Remembrance is a golden chain
Death tries to break,
but all in vain.
To have, to love, and then to part
Is the greatest sorrow of one's heart.
The years may wipe out many things
But some they wipe out never.
Like memories of those happy times
When we were all together.
~ Author Unknown
The IGTNT (I Got The News Today) series is a reminder that nearly every day, somebody gets the heartbreaking news that a friend, former classmate, or beloved family member will not be coming home from war.
Tonight we honour three sons of the United States:
Pfc. Matthew J. England, 22, of Gainesville, Missouri
Cpl. Matthew T. Richard, 21, of Acadia, Louisiana
Lance Cpl. Nicholas S. O’Brien, 21, of Stanley, North Carolina
Pfc. Matthew J. England, 22, of Gainesville, Missouri
Pfc. Matthew England died June 8, in An Najaf province, Iraq, from injuries suffered from an IED explosion. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Hood, Texas.
Ozark County is mourning the death of Army PFC Matthew England, a 2007 Lutie High School graduate. He's the son of Pamela Hengen of the Gainesville area and Daniel England of Bartlett, Tennessee.
An Army casualty-notification team was in Ozark County Wednesday evening and notified the immediate family of the heart-breaking news.
Pfc. England was driving a tank in An Najaf, Iraq when it hit a roadside bomb. Another Fort Hood soldier, Spc. Charles Lemon, 28, was critically injured in the blast that killed Pfc. England. We pray for his recovery and return home.
The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is scheduled to return from Iraq in August.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any more published information. Likely there will be articles in tomorrow's newspapers. There is no doubt Pfc England left behind people who loved him. We honour his service and their grief.
Source Source
The following write up is by CalNM:
Cpl. Matthew T. Richard, 21, of Acadia, Louisiana
Cpl. Matthew Richard died June 9 during combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Matthew Richard grew up in Iota, Acadiana and is a 2008 graduate of Iota High School. Former teachers say he was an outstanding student.
"He was well respected by his teachers and he was a big football player. He was very tenacious," said the Iota High School Principal.
His mother says Matthew's dream was always to serve in the military. Alicia Richard says, "The first journal he wrote was in the 2nd grade. The first sentence was 'I want to be a soldier'. He did die a marine. He fulfilled his dream. It's what he wanted. He pursued that with everything.'
His mother said Matthew begged to join the military when he was 17, but he had to wait until a week before his 18th birthday. He joined the Marine Corps in July 2008 and was promoted to corporal March 2, 2011.
This was Cpl. Richard's second combat deployment. His first tour lasted from May to November 2009. His left for his current deployment in January 2011.
Cpl. Richard's awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and NATO Medal – ISAF Afghanistan.
Cpl. Matthew Richards is missed. May he Rest in Peace.
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Lance Cpl. Nicholas S. O’Brien, 21, of Stanley, North Carolina
Lance Cpl. Nicholas O’Brien died June 9 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, IMarine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Nicholas O’Brien was a 2008 graduate of East Gaston High School. His father, Richard, said his son was a talented high school baseball player who was offered college scholarships to continue playing. But he said his son decided when he was about 15-years-old to join the U.S. Marine Corps. Looking back on O'Brien's time as a baseball player, his high school coach, Brian Sellers said no one could ever question O’Brien’s heart.
“I knew when it came time to play, Nic was going to give me all he had,” said Sellers. “You never had to worry about his desire to win or play hard. He was going to leave everything on the field.”
And O'Brien also contributed on the soccer field. Sellers remembers, “Our best memories of him were based on his ability to make anyone laugh at any given time,” said Johnson. “I remember getting frustrated with him sometimes, but then I’d turn around and he’d be doing something to make me crack up laughing.
“Even if he was doing something you didn’t like, it was impossible to be mad at him.”
But sports was not the only way that Lance Corporal O'Brien excelled during high school, he earned his school's Math Award during his junior year.
Lance Cpl. O’Brien entered active duty in the fall 2009 and shipped to Afghanistan in March, following in the footsteps of his father, who was a Marine, and his grandfather, a Navy veteran. He intended to serve his four or five year enlistment and go to college to become a firefighter, in the footsteps of his uncle, a Charlotte firefighter.
Lance Corporal O'Brien leaves behind his father, Richard, his mother, Tammy, his sister, Haley, who is 16 years old, and his longtime girlfriend, Hayley Black of Stanley. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetary, because, as his father said, "“In his short life, he grew to be a class man. He was a warrior and a hero. And he deserves to be buried beside warriors.”
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About the IGTNT series: I Got the News Today is intended to honor, respect, and remember the fallen, and to remind us that each casualty has family and friends who received the terrible news that their loved one has died at war.
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. The US Department of Defense news releases are found at defense gov/releases. Icasualties lists the names of those killed, and shows the number of wounded. Published AP photos of the returning war fatalities are found on the Dover AFB page. Click the IGTNT tags below for previous diaries in 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, Wide Awake in Kentucky, Ms Wings, maggiejean, racheltracks, ccasas, JaxDem, and CalNM. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but are an important service to those who have died, and show our community’s respect for our fallen brothers and sisters.
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.