Fort Lewis is hurting.
Its losses have been heavy, especially with the recent losses of seven soldiers killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan. Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, 29, of Terre Haute, Ind., Sgt. Fernando Delarosa, 24, of Alamo, Texas, and Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, 27, of South Ozone Park, N.Y. were three of the casualties. Their Afghan interpreter was also killed.
The flag-draped caskets of these soldiers were escorted to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del. and were met by President Barack Obama. You have probably seen the photographs. Please take a few minutes to read about how much was lost with the deaths of these men, and keep their families, friends and comrades in arms in your thoughts tonight.
Note: This is the second of two diaries honoring those lost in this incident. Please read noweasels' companion diary, here.
This tribute was written by monkeybiz.
Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, 29, of Terre Haute, Ind. and of the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash. According to the Department of Defense, he was one of seven soldiers who died on Oct. 27 "in Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device."
"He wanted to be part of an organization that was taking care of things," said Steve Joseph, his wrestling coach at Terre Haute South High School. "He wasn't just a member of something: He wanted to do the very best he possibly could in it."
Dale Russel Griffin may have been the baby of his family, but he was a natural-born leader.
When he wrestled for Terre Haute South Vigo High School, he was a uniting spirit for the Braves."I can't remember a time he wasn't in a leadership position," (his former wrestling coach Steven) Joseph said. "Even as a young wrestler you could tell other team members would flock around him and talk to him and learn from him."
As Joseph told a Chicago NBC affiliate,
During his senior year when he placed second in the state in wrestling for the 189-pound division the freshmen wrestlers, who were often hazed by the older kids, looked up to him. Griffin made sure they were treated like teammates by making sure none of the younger wrestlers were hazed by the upperclassmen, Joseph said.
"He didn’t necessarily protect them," Joseph said. "He just didn’t appreciate hazing of our younger wrestlers. He led by example and he wouldn’t let it happen."
He also captained the school's football team, according to WTWO, and was an Eagle Scout.
Griffin was still at Terre Haute South when he started talking about the military as a possible post-high school career, as his mother, Dona Griffin, told the (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star earlier this month. Instead of enlisting straight out of high school, however, Griffin attended Virginia Military Institute for several semesters. He kept wrestling, helping take VMI's team to a fourth-place win in the All-Academy Wrestling Championship in 2000 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, said the Trib-Star, adding that the cadet was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in the contest.
Still, he hadn't forgotten his old high school ambition of joining the military, and enlisted in the military after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, his mother told the media. "I think it was simply because of everything that has happened since 2001 and the risk that he saw to his country and what measures needed to be taken to move those forces as far away as possible from our country," (his father) Gene Griffin said." (Joe Kubistek, a Fort Lewis spokesman, stated that Griffin enlisted .in the Army in 2005.)
Dale Griffin with his parents, Dona and Gene Griffin. Photo submitted by the Griffin family.
He was was serving his first deployment--with the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.--in Afghanistan, and was in Kandahar Province when the vehicle that was carrying him struck a roadside bomb. Griffin and six others were killed.
Terre Haute's mayor, Duke Bennett, has issued a proclamation stating that "the American flag at City Hall and at all public buildings and grounds within the Terre Haute city limits will fly at half-staff....until the end of the day on which Sgt. Griffin is interred," according to the Tribune-Star. In addition to his parents, he is survived by three siblings. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Griffin's was among the 18 caskets whose homecoming President Obama witnessed at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del. His parents, Dona and Gene, gave permission for the media to film the return of their son's flag-draped casket (scroll down to last picture), and this moment, too, will live on in the memories of all who knew and loved him--a leader saluting a leader.
Godspeed, Sgt. Dale R. Griffin.
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This tribute was written by blue jersey mom.
Army Sgt. Fernando Delarosa, 24, of Alamo, Texas was one of seven service members who were killed when the vehicle they were riding in was struck by a roadside bomb on Tuesday. Delarosa was born in McAllen, Texas in 1985, and he graduated from Phar-San Juan-Alamo Memorial High School in 2003. He was a good student who was involved in sports, and he enlisted in the army right after graduation. He had planned to make the military his career.
Sgt. Delarosa was based in Fort Lewis, Washington. He had already served two tours of duty in Iraq in the past four years. His mother, Rose, sensed that there was something different about his tour of duty in Afghanistan:
"He was sad," she said. "I think already he kind of like knew, because in the other times he was out there — he had been in Iraq for the last two tours — he would call and he was OK. But this time that he was in Afghanistan, he sounded a little bit different — he sounded a little more sadder."
"He was happier in other times," added his mother, an Hidalgo County Head Start employee. "It sounded like he wanted to tell me something but he didn’t. And his letters, in the first one he sent me, he said that ‘There were a lot of things I wanted to tell you but I don’t want to do it,’ and he did not." ~source
Upon learning of Sgt. Delarosa's death, the mayor of Alamo, Rudy Villareal, ordered all the flags in the city to be flown at half-mast. Delarosa is the first Alamo resident to have died in combat since World War II.
Sgt. Delarosa was the oldest of five children. His brother, Alfredo, is also serving in the Army in South Korea. In addition to his parents, Rosa and Rolando, and his four siblings, Sgt. Delarosa is survived by his wife, Karen, and his two sons, four-year-old Fernando and 10-month-old Juan Carlos.
Godspeed, Sgt. Fernando Delarosa.
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This tribute was written by monkeybiz, with help from Chacounne.
Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, 27, of South Ozone Park, N.Y. and of the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash. According to the Department of Defense, he was one of seven soldiers who died on Oct. 27 "in Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device."
(Photo credit: Paul Martinka/N.Y. Post)
"He was a good man and a hero." --Gonzalez's mother-in-law, Rosa Amaya (Source)
Little information is available about Staff Sgt. Gonzalez. His mother-in-law, Rosa Amaya, told the New York Daily News that his family was "too heartbroken to talk and were mourning his death at a private vigil. 'We all feel horrible. He was a good man and a hero,' she said."
"He always wanted to be in the Army," his oldest brother, José Gomez, told the New York Post. "Our father said he was going to be in the Army since he was 3." The John Bownes High School (The Post reports Flushing High School) graduate enlisted in the Army eight years ago, says the Daily News. He asked his mother, Bienvenida Gonzalez, to pray for him to pass the test, she told the newspaper, adding that "He was a good boy, very happy."
His career in the military took him to Iraq, where he served two tours.
Photo credit: Les Neuhaus, Stars and Stripes
From a 2007 Stars and Stripes article: "In the foreground at the right is Staff Sgt. Luis Gonzalez, 25, of Queens, N.Y., as he and other troops provide security for high-level diplomats, military leaders and reporters taking a tour of a busy market in downtown Mosul. Gonzalez is a member of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division."
In the course of his service, he earned 23 citations and medals, including the Bronze Star, which "may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service."
A third tour took him to Afghanistan. He and his mother spoke by telephone two weeks before he was killed, and, like a good son, told her not to worry about him just then and that he'd be home in January.
Gonzales was leading his squad when the IED went off, according to the Daily News.
His mother is shattered. "I am so very sad. He was so very humble, a very good son," she told the Post. "I will miss him so much."
So will his friends and loved ones. As kdelalu wrote in the comments section of the Patriot Guard's memorial forum,
Gonzo, may ur soul rest in peace brother. Memories of our time in Iraq and Germany are flooding back in my head. U were a good guy, a great soldier with a great attitude. God bless the family u left behind. God bless you bro. R.I.P
When his casket arrived at Dover Air Force Base, it passed by President Obama, who saluted this son of Queens.
The Post was told by family friends that Gonzales "leaves a wife, Jessica, also in the Army, and a 5-month-old son, Isaiah."
Godspeed, Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez.
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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. 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.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, blue jersey mom, twilight falling, joyful, roses, Chacounne, JeNoCo, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, JanosNation, Proud Mom and Grandma and True Blue Majority.
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.