It is hard when a mother or a father of young children is lost to war. When the military couple is expecting a baby, to have that child grow up never knowing the touch of a parent is so very sad. In situations like those, we must draw comfort in the fact that something of that person remains. As it is said by one of my favorite poets:
Oh heart, if one should say to you
that the soul perishes like the body,
answer that the flower withers,
but the seed remains.
~Kahlil Gibran
Tonight we remember the lives of three who have left a little of themselves which remains with us:
- Private First Class Dylan T. Reid was from Missouri
- Sergeant Ian M. Tawney was from Oregon
- Corporal Jorge Villarreal, Jr. was from Texas
Private First Class Dylan T. Reid
Dylan Reid was from Springfield, Missouri. Dylan was the youngest of five siblings. He joined the Army on September 24, 2008 and was trained to repair track vehicles.
Private First Class Dylan T. Reid was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. In April of 2009, Reid arrived at the base at Fort Carson in Colorado. He was deployed to Iraq in March of this year.
In October, Reid was seven months into his first deployment. Dylan’s wife, Alesia, gave birth to their daughter, Avery Lynn, a little more than a month ago. Mother and daughter are living with Alesia’s parents in Minnesota.
Mason Dosey graduated with Dylan from Desert Technology High School in 2005. He had this to say to the Springfield Missouri’s News-Leader:
"He was a really good guy to talk to," Dosey said, "He never judged anybody."
Dosey described his friend as a "machine-head" who was always working on something, including his beloved Camaro.
Dosey said he was able to keep in touch with Dylan despite his deployment, speaking with him often on instant messaging.
"He pretty much just talked about how beautiful his daughter was," Mosey said.
A decorated soldier, Private First Class Dylan T. Reid, died October 16th in Amarah, Iraq in a non-combat related incident. He was 24 years old. A Youtube video was made to honor him.
Dylan’s parents, who live in Lamar, were at Dover Air Force Base on Monday receiving their son’s remains. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced, but are expected to be held in Lumar, Missouri and the Patriot Guard Riders will be attending.
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Sergeant Ian M. Tawney
Ian M. Tawney was from the small town of Dallas in Oregon. Tawney graduated from Dallas High School in 2003. He met his future wife, Ashley, while he was still in school. He joined the Marine Corps in March 2005 and had been deployed to Iraq in 2007.
Sergeant Ian M. Tawney was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based at Camp Pendleton in California. Tawney was a squad leader and had volunteered for his latest tour overseas before he found out his wife was pregnant. His daughter is due in January. According to The Oregonian News site:
Tawney was a top student in squad leader school, and he graduated as the honor man of his class, his father said. He had wanted to make the Marines his career.
"He just knew what he wanted in his life, and he went for it," his mother said. "He was a man of great integrity."
His wife described him as outgoing and full of life. He loved hunting, snowboarding and riding motorcycles.
"He loved to laugh," Ashley Tawney said. The two met in pre-school and stayed friends throughout high school. Finally, when both of them were working at a retirement facility, they began dating. Tawney was excited about the arrival of their daughter.
"It's going to be a real blessing to have a part of him through her," Theda Tawney said
The Marine had only been in Afghanistan for about three weeks when he was killed. It happened October 16th, while Tawney was conducting combat operations in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. He was 25 years old. Tawney is the 10th Marine from his battalion to be killed in 10 days. A fellow Oregonian, Lance Corporal Rodewald, from the same battalion died just three days before.
In addition to his parents, and his wife, Sergeant Ian M. Tawney is survived by brothers Shayne Chandler and Jacob Tawney, sisters Stacy Barham, Karin Lamberton and Karla Cowan, and grandmothers Leona Smith and Kathryn Tawney.
Tawney was the recipient of several awards for his service, including the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.
Funeral arrangements are pending, but it is planned that the Patriot Guard Riders will attend.
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Corporal Jorge Villarreal, Jr.
Jorge Villarreal Jr. was known as "JV," by his family. Villarreal graduated from San Antonio’s Kennedy High School in 2006 and joined the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 18-years-old, in February of 2007.
Villarreal deployed with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit to the western Pacific in 2008. More recently, Corporal Jorge Villarreal Jr. was assigned to 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based at Camp Pendleton in California.
This past summer, Villarreal visited with his friends before deploying to Afghanistan. He was expected back for the holidays. According to the My San Antonio News site, many friends talked about Villarreal during a memorial ceremony:
Miguel Castaneda, 28, who serves in the Army, said that although he never served side by side with Villarreal, his friend did talk about death.
"He told me if anything were to happen to him, for us to mourn for him for an hour," Castaneda said. "After that, he said we should party it up and celebrate his life.
"I hope everyone does that for him. He deserves it."
Villarreal was killed October 17th in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb while he was on a foot patrol in the Helmand province. He was 22 years old.
To the left is a photo of Villareal putting up a flag for his father. The image to the right is of the MedEvac helicopter near Forward Operating Base (FOB) Zeebrugge, which is ready to transport the remains of Villarreal. It is one of several heart-wrenching pictures of the events surrounding the death of Corporal Villarreal at the Military Photos forum. More pictures can be seen at The Australian.com site.
Villarreal’s personal service awards include the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and NATO Medal.
Survivors of Corporal Jorge Villarreal, Jr. include his father Jorge Sr., and his mother Yolanda Villarreal and his sister, April. Funeral plans have not been announced but the Patriot Guard Riders will be there.
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Helping our troops:
If you wish to assist our military and their families, consider Operation Helmet, or 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. The KINship Project has also been of help to our veterans and other Kossacks In Need.
Stop-loss pay is available for veterans. The deadline for this program is December 3rd. The compensation is also available to survivors.
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
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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.