The young dead soldiers do not speak.
* * *
Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses:
who has not heard them?
They have a silence that speaks for them at night
and when the clock counts.
They say: We were young. We have died.
Remember us.They say: Our deaths are not ours: they are yours,
they will mean what you make them.
They say: Whether our lives and our deaths were for
peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say,
it is you who must say this.
We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning.
We were young, they say. We have died; remember us.~ Archibald MacLeish
Staff Sgt. Jeremy D. Vrooman, 28, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Staff Sgt. Vrooman died Jul 15 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated while his unit was conducting combat operations in Kn'an, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Vilseck, Germany.
"He was so proud to wear the uniform," his mother said.
After nearly a year of serving in the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment’s rear detachment, Staff Sgt. Jeremy D. Vrooman was raring to get back to Iraq.
(snip)
Vrooman didn’t have any illusions about what he’d face in Iraq; he’d already served one full tour in the country.
So before leaving for Iraq June 12, he made a point of telling his peers that if anything happened to him, he wanted to be remembered in true cavalry tradition — that meant displaying his Stetson instead of a Kevlar helmet at his memorial ceremony.
On Tuesday, just about a month after hitting the ground, the 28-year-old soldier from Sioux Falls, S.D., led a team "at the dawn of another intensely hot, dusty day, doing what he loved to do," (Lt. Col. Tom Rickard, the unit’s rear detachment commander in Vilseck, Germany) said Friday in Vilseck during a memorial ceremony for the soldier. Vrooman’s empty Stetson was there, as he’d asked for.
A nine-year Army veteran, Vrooman was the first man through the door as his team of soldiers from Troop P, 4th Squadron, moved to clear a building in the town of Kn’an. The building was booby-trapped, and Vrooman took the brunt of the explosion from a makeshift bomb.
"His brothers treated him quickly and expertly, but the damage was too great," Rickard said.
Two other soldiers were injured in the blast. Vrooman died in a Baghdad hospital that day.
(snip)
Vrooman is survived by his wife, Latrecia; his 5-year-old son, Xavier; and 1-year-old daughter, Jade.
"He was so proud of Xavier and loved to bring him to the squadron headquarters and show him to everyone," Rickard said.
"There is no greater pain for his wife, family and friends than his sudden loss, and yet for those of us who serve, there is no more honorable way to leave the world."
"I don't think he would have any misgivings about the way he spent his life," said (his grandfather) Danny while sitting at his kitchen table. On the wall behind him hangs a service picture of Jeremy and his brother Justin, who is also in the military.
(snip)
Jeremy had been stationed in Germany with his wife Latrecia and two kids. Danny had been looking forward for them to come home to Sioux Falls for Christmas. He and his wife Hazel hadn't seen them in over a year, but then the phone rang. Letrecia and a relative called the house with bad news.
Jeremy had passed.
"It's a real shock, but it was nice to be able to hear it from people you love," said Danny.
(snip)
"His life was... meant something because there's people with a better life because he lived," said Danny.
Staff Sgt. Vrooman's mother, Lori Donahue of Sioux Falls, said her son’s unit was raiding a house when he was killed.
(snip)
Donahue learned from her husband that Army officials were looking for them, but it didn’t hit her until they walked up.
"I lost it. I just lost it," she said. "It’s a horrible feeling. I don’t want anyone to go through it."
(snip)
Jeremy Vrooman attended high school at Brandon Valley and then Lennox for part of his junior year, said Alan Rops, former Lennox High School principal.
He said Vrooman was a quiet and unassuming student who had an interest in science and electronics.
"He died for his country and I have the utmost respect for his service," said Rops, a Vietnam veteran.
"He was what every man should aspire to be, what every husband should aspire to be and what every father should hope to be," Bruce Vrooman said.
"All the cliches you heard about the military being positive were what Jeremy loved," his father, Bruce Vrooman, said. "He loved knowing he was making a difference."
(snip)
Vrooman completed basic training at Fort Knox, Ky. He wanted to join the Army because his brother, Justin, had.
"He did it proudly," (his mother, Lori) Donahue said of Jeremy. "He was so proud to wear the uniform."
(snip)
After receiving his military training, Vrooman was stationed at Fort Carson, Colo. He served his first tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 for 12 months, driving an ammunition truck, Lori Donahue said.
Vrooman then spent a few months as a recruiter in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, before deciding to join the Stryker unit in Germany, his father said.
"He was what every man should aspire to be, what every husband should aspire to be and what every father should hope to be," Bruce Vrooman said.
Lori Donahue recalled her son loved to laugh and had an infectious smile. He loved playing with his kids, military vehicle models and fishing.
Source ~ Sioux Falls Argus Leader
Staff Sgt. Jeremy Vrooman is survived by his wife, Latrecia, their 5-year-old son, Xavier and the year-old daughter, Jade, and by his father and stepmother, Bruce and Sue Vrooman, of Superior, Wisconsin, his mother and stepfather, Lori and Wayne Donahue, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, his brother, Justin, his half-sister, Kierra Donahue, his stepbrothers, Jason Donahue and Brad Steckelberg and his grandfather, Danny Vrooman.
A memorial service might take place in Sioux Falls, but the funeral is expected to be in San Antonio, his wife's hometown.
Thank you, Staff Sgt. Vrooman. Your mission is done.
Staff Sgt. David W. Textor, 27, of Roanoke, Virginia
Staff Sgt. Textor died July 15 in Mosul, Iraq, of injuries suffered from a vehicle incident. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Lewis, Wash.
Staff Sgt. Textor was the father of five children and often said that, if he won the lottery, he’d have six more.
The widow of Staff Sgt. David Textor, a Fort Lewis soldier killed this week in Iraq, said he will be remembered as a devoted father of five and a dedicated soldier.
"He wanted to fight for his country and fight for his children. That was his main motivation," Colette Textor said at their Lacey home.
(snip)
Textor enjoyed family activities, including camping, going to the park, bike riding and taking walks, his wife said.
He coached youth soccer while the family lived in North Carolina, and he planned to resume coaching locally when he returned from Iraq, she said.
"He was a wonderful person. He was an awesome father. He loved spending time with me and the kids," she said. "We like to watch movies together. He would play with all the action figure toys with the boys."
The children, three of whom the couple had together, range from age 1 to 14. "He always said, if we ever won the lottery, he would have six more," she said.
(snip)
Only hours before Textor died, he leaned forward and kissed a Web-cam image of his wife, Colette, whom he was chatting with over the Internet.
After the kiss, he said "goodbye" to her for the last time. She returned to caring for their five children, and her husband returned to a mission he took personally — protecting the United States for his children.
Textor’s sister-in-law described him as devoted to his family and the military. He had been serving in Iraq for about two months.
" . . . not very long, but he loved what he was doing," (Debbie Faultner-Vondra, the sister of Textor’s wife) said. "He was the kind of guy that wasn’t afraid of anything. He thought he was Superman, and my sister thought he was Superman. At that age, you never think that something like this is going to happen."
(snip)
"My sister and her husband saw each other every day. On the morning of the day he died, they were talking and he kissed the computer screen and said goodbye to her," Faultner-Vondra said.
The couple could not know it would be their final goodbye. Textor, who became a Green Beret in 2006, four years after enlisting, had so many plans.
When his tour ended in Iraq, he intended to come home and spend time with his children, who range in age from 2 to 14. He wanted to get back into coaching youth soccer.
(snip)
At Randolph High School, where he graduated, he had participated in football, wrestling and track.
His plans also included more of the military. He intended to re-enlist in October.
"He wanted to fight for his country, and his main motivation was his children, to make sure they were protected," Faultner-Vondra said.
(snip)
After high school graduation, Textor moved with mother and stepfather, Jennie and Kevin Lindberg, to Roanoke, Va., where he joined the Army.
Though Textor will be buried in Fairbanks, Alaska — where he met his future wife in October 2002 while he was stationed at Fort Wainwright — a memorial service is set for 11 a.m. next Saturday in American Legion Post 181 in Randolph (New York).
(snip)
The staff sergeant’s wife hopes people here who have stories and photographs of her late husband’s early years will attend and share them with local relatives, who will forward the remembrances to her.
"My sister’s trying to gather these stories and pictures so that they can be passed along to their children," Faultner-Vondra said. "We’re all going to miss him."
"He did everything he wanted," his sister said.
The New York native, who lived in Roanoke before joining the Army, had two goals, his sister said.
"He wanted to grow up and have kids," Michelle Krawczyk said. And he wanted to be a soldier. "So he did everything he wanted," she said.
Krawczyk, who lives in Roanoke, said that when she was pregnant with her first son, her brother would preemptively complain that the baby would soon be waking him up as he tried to sleep across the hall.
"But when my son came home from the hospital and made the first peep, he was the first one in my room" to look after him, she said. Textor was 13 or 14 at the time. "He was the first one to say, 'I'll babysit.' There was just something in him."
"Most macho guys don't want to hold a brand-new baby. He was all for it," Krawczyk said.
"'Just hold it like a football,' he'd say. 'There's nothing to it.'"
(snip)
He had the privileges and attention that can come with being the only son in a home with five sisters. But he lived up to his part, his family said.
"I'd always call him my little big brother," Krawczyk said. Any hint of a boyfriend problem would prompt a quick call to the guy from her brother. Before he joined the Army, he tried to make sure his sister was getting married, "to make sure I wasn't going to need him."
"It's hard to cry over him. Every time I try, I hear him: 'Knock it off. What are you crying about? . . . Keep going,' " she said.
Textor was thrown from his Humvee and suffered head injuries, family members said. They said their understanding was that he wasn't driving. Their mother, Krawczyk said, wonders how things might have been different if he had been at the wheel and in control.
"My mom believes if he was driving . . . he would still be here," she said. "My mom had seven kids. She got her boy. She's taking it hard." Another sibling died at birth.
(snip)
On the morning before Textor was killed, he talked by video phone with his wife, Colette, and one of his children.
"My sister-in-law talked to him over webcam. He was, 'I love you, I love you, I'll call you later,' " Krawczyk said. "And then he never called them."
Officials said Staff Sgt. Textor, 27, came in as an Infantryman and moved up the ladder, eventually earning a Green Beret. Later, he became a weapons sergeant assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Lewis, Washington.
This was his first deployment to Iraq, and . . . had only been gone two months.
Family photo of Staff Sgt. Textor with his wife and five children.
Staff Sgt. David William Textor . . . was born Sept. 14, 1980, in Jamestown, N.Y., and grew up in Randolph, N.Y., where he attended school. David joined the military in May 2002. He was an accomplished and highly decorated soldier who loved his job and wanted to defend his county. The only thing David loved more than his work was his family. David was a great father, brother and son.
(snip)
David touched the lives of everyone he met and will be greatly missed but always remembered.
(snip)
''Staff Sgt. David W. Textor, you are a true American Hero and will not be forgot-ten. Stand down soldier, your mission is complete. Job well done. May our Heavenly Father welcome you home to rest. Know you are loved."
Staff Sgt.Textor is survived by his wife, Colette and their five children: Caleb, McKenna, Ryan, Boden and Jadon of Olympia, Wash.; by his father, William Textor of Pine City, Minn., and his mother and step-father, Jennie and Kevin Linberg of Roanoke, Va.; by his stepgrandparents, Chuck and Molly Lindberg of Randolph, N.Y.; by his five older sisters: Laurie (Keith) Yehlik, Michelle (Ryan) Krawczyk, Terra Textor, Karin Textor and Kellie Textor; and by numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Staff Sgt. Textor will be buried in Buckhill Cemetery, Fairbanks, Alaska. A memorial service will be held at the American Legion in Randolph, N.Y. on Saturday, July 26th at 11 a.m.
Thank you, Staff Sgt. Textor. Your mission is done.
Lance Cpl. Jeffery S. Stevenson, 20, of Newton, New Jersey
Lance Cpl. Stevenson died July 13 from a non-hostile incident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
"Well, Jeff, your friends and family are all here today," Lance Cpl. Stevenson’s stepfather said at his funeral yesterday.
Dozens of neighbors, friends and even strangers stood outside their homes or stopped their cars (Saturday morning) as the funeral procession for a 20-year-old Sussex County Marine passed by.
Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Stevenson died last Sunday in Iraq from "non-hostile" causes, and his older brother, 23-year-old Airman Robert Stevenson, led the motorcade atop his younger brother's bright orange Honda motorcycle.
One man, driving in the opposite direction, pulled over and stood by the side of the road with his young son, their heads bowed. Another woman, who had hung a large American flag on her white wooden fence, wiped away tears from her eyes.
It was a simple, but heartfelt farewell for the young man who, according to Enzo Corleto, 50, the father of Jeffrey's best friend Joey, wanted nothing more in life than to be a Marine.
(snip)
Stevenson, who grew up in Stillwater, was serving as a machinist at Camp Fallulah in western Iraq. The baby-faced Marine was remembered during a 30-minute service at the First Presbyterian Church of Newton as "humble and easygoing," but also "courageous" and "adventurous."
(snip)
During this morning's 30-minute funeral service, Stevenson's step-father, Joe Solarino, remembered the young man as always happy, always enjoying friends and family get togethers.
"Well, Jeff, your friends and family are all here today," Solarino said, speaking to more than 150 friends and relatives of the 2006 graduate from Kittatinny Regional High School.
Stevenson's flag-draped coffin was carried from the church by a Marine honor guard, to the strains of "Amazing Grace," played by a church organist.
(snip)
On Friday, Gov. Jon Corzine signed an executive order to have all the state departments and agencies fly their flags at half-staff on this coming Tuesday, in honor of Stephenson.
Stevenson joined the Marines within six months of graduating from Kittatinny Regional High School in 2006, following his older brother into the military service. Robert Stevenson, a senior airman stationed in Wyoming, said (Friday) his younger brother was well aware of the risks of serving in the military.
"We had a talk before he went," said Robert Stevenson, 23, who is home on leave. "He said: 'Tell my friends and family that if anything happens, don't feel bad for me. It's what I want to do.'"
In recent months, the brothers had begun making plans to finish out their terms and move to California, where they wanted to join the Los Angeles Police Department, Robert Stevenson said.
(snip)
Born in Stroudsburg, Pa., Stevenson lived in Marshalls Creek, Pa., before moving to New Jersey.
He graduated from Kittatinny Regional High School in 2006 and joined the Marines six months later. While home on leave last year, Stevenson visited the school and encouraged students there to consider military service.
"He earnestly believed that it was the responsibility of all young people to serve in the armed forces," Robert Walker, former Kittatinny school superintendent, told the Star-Ledger of Newark.
As he prepared to bury his best friend and brother, Senior Airman Robert L. Stevenson said (Friday) the investigation was continuing into the non-combat-related death of Lance Cpl. Jeffery S. Stevenson.
(snip)
Robert Stevenson, 23, back home from Fort Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyo., said military officials had no new information today on the death of the little brother he described as "really mature for his age."
Lance Cpl. Stevenson’s obituary was published in the Daily Record on July 16, 2008:
Lance Cpl.. Jeffery S. Stevenson, USMC, died Sunday, July 13, 2008, in Iraq. He was 20.
Born in Stroudsburg, Pa., Lance Cpl.. Stevenson spent his early childhood in Marshalls Creek, Pa. He was a 2006 graduate of Kittatinny Regional High School, and joined the Marine Corps six months after his graduation from high school. Lance Cpl.. Stevenson was a USMC machinist with the 7th Engineers Support Battalion, 1st Marine Division, stationed in Camp Pendleton in San Diego. He was a loving, respectful son and a happy, smiling kid.
Lance Cpl. Stevenson joined the Marines knowing full well what could happen, but he didn't let that stop him. When he wanted something, Lance Cpl. Stevenson did not let anything stand in his way.
(snip)
Lance Cpl. Stevenson is survived by his mother and stepfather, Karen and Joe Solarino of Stillwater; his brother, Senior Airman Robert L. Stevenson, who is stationed at Fort Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyo.; his sister-in-law, Brienne Stevenson, and his niece, Taylor Stevenson, also of Cheyenne; his maternal grandparents, Robert and Shirley Newton of Marshalls Creek, Pa.; and many aunts, uncles and close cousins.
Thank you, Lance Cpl. Stevenson. Your mission is done.
Tech. Sgt. Jackie L. Larsen, 37, of Tacoma, Washington
Tech. Sgt. Larsen died of natural causes July 17 at Balad Air Base, Iraq. She was assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale Air Force Base, Calif.
Tech. Sgt. Larsen, a paralegal, had served as the superintendent of the Beale Air Force Base’s legal office in California. She was an 18-year-veteran of the United States Air Force, and had volunteered for deployment so that another member of her office could stay home with her three-year-old daugther.
Sergeant Larsen, 37, joined the Air Force in 1990 as a Services specialist. Her hometown was Tacoma, Wash., and she was originally from the Philippines. She was stationed at Beale in 2006 as a base paralegal and recently assumed the position of superintendent in June 2008.
"Many people knew Sergeant Jackie Larsen as a military professional," said Tech. Sgt. Rosalyn Anderson, Sergeant Larsen's colleague. "They would say that she was dedicated, a real 'tough cookie', and a 'no nonsense' kind of NCO. Not many knew her outside of that capacity... the way she would giggle when she was in a silly mood, how protective she was of her family - particularly her mother, nor would many know of her love of deep sea diving and her desire to be an instructor."
The Airmen serving in the Beale Legal Office also remembered how Sergeant Larsen loved animals, all animals, and had a particularly strong love for coffee.
"It was 'guesstimated' that the coffee mug she so lovingly carried held approximately 32 ounces," Sergeant Anderson said.
According to her official biography, as the Legal Office Superintendent, she managed both the General Law and Military Justice divisions to include overseeing all aspects of enlisted training within the Law Center. She served as the principal advisor to the Staff Judge Advocate concerning enlisted matters.
Additionally, Sergeant Larsen's military career took her around the world, from Turkey, Germany and Iraq. She was also awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Air Force Achievement Medal with one oak-leaf cluster.
Lt. Col. Peter Teller, 9th RW Staff Judge Advocate and Sergeant Larsen's supervisor, wrote this tribute to Sgt. Larsen on Friday:
You did not have to know Jackie Larsen well to know she was a tough and competent NCO. Within the first few days of arriving at Beale, I knew I wasn't walking into my office, I was walking into her office. And if I had any thoughts of not taking care of her paralegals, I had better think again. It made me like her instantly.
Being a tough and competent NCO is an achievement in itself, but I have had the honor of serving with many such Airmen. It is rarer to find a person who, while tough when required, could also reach out and touch others with gentleness and compassion. It was a side of Jackie that many who worked with her never got to see. For those of us that saw Jackie with her mother, we got a treasured glimpse into the warmth and tenderness that lay beneath. For those Airmen to whom she was a mentor, they experienced that compassion--often mixed with her signature toughness--in a way that they will honor forever.
Jackie was truly a dedicated servant, to her nation and to her family. She wasn't flashy about it, she simply saw what needed to be done, and went to work. Last spring, our office received a tasking for one of our paralegals to deploy. The young NCO who was tasked to go downrange had deployed 12 months earlier and was married to a CE troop who had already deployed twice in the last 18 months. Their 3-year-old daughter had precious little time with both her parents home. No one needed to tell Jackie what to do. She volunteered to deploy to let that young family spend time growing together.
Last fall, Jackie also had the chance to visit her extended family in the Philippines. To see her face light up as she described the mountain village her family came from was priceless. She talked with a glowing smile about the way the entire family played together--the children from every home bounding from place to place. It was clear that she had found a place where she could feel at home. It is a great comfort to me that she had glimpsed a future beyond the Air Force that would nurture her in the same way that that she had served others for so long.
Jackie Larsen was a hero to me from the moment I met her for the way she looked out for her folks. As I grew to know her, she became even more of a hero as I learned of the fierce dedication and compassion that lay just beneath her tough exterior. As I honor her ultimate sacrifice, in the service of her Nation and her Air Force, it surely places her among the greatest heroes I have ever known.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Friday) released the following statement regarding the death of Tech. Sgt. Jackie L. Larsen, of Tacoma, WA:
"I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Technical Sergeant Jackie Larsen. She fought proudly and her allegiance to our country and unrelenting commitment to protecting liberty will never be forgotten. Maria and I join all Californians in offering our prayers and deepest condolences to Jackie's family and friends."
In honor of Tech. Sgt. Jackie L. Larsen, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.
Tech. Sgt. Larsen is survived by her husband, an active-duty airman also stationed at Beale, and by her mother.
Thank you, Tech. Sgt. Larsen. Your mission is done.
______________________________________________________________________
Remember them. Honor their sacrifice.
To date, 4125 members of the United States military have lost their lives in Iraq. The death toll thus far for July is 12. The Department of Defense Press Releases, from which the information at the start of each entry in this diary was drawn, can be seen here. The death toll among Iraqis is unknown, but is at least 200,000 and possibly many times that number.
To date, 558 members of the United States military have lost their lives in Afghanistan. The death toll thus far for 2008 is 83. 337 members of the military from other countries have also lost their lives.
Other sites have stories, video, pictures and remembrances, including: Honor the Fallen.
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I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and rememeber. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, twilight falling, labwitchy, moneysmith, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, JeNoCo, mediaprof, and me, noweasels.
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As you read this diary, please consider that the families and friends of those profiled here also may read it and that many members of our community have served in Iraq or Afghanistan or have loved ones currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the very proud daughter of a Navy pilot, and the granddaughter of a Marine pilot and a submariner, I hope that the comments tonight will demonstrate our respect for the sacrifices of our fallen military and our compassion for their families; please reserve your political comments for appropriate diaries.