IGTNT: “I Want My Son Back”

"I want my son back."

Those are the words of one grieving mother, who recently got the news that her only son had been killed halfway across the world.

Tonight, it’s my sad duty to pay tribute to three service members -- Gunnery Sgt. Herman J. Murkerson Jr., 35, of Adger, Ala.; Sgt. Randell Olguin, 24, of Ralls, Texas; and Sgt. Chirasak Vidhyarkorn, 32, of Queens, N.Y. -- who died recently in Iraq.

May their friends and family find comfort as they remember their loved ones with the family stories that the rest of us will never hear; may the rest of us pause for a moment and honor their memories.

The Department of Defense recently released the name of Gunnery Sgt. Herman J. Murkerson Jr., a Marine who was killed while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 2, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.

His name was Herman – but everyone knew him as Jerome, his mother told the Associated Press. Here he is in April 2005, at Camp Blue Diamond, Ar Ramadi (photo by Sgt. Stephen D'Alessio for the U.S. Marine Corps.):

Becoming a Marine was important to Murkerson, and he joined the Corps right after graduation from Oak Grove High School, in Bessemer, Ala. – where he met his future wife, Wendy. (Murkerson’s mother said that he used to clip roses from her garden to give to Wendy, who rode the same bus to school as he did.) He had put in 17 years in the Marines, and was on his third tour of Iraq, when he was killed.

Murkerson missed Alabama, as his wife told WTVM-TV:

"He wanted some Alabama memorabilia to go in his room. He had his own room he was a gunnery sergeant," said Wendy Murkerson.

Murkerson's high school sweetheart and wife Wendy was preparing to mail him Crimson Tide sheets and a matching shower curtain when the family got the news.

Of all the things he could have asked for – body armor, gear, Xbox360 – he just wanted a little piece of home. His mother, Brenda Murkerson, told the AP that Jerome was "a huge Alabama fan who went to Tuscaloosa every time he could get a football ticket, dreamed of his 15-year-old son playing football for the Crimson Tide and phoned home from Iraq to make sure Auburn really lost to South Florida last month. "He said, `I wanted to make sure I saw it on the Internet right,'" she said."

He also loved NASCAR, hunting, fishing, coaching soccer, and attending events for his children, whether games or recitals.

His family recently gathered to remember their "Little Jerome," and their memories of him as a child:

Gunnery Sgt. Murkerson grew up in the wooded hills near Adger, the oldest of five children. His father, Herman Murkerson Sr., described him as a fair student who loved practical jokes.

He played rough with his siblings, said his sister, Dee Musgrove, 32. But he was always the big brother, watching out for them, too.

"We had our moments. But when one of us was in trouble, he was always there," she said.

"He helped cover it up!" said his mother, laughing through her tears.

This morning, mourners gathered at the Cherry Point Chapel to remember Murkerson, who leaves behind a wife and three children: Kristina, 8; Daniel, 12; and Stephen, 15.

His casket is set to arrive in Alabama tomorrow evening. The Patriot Guard will provide an escort for the funeral services.

Godspeed, Gunnery Sgt. Herman J. Murkerson Jr.

The Department of Defense recently released the name of Sgt. Randell Olguin, who died Sept. 30 in Baghdad, Iraq, "of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany." The 24-year-old was from Ralls, Texas.

(Photo from Spread the Word: Iraq-Nam.)

Olguin, a graduate of Ralls High School, was active in a number of sports during his time there, as a former coach, Billy Villarreal, told News Channel 11:

"Baseball, he played football for us, ran cross-country, track, just pretty much involved with everything he could be involved with, band," Olguin's former coach Billy Villarreal said.  

Even with all his activities, Villarreal says Olguin always wanted to do more.

"You know, even after 9-11 and everything that had happened, he even talked about it a whole lot more and he graduated in '03, so he knew what he was getting into, which really speaks volumes of Randy and what he was about," Villarreal said.

(There’s an interview with his family here, although I had no luck with the video component.)

During his enlistment, he served in Germany and was on his second tour of Iraq. He evidently had reservations about his second tour, according to EverythingLubbock.com:

"He wasn't too crazy about it I don't guess, but that's what he felt he had to do," said (Senaido Olguin,) his father.

"Words are hard to come by," Olguin said. "All I know is we are so proud of him."

His brother, Jose (Joey) Gabriel Olguin posted the following to the Patriot Guard’s site:

...When I found out my brother died, all that I wanted was for his story to be told and for him to be (not) just another name on a list of soldiers who have died giving us the freedom to do one of the rights we are all doing now. Freedom of speech. Even though my brother didn't like the things he had to do in Iraq, he believed what he was doing it for. He was and is a good man and I only wish that everyone in this world would have gotten a chance to meet him. I also wish that one day that I become even half the man he is. Thank you from the bottom of me and my family's heart for everything everyone one on here has said. It means everything to us that each of you would take the time to recognize him and thanks to all of you, his story is being told exactly the way it should.

(snip)

I would like to say one last thing. I am begging all of you to let everyone you hold dear in your life know that you love them and to hold them as much as you can cause in an instant they can be taken away from you. Randy....I know you are looking down on us right now and reading and listening to every word we speak, I just want you to know that we love you so much and we will forever cherish all the joy and happiness you brought in our lives.

In addition to his family members stateside, Olguin leaves behind a wife in Germany. The burial is planned for this weekend.

Godspeed, Sgt. Randell Olguin.

The Department of Defense recently listed Sgt. Chirasak Vidhyarkorn among the fallen. The 32-year-old, from Queens, N.Y., died Sept. 29 in Diwaniyah, Iraq, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 142nd Field Artillery Regiment, Camp Shelby, Miss. The incident is under investigation."

He was almost home. In a few days, Vidhyarkorn would have returned to the U.S. on a two-week furlough. Now, it is his parents, who live in Thailand, who will make the long journey to America to receive their son’s body.

"I want my son back, my sole son," Vidhyarkorn's mother told the Daily News by telephone last night.

Bronx-born Vidhyarkorn spent part of his early life in Thailand, which is where he studied to become an environmental engineer, according to the Daily News. The newspaper reports that he was back in the states in 2000, the year he enlisted in the Army. After two years of active duty and a year in the reserves, he served in Iraq in 2003; he then came home to New York to work on a master’s degree in engineering and to work as an engineer for the state.

During his second tour of Iraq, he was evidently offered a job back home and couldn’t wait to tell his family about it, says the New York Post:

Vidhyarkorn had been scheduled to be home this week on a brief leave, where he was planning to tell family members all about the exciting job offer, said his aunt, Haipun Kunatee.

"He was very talented and a very smart guy," Kunatee said.

(Snip)

A pair of solemn soldiers came to Kunatee's Bayside home Saturday and delivered the news.

"That just broke my heart," she said.

Newsday reports that black and yellow ribbons are flying from a lamppost and a tree outside Kunatee’s home.

A date for the funeral has not yet been set.

Godspeed, Sgt. Chirasak Vidhyarkorn.

War’s fallout lasts for decades. Not long ago, the families of Capt. Warren R. Orr Jr., U.S. Army, of Kewanee, Ill. and Airman 1st Class George W. Long, U.S. Air Force, of Medicine Lodge, Kan. received word that the remains of their loved ones, missing in action during the war in Vietnam, had been identified. Please visit the link to read their stories. Long has been buried; Orr’s burial is being planned.

Godspeed, Capt. Warren R. Orr Jr., U.S. Army, of Kewanee, Ill. and Airman 1st Class George W. Long, U.S. Air Force, of Medicine Lodge, Kan.

***

The Department of Defense has confirmed 3,807 deaths and the announcement of one more death is expected, pending notification of the next of kin, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. All of the U.S. fatalities can be seen here. The DoD news releases are here.

***

You can read more about each service member at  Honor the Fallen and Spread the Word: Iraq-Nam, which is written by our own spread the word IRAQ-NAM. They all had friends and loved ones. Please visit the Iraq Veterans Memorial for a moving look at how a few of their survivors remember them. It will break your heart. If you want to do something more, please visit anysoldier.com, Operation Helmet, and/or Fisher House.

About "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT)
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one.

Until recently, the IGTNT team has posted diaries about the fallen the day after the names appear on the DoD’s website. Because it is sometimes difficult to find much information about service members so soon, diaries about fallen service members will now appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows more time for us to find and tell their stories.

Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by blue jersey mom, chacounne, greenies, joyful, labwitchy, moneysmith, MsWings, noweasels, roses, Sandy on Signal, silvercedes, SisTwo, twilight falling, Wee Mama and me, monkeybiz.

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.