enlisted.
The Army had imposed tight security restrictions for the transfer and asked family members to remain in place. Only Calvin Bayne, ever the feistier brother, broke ranks. He moved briskly from cluster of soldiers and approached the hearse.
"I had to kiss the casket," he said after the ceremony. "Nothing was going to stop me."
**********************
Helping our troops:
If you wish to assist our military and their families, consider contributing to Fisher House. Donating to Netroots for the Troops provides 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.
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
|
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.