Like others here on Kos I am a veteran. I joined the Army in March of 1986 and left in June 2003. In all those years my path had crossed so many others and for this Memorial Day I would like to use my one diary to remember some of those people I served with.
Phil was a 19K who worked in our Border Operations Center. He was killed on a field exercise when he got pinned between two vehicles.
Troy was an 11B and was assigned to our Battalion about nine months before Desert Shield. He had just gotten married right before we left. He was killed in a vehicle accident on his way to Riyadh Saudi Arabia.
Steve was a 15T and had committed suicide one weekend while he was home. It seems that he and his wife had an argument about her going out to spend time with her friends while he was home he thought she should spend time with him. According to his wife, he told her that he would not be there when she got home. She thought that he was coming back to post.
Today I work for the Department of the Army as a civilian and the organization I work for has lost three soldiers in Iraq. I only knew two of them professionally, but I still think about all three of them from time to time.
I realize that I am not the most skillful of writers, but my point of this diary is to share the stories of these people. These people meant a lot to me and I will never forget them.
Who do you remember?
UPDATE: ivorybill brings up a valid point. While Memorial Day has traditionally been for remembering members of the military, modern history has shown that war is not limited to just military service members. More than ever Iraq has many participants that are not part of the traditional military. Feel free to post whatever rememberances you feel is appropriate.
UPDATE II I want to thank everyone for sharing their stories. Today and every day there are soldiers, civilians and families who have to remember their loved ones who have died. Keep them in your thoughts.