In honor of these soldiers and the eternal love they carried in their hearts, I offer a poem on love that transcends death:
Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory;
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heap’d for the beloved’s bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
We pay tribute today to three soldiers whose soft voices have been silenced: Staff Sgt. Robb L. Rolfing, PFC Jonathan M. Rossi, and Spc. Victor A. García.
Robb Rolfing See him here.
DoD reports:
Staff Sgt. Robb L. Rolfing, 29, of Milton, Mass., died June 30 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colo.
Robb Rolfing grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He graduated from O’Gorman High School in 1996, and received a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics from Vassar College in New York in 2000. He had a lifelong love of sports. He was the place-kicker for O’Gorman High School’s football team and was an excellent soccer player in college. While at Vassar, he finished second all-time on the soccer team in goals, assists and points. He was also the team's captain for two years, was named second-team All-American in the Northeast Region in 1999, and scored the winning goal to advance his team to the national tournament for the first time in any sport in the history of Vassar.
After graduating from Vassar, Robb Rolfing even worked for the soccer programs at Rollins College in Orlando, Fla., and then Curry College in Milton, Mass. But his soccer dream ended with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Then another of his dreams kicked in, one Robb Rolfing had talked about for years.
He wanted to join the U.S. Army's Special Forces and serve his country. Spurred by the terrorist attacks, he enlisted on Jan. 2, 2002.
"He grew up loving the military," his mother said. "He read every military book he could, especially on the Green Berets. And he watched so many movies about it."
He might have chased his soccer goals more, his family said. But eventually, they say, he would have ended up pursuing his dreams of being a member of the Special Forces.
"It would have been something else that finally drove him that way, even if 9-11 had never happened," his father said.
He was deployed to Iraq for nine months in 2003, serving mainly near Mosul. He'd just gone back for a second tour in mid-March and was scheduled to come home in November.
~ From ArgusLeader.com
The Special Forces provided an outlet for another of Staff Sgt. Rolfing’s lifelong passions: science. As ArgusLeader.com reports:
As his unit's engineer, Rolfing would create shelters if needed. He was in charge of explosives as well.
"He'd build bombs and detonate them," his younger brother, T.J., 26, said. "If they needed to build a bomb, he'd scrounge around for what he could find and do it."
It was a part of the job that Rolfing particularly liked, especially since he grew up with a fascination for the lead character in the television series "MacGyver."
In that show, MacGyver used his scientific knowledge and common items to improvise complex devices to resolve seemingly intractable problems - often in life-and-death situations. Like MacGyver, Rolfing always carried a roll of duct tape and a Swiss Army knife with him.
"I remember once in his senior year, he came to school and had forgotten his duct tape," said Jane Schnell, Rolfing's chemistry and physics teacher at O'Gorman. "It drove him crazy. He went home at lunch during open campus to get it. He said, 'You never know when you're going to need duct tape to hold it all together.' "
Staff Sgt. Rolfing was very good at holding it all together—with or without duct tape—even under the worst of circumstances in Iraq, and he never flinched from performing his duty. The Boston Herald reports that "Robb Rolfing called home on Father’s Day and last visited his family in South Dakota at Christmas. They had him for less than a week, and his departure was very matter-of-fact, his dad recalled. ‘Special forces people are special,’ Rolfing said. ‘How can I put this. . . . When it was time to leave, he left.’"
Just three months into his second deployment to Iraq, it was again time for Staff Sgt. Rolfing to leave—this time, forever. Tragically, his parents received the news of his death Saturday, the day before their 35th wedding anniversary.
His grieving family remembers him most for his passionate love and dedication to his country and to helping the Iraqi people:
"He said one of the last times when he called, 'We're doing good over here, and nobody is reporting how much good we are doing.' He said that over and over and over again," Rex Rolfing said.
(snip)
(His brother) T.J. Rolfing said, "...he was proud to be over there, proud of what he was doing. He made the ultimate sacrifice for the Iraqi people. He died for our freedoms, for all of us. And so, yeah, I am very proud."
~ From ArgusLeader.com
Staff Sgt. Rolfing is survived by his parents, Rex and Margie Rolfing, his 26-year-old brother, T.J, and his 20-year-old sister, Tiffany. Though his soft voice has died, his eternal love for his country, his family, the military, sports, and science lives on, leaving a sweet sound in the memories of all those whose lives he touched and those of us who now remember him.
Jonathan Rossi See him here.
DoD reports:
Pfc. Jonathan M. Rossi, 20, of Safety Harbor, Fla., died July 1 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.
Jonathan Rossi grew up in Safety Harbor, Florida. His mother died of breast cancer when he was 11, leaving him with a profound grief that he carried with him for the rest of his life. He was described as shy and intelligent, with a good sense of humor, a real artistic talent, and a deep love of his family. His 19-year-old brother, Jason Rossi, to whom he was extremely close, told the El Paso Times,
"When it came to family, that was always the most important."
Two months after he graduated from Countryside High School in 2005, Jonathan Rossi decided to join the Army. He enjoyed martial arts and originally hoped to become an Army Ranger. After injuring his knee during jump school, however, PFC Rossi abandoned his Ranger dream and became an explosive devices specialist. He hoped ultimately to work for the CIA. The El Paso Times reports:
Jason Rossi said his brother was doing what he loved and had joined the Army for the adventure and to serve his country. After spending time in Iraq, his brother looked forward to coming home, Jason Rossi said. But the soldier always was ready to return to the challenges presented by his job, he added.
PFC Rossi returned to Iraq after a visit home in March. His tour of duty didn’t last very long. PFC Rossi’s father, Michael—himself a 20-year Air Force veteran—received the horrible news this past Sunday:
"I saw an Air Force gentleman and an Army gentleman on the front porch, and my heart, my throat. I knew what they were here for." Michael Rossi said. "I didn't want to believe it. And at first, I didn't want to answer the door. But I knew."
The military officials told Michael Rossi his 20-year-old son, Jonathan, just died in Iraq. "The last 24 hours, 48 hours, I've been lifeless. I've been empty inside."
Michael Rossi said his son was a soldier's soldier who wasn't afraid to die for his country.
"He has a place on MySpace. And one of the questions was 'If you died, how would you want to die?' And he said 'on a mission.' That's how he went." Rossi said.
~ From ABC Action News
Indeed he did, and there is some comfort in the knowledge that PFC Rossi died doing what he loved. But there is none for his girlfriend, Elizabeth Behl, who talked to him just a few hours before he died:
"We had a trip planned to Europe and he always talked about that," Behl said. "...it made him feel so much better to talk about when he was coming home, and all the things we would do."
And through friends, Elizabeth found out Jonathan was planning much more than a trip to Europe. He was planning to ask her to be his wife.
Elizabeth says if she just had one more chance, this is how she would say goodbye:
"I love you more than you can ever know. And even though it hurts so much, I won't give up anything that we had. Ever. We're going to meet again someday and we'll have time to do all the things that we wanted to do."
~ From ABC Action News
PFC Rossi was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals. He is survived by his father, Michael, his brother, Jason, and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Behl. Though his soft voice has died, his eternal love for his family, the woman who would have been his wife, and his country lives on, leaving a sweet sound in the memories of those whose lives he touched and those of us who now remember him.
Victor García
DoD reports:
Spc. Victor A. García, 22, of Rialto, Calif., died July 1 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
Victor García enlisted in the Army in November, 2004, after completing a year of college. He trained as a weapons specialist, and he was deployed to Iraq in April, 2007. He served as part of the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Washington. He is the 15th member of his battalion to be killed since it was deployed in April, and the 30th person from the Inland Valley, California region to perish since March 2003.
According to Matt Hinkle, the spokesman for Fort Lewis, Spc. García’s body will be returned to his family within the next few days.
A message posted to a memorial for Spc. García says it perfectly:
At this time of year when we celebrate our independence let us never forget that freedom is not free. It is because of brave young men like Victor that we are free.
May God be with the family and friends of this courageous young man. Victor was a true American hero. My thoughts and prayers are with you in this your greatest time of need.
~ Josh's mom 1-23 INF 3/2 Stryker Brigade
Sadly, I was not able to find any other information about Spc. García. As more information becomes available, I will update this diary. If you have information about Spc. García, please share it in the comments.
Alhough we know little about Spc. García, one thing is clear: he joined the Army during a time of war, knowing he would be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. With this action, he demonstrated an abiding love for his country and a belief that he could make a difference. And though his soft voice has died, his love for his family and his country lives on, leaving a sweet sound in the memories of those whose lives he touched and those of us who now remember him.
In Closing...
As of this writing, Iraq Coalition Casualties reports that 3583 American soldiers have been confirmed killed in action in Iraq, with 3 additional deaths pending notification of the families. The DoD news releases can be found here.
You can help our soldiers. Please consider sponsoring a soldier at TroopCarePackage.com. It doesn’t take much time or money. Just send letters or care packages to your soldier. One of my "adopted" soldiers told me that "mail is gold" for a deployed soldier. A few minutes of your time and one airmail stamp can make a real difference in a soldier’s life. anysoldier.com, Operation Helmet, and Fisher House are also wonderful organizations that provide comfort and care to deployed American soldiers.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Monkeybiz, Sandy on Signal, silvercedes, noweasels, greenies, American Daughter, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, Wee Mama, and MsWings.
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