The Dead
I
Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead!
There's none of these so loney and poor of old,
But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold.
These laid the world away; poured out the red
Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be
Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene
That men call age; and those who would have been,
Their sons, they gave, their immortality.
Blow, bugles, blow! They brought us, for our dearth,
Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and Pain.
Honour has come back, as a king, to earth,
And paid his subjects with a royal wage;
And Nobleness walks in our ways again;
And we have come into our heritage.
II
These hearts were woven of human joys and cares
Washed marvellously with sorrow, swift to mirth.
The years had given them kindness. Dawn was theirs,
And sunset, and the colours of the earth.
These had seen movement and heard music; known
Slumber and waking; loved; gone proudly friended;
Felt the quick stir of wonder; sat alone;
Touched flowers and furs and cheeks. All this is ended.
There are waters blown by changing winds to laughter
And lit by the rich skies, all day. And after,
Frost with a gesture, stays the waves that dance
And wandering loveliness. He leaves a white
Unbroken glory, a gathered radiance,
A width, a shining peace, under the night.
- Rupert Brooke
Staff Sgt. Jason Dene
Lt. Col. Gary Luck Jr., commander of 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, speaks with Staff Sgt. Jason Dene, 3-15 Military Training Team member, during an Iraqi Army raid in Sadr City Nov. 14. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ben Brody, 2nd Brigade Combat Team PAO)
Sgt. 1st Class Jason F. Dene, 37, of Castleton, Vt., died May 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, from injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident on May 24. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. Sgt. Dene was the nephew of actress Mia Farrow.
Family members said that they were still not sure exactly what happened, but, given the fact that they had been told Dene died in his sleep, suspect that Sgt. Dene died from sleep apnea. Sgt Dene was described as a career military man on his third tour who had already suffered serious injuries from a roadside bomb earlier in the war.
"Dene, who attended Fair Haven High School, joined the Army in 1988. He was on his second tour of duty in Iraq and was to return to the states after the 15-month tour ended June 23, according to his wife of 16 years, Judith L. Dene.
"He was a hero," she said in a telephone interview from Fort Stewart. "He was a hero to all of us. It's tragic that he died so young, and so far away from us."
http://www.rutlandherald.com/...
Judith Dene said she lost her best friend Sunday when her husband Sgt. 1st Class Jason Dene died in Iraq.
[snip]
Searching for the words to describe her husband of 16 years, Judith Dene said he could best be described as "a great guy" with a "dark, sarcastic sense of humor." But behind the jokes and the sarcasm, she said, her husband was a loving, family man and dedicated paratrooper with the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. "He loved his kids and he loved me. We had a great 16 years together," Judith Dene said. "And he was proud of his military life. He was proud to be part of the elite."
[snip]
Judith Dene said her husband was on his second tour of duty in Iraq and was scheduled to return to the states after his 15-month tour ended June 23. She said she and the couple's three children (two daughters, ages 15 and 14, and an 8-year-old son) are coping with the loss as best they can through faith and strength. "He's going to be greatly missed by all of us. It's just very tragic that he was so far away when this happened. "The special way that he would always try to take care of me. He always looked out for me and I always thought that was very sweet. We cared for each other deeply."
http://www.coastalcourier.com/...
Sgt. Dene is survived by his wife and three small children.
Spc. Christopher Gathercole
Spc. Christopher Gathercole, 21, of Santa Rosa, Calif., died May 26 in Ghazni, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from small arms fire during combat operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Spc. Gathercole was born in Santa Rosa and graduated from Rincon High School. He graduated from the Ranger Indoctrination Program at Fort Benning, Ga in 2006. He was stationed at Fort Lewis before being deployed to Afghanistan.
"He was a tough kid, and I'm not surprised he went into the military," said childhood friend Wes Anderson of San Ramon, who went to school with Spc. Gathercole. He recalled that his friend's road through childhood was rocky, "not having his parents around," but said "he made the best of what he had.
"He was awesome."
"He wanted to change himself, and he wanted to change the world around him," his 23-year-old brother, Edward Gathercole of Santa Rosa, told the San Rosa Press Democrat. "In his opinion, he was doing the highest civic duty possible."
http://www.sfgate.com/...
He was born in Santa Rosa, but he and his brother were in foster care by the time they were toddlers, Edward Gathercole said. They moved between foster homes, living for a time with their father before going back into the system, he said. When he was 17, he spoke about joining the military as a way to improve himself and get some structure in his life, his brother said. For a time, however, he thought he would become a police officer instead.
"He didn't want to die in another county with no one around that he loved," his brother said. Ultimately, he decided the military was his best option. "He didn't see any other outlet," he said. Gathercole joined the Army in October 2005. He didn't share much about his experiences in Afghanistan, his brother said. "The unit he was involved in, they go in and handle some big business, so they don't talk about it," he said.
Edward Gathercole, who was homeless for a time before getting help from a group that helps foster teens transition to adulthood, said he feels both proud of his brother's service and also troubled because he knows he joined the Army to make a better life for both of them. "The sacrifice he made was not just for his country, and not just for himself, but he wanted to do it for me," Gathercole said.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/...
Chris Gathercole, in happier times
Spc. Gathercole is survived by his brother Edward; his father Edward R. Gathercole of Santa Rosa; and his mother, Catherine Haines of Fairfield.
Spc. Justin L. Buxbaum
Spc. Justin L. Buxbaum, 23, of South Portland, Maine, died May 26 in Kushamond, Afghanistan. Spc. Buxbaum graduated from South Portland High School in 2004. He was assigned to the 62nd Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood Texas. According to the Department of Defense, Spc. Buxbaum died after being shot in a non-combat related incident. Spc. Buxbaum was serving his third tour overseas. He had already served two tours of duty in Iraq.
Spc. Buxbaum drove a Buffalo, a vehicle with an armored V-shaped hull undercarriage designed to deflect the explosion and shrapnel from an IED outwards, away from a crew of engineers assigned to remove IED's from roadways. Interviewed by his home town paper in 2005, Spc. Buxbaum said:
"You are always going to be scared, and I have been, but I have a lot of faith in my equipment and training."
He added that the work is slow and meticulous. He and his crew never lose focus as they clear the routes because they have people's lives to think about and can't afford any doubts in what they are doing.
"It is a very rewarding feeling knowing that the job that we perform may save someone's life so that they can go back home to their families."
http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/...
NOTE: Please see more about Spc. Buxbaum, contributed by operculum and EJP in Maine, in the comments. Bless them for their efforts.
I regret that I was unable to find more information on these brave heroes. Please be kind enough to supplement my humble effort at a tribute with your comments.
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.
Click here http://www.dailykos.com/... to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, noweasels, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, chacounne, twilight falling, moneysmith, labwitchy, joyful, roses, SisTwo, monkeybiz, girl in MI, nancy and me, SpamNunn.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. Many of us have strong feelings about this war and, for that matter, all wars, but this diary is intended as a memorial service for these soldiers. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion, rather than politics.
