Dead Texans

[John Bennett]

Here's a list of Texans killed in Iraq since the war against Iraq began on March 20th, according to the U.S. Department of Defense:

Jan. 17: Spc. Larry E. Polley Jr., 20, of Center, died when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle struck a roadside bomb while his unit was conducting a surveillance sweep near the town of Taji, north of Baghdad.

Dec. 28: Army Capt. Ernesto M. Blanco, 28, of San Antonio, died in Qaryat Ash Shababi when an improvised explosion hit his vehicle.

Dec. 28: Pvt. Rey D. Cuervo, 24, of Laguna Vista, was killed when an improvised explosive device hit his mounted patrol in Baghdad.

Dec. 22: Pfc. Stuart Moore, 21, of Livingston, was killed when an improvised explosive device struck his convoy in Baghdad.

Dev. 7: Pfc. Ray J. Hutchison, 20, of League City, was killed when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device on his way back from patrol.

Nov. 28: Army Sgt. Ariel Rico, 25, of El Paso, was killed in action near Mosul when four mortar shells hit his base.

Nov. 8: Staff Sgt. Gary L. Collins, 32, of Hardin, killed while riding in a Bradley fighting vehicle that hit an improvised explosive device.

Nov. 2: Army Sgt. Keelan Moss, 23, of Houston, killed near Fallujah when a helicopter was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile.

Oct. 13: Army Pfc. Stephen E. Wyatt, 19, of Kilgore, killed in action in Balad when his convoy was hit by an explosive and gunfire.

Oct. 1: Army Pfc. Analaura Esparaza Gutierrez, 21, of Houston and based at Fort Hood, killed in action near Tikrit when a convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device and rocket-propelled grenades.

Sept. 18: Army Spc. Richard Arriaga, 20, of Ganado and based at Fort Hood, killed in action near Tikrit. He was one of three soldiers killed in a small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade ambush on their Humvee.

Sept. 11: Army Sgt. Henry Ybarra, III, 32, of Austin, killed in an accident in Balad, Iraq. He died from injuries sustained when he was changing a tire on his military truck and the tire exploded.

July 26: Army Sgt. Daniel K. Methvin, 22, of Belton and based at Fort Hood, killed in action in Baghdad when a grenade was thrown from a window of an Iraqi civilian hospital.

July 24: Army Staff Sgt. Hector R. Perez, 40, of Corpus Christi, killed in action when his military convoy came under fire on the way toward Qayyarah, 185 miles north of Baghdad.

July 19: Army 2nd Lt. Jonathan D. Rozier, 25, of Katy, killed in action in Baghdad when his unit was fired on by rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire while providing security at a municipal building.

July 11: Army Spc. Christian C. Schulz, 20, of Colleyville and based in Fort Hood, killed in non-combat related incident in Baqubah.

July 9: Army Sgt. Melissa Valles, 26, of Eagle Pass, killed in non-combat related incident in Balad.

June 27: Army Cpl. Tomas Sotelo, Jr., 22, of Houston, killed in action in Baghdad. His convoy was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

June 17: Army Pvt. Robert L. Frantz, 19, of San Antonio, killed in action in Baghdad. He was on guard duty when a local resident threw a grenade over the wall.

June 16: Army Spc. Joseph D. Suell, 24, of Lufkin, killed in a non-combat related incident in Todjie.

May 28: Army Spc. Jose A. Perez, III, 22, of San Diego, killed in action in Taji, Iraq. His convoy was ambushed.

April 28: Army 1st Sgt. Joe J. Garza, 43, of Robstown, killed in an accident in Baghdad when his Humvee swerved to avoid a civilian vehicle. He fell out and was hit by a civilian vehicle.

April 22: Marine Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Todd Arnold, 30, of Spring, killed in an accident at a firing range near Kut. He was among three Marines killed when a rocket-propelled grenade launcher they were firing malfunctioned.

April 7: Air Force Capt. Eric B. Das, 30, of Amarillo, killed in action when the F-15E he was flying went down during a combat mission.

April 7: Marine Cpl. Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin, 21, of Fort Worth, killed in action in Central Iraq. He was riding in an Amphibious Assault Vehicle that was hit by enemy artillery.

April 7: Army Pfc. Anthony S. Miller, 19, of San Antonio, killed in action.

April 3: Marine Pfc. Chad E. Bales, 20, of Coahoma, killed in an accident near Ash Shahin. He was involved in a non-hostile vehicle accident during combat operations.

April 2: Army Master Sgt. George A. Fernandez, 36, of El Paso, killed in action in Northern Iraq.

April 2: Army Chief Warrant Officer Scott Jamar, 32, of Granbury, killed in a helicopter accident in Central Iraq. He was in an UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed.

March 23: Army Sgt. Edward J. Anguiano, 24, of Brownsville, killed in action near Nasiriyah, Iraq. He was in a convoy on Iraqi Highway 7 that was ambushed pre-dawn after their convoy made a wrong turn.

March 23: Army Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, of El Paso and based at Fort Bliss, killed in action near Nasiriyah, Iraq. He was in a convoy on Iraqi Highway 7 that was ambushed pre-dawn after their convoy made a wrong turn.

March 23: Army Spc. James Kiehl, 22, of Comfort and based at Fort Bliss, killed in action near Nasiriyah, Iraq. He was in a convoy on Iraqi Highway 7 that was ambushed pre-dawn after their convoy made a wrong turn.

March 23: Army Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, 35, of El Paso and based at Fort Bliss, killed in action near Nasiriyah, Iraq. He was in a convoy on Iraqi Highway 7 that was ambushed pre-dawn after their convoy made a wrong turn.

March 20: Marine Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston, killed in a CH-46E helicopter accident in Kuwait.


They should not be forgotten.

[Tourmeister]

They should not be forgotten.


I agree. Moving to the Gone but not Forgotten forum. Please do not turn this thread into a pro/anti war thread or it will be removed. Fair warning to everyone ;-)

Adios,

[ddavis]

Nice!
I did 6 years in the army, 88-94. I was at Fort Hood for Desert Storm. I never saw combat but, I have always felt a brotherhood with those who serve our great country

This is a sacrifice that can't be matched. If you believe in the cause or not, these young men and women are doing what a lot of people won't.

They are my hero's and own part of me.

[scratch]

This reminds me of a story about one of the youngest victims of Sept. 11. It was posted on writer James Lileks' personal blog site back around the time of the first anniversary of the attacks. Here it is -

I watched part of the CBS 9/11 special last night. (I don’t know if it’s been broadcast yet; I got the DVD at Target.) It is a pity that this particular historical record contains so much Bryant Gumbel, but it has its moments. In the middle of an interview with a woman who saw the first plane hit, she gasps Oh My God, another one - and it reminds you again of that moment, the point when you grasped exactly what was happening, and the ground swayed. I’d say it brought it all back but it never went away. There hasn’t been a day I haven’t thought about it.

That bothers some people. There’s an attitude in some quarters that there’s something unhealthy about thinking about 9/11, certainly in dwelling on the details. They’ll allow a certain amount of regret and dismay. They’ll permit you a brief spasm of anger, but it had best be followed with a nuanced assessment of American foreign policy. Remark that you had a nightmare about your daughter getting smallpox or a nuke in New York, and they’ll roll their eyes; tut tut the lad’s gone mad. These people are no doubt bracing themselves for the first anniversary, but for different reasons than you might have. They can’t stand people who won’t let go of 9/11. Once they washed the ash off their car it was over for them; why can’t it be over for everyone? Do you really think your inability to move along makes you a better person? Stop waving the bloody shirt. Send it to the cleaners already, and leave Iraq alone.

Tonight I was googling around looking for a picture of Christine Hanson, the daughter of Kim Ji-Soo and Peter Hanson. She was two. The family was flying to Disneyland when the terrorists slaughtered the flight attendants, stabbed the pilots to death, and drove the plane into the building. (Yes yes, we know what happened; don’t be so dramatic, and Disneyland? Please. You’re getting bathetic.) My wife came up with Gnat to say goodnight while I was searching; I gave the little tot a peck on the lips and told her daddy loved her, and went back to work. As I heard the crib rail go up I heard a particularly deafening jet pass overhead - one of the old unhushed cargo planes that makes the china rattle at Jasperwood - and I remembered something from last night.

We were watching an Olie episode in which a storm knocks out the power, and Pappy tells tales by fashwite. (Flashlight, in non-Gnat parlance.) The episode begins with a little song, sung in ominous tones: storm’s comin’, storm’s comin’. Gnat sings along, since she’s seen the episode a million times. But in the middle of the episode she got up, tottered to the back door, and said: storm’s coming, daddee. Then she crossed the room to the window on the opposite side of the door, and said again: storm’s coming. I explained no storm was coming, that we were just fine. We were perfectly safe. But she got up again, and again, and again.

Then I listened to what she was saying: Stars Coming. Not storm: stars. When she heard the roar of the planes overhead coming in for a landing at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, she ran to the door to see the lights as they passed over head, then ran to the window to see the stars pass by once more. She knows what an airplane is - she’s been to France on one, after all, and even identified a picture of a swept-wing jet as an airpane despite its strange triangular configuration. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t see stars overhead as well, flying in formation, passing over the house like the smiling stars in her beloved Olie show.

She knows everything, of course. She’s pretty sure of that. If something’s unclear or strange, she asks, and then it either fits and clicks or it doesn’t, and her confidence in her knowledge is unchanged. (This morning, for example, she was looking at my screen saver, naming the celestial objects. Rrth. Mune. Jubider. Ooh, stars.) The world is an amazing place for her; it’s safe, it’s kind, it’s full of toys and nice dogs and trips to the park and Jell-O at night with a storybook, and when she falls asleep to the sound of the planes overhead she thinks of stars, spinning and twinkling.

Little Christine was Gnat’s age, give or take a month. Bin Laden’s lackeys killed her - and did so to ensure that other fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters died as well, preferably by the tens of thousands. This little girl’s death wasn’t even a comma in the manifesto they hoped to write. They made sure that her last moments alive were filled with horror and blood, screams and fear; they made sure that the last thing she saw was the desperate faces of her parents, insisting that everything was okay, we’re going to see Mickey, holding out a favorite toy with numb hands, making up a happy lie. And then she was fire and then she was ash.

I feel the same anger I did on 9/11; I feel the same overwhelming grief. Nothing in my heart has changed, and God forbid that it ever does.


Those brave young soldiers died so that we and our families might live.

We should never, ever forget that.

[bluedogok]

I have known some people from my home area (Oklahoma) who have been and are still over there.

The soldiers all need our support, whether you approve or disapprove of the action.

[Davek2080]

My son Bryan spent 8 months in Tikrit. He was ""MI", so he did not have a daily combat role. He recounted some touchy incidents in Fallujah and Mosul on "field trips" and a roadside bomb that was fortunately a dud.
The toughest day I ever had was seeing him off to war. The best day after that was when he came home unscathed. Everyday in between was terrible.
My heart breaks for the families of these men and women. I felt their fear. I cannot imagine their grief.

Davek

[kocook]

I often think of life in the early 40's, then realize how lucky we are--including those that are serving. Death is around us, in a desert town, on a deserted road--so is life. Choose your focus, but do not forget the other.

[Adan]

Brave men and women that made the ultimate sacrifice for our well-being, may they rest in peace.

For once I agree with you John, "They should not be forgotten."

Can't help but notice that about half of them have Hispanic last names... wonder if the demographics in the US armed forces mirror the demographics in the US general population?

[bronco78]

Never quit.

They never quit while in the service of protecting our country.
I will never quit thinking of the men I've known, trained led and lost.
Please never quit thinking about the soldiers who have given all for our country.
Round two in the sand box quickly approaches.. I will never quit thinking about the family and friends we leave behind.

Never quit.