In Memoriam

[Grace]

17 July 2011

US Marine Lance Corporal Jabari N. Thompson, age 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died on 17th July 2011 from wounds he received on 13th July while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

L-Cpl. Thompson, from Brooklyn, New York, served with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

[Grace]

England

British Army Corporal Mark Anthony Palin from 1st Battalion The Rifles was killed in action in the Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand province on 18th July 2011. He was leading a patrol to clear an enemy explosives cache when a hidden bomb exploded near him.

32-year-old Corporal Palin was born in Plymouth and joined the Army in 1996. He served in Germany, Northern Ireland and Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan in April this year.

Lieutenant Colonel James de Labillière DSO MBE, Commanding Officer, 1 RIFLES said: "Corporal Mark Palin was a Battalion personality through and through. He thrived on the friendship of many, and was generous to a fault in the friendship he gave in return. Indeed this was the very essence of the man; always putting others first, and taking huge enjoyment in making others smile and laugh, no matter how difficult the circumstances."

Corporal Palin leaves behind his wife Carla, young son Lennon, father Paul, brother Matthew and sister Louise.

[Grace]

Another Medal of Honor

The Military Times brings us word that a third living soldier will receive the Medal of Honor. He is Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer, 22, a scout sniper who left active duty in June 2010, and now resides in Austin, Texas.

Meyer was on a mission to meet with tribal elders in Afghanistan, in a village close to the Pakistani border, on September 8, 2009. They came under attack from heavily armed insurgents who outnumbered them more than four to one. Frantic pleas for artillery support were refused, leading to letters of reprimand for several of the officers in charge of the operation.

The officers might have been negligent, but Cpl. Meyer was amazing:

Meyer, then 21, went into the kill zone on foot after helicopter pilots called on to respond said they could not help retrieve the four missing service members because the fighting on the ground was too fierce, according to a witness statement he provided the military. He found his buddies in a trench where pilots had spotted them.

“I checked them all for a pulse. There [sic] bodies were already stiff,” Meyer said in a sworn statement he was asked to provide military investigators. “I found SSgt Kenefick facedown in the trench w/ his GPS in his hand. His face appeared as if he were screaming. He had been shot in the head.”

Meyer was already suffering from shrapnel wounds at the time. He nevertheless assisted in the retrieval of the bodies. All four of the fallen soldiers were subsequently honored with Bronze Stars.

Two other Marines involved in the battle were awarded the Navy Cross for their heroic actions. Captain Ademola Fabayo threw himself into close-quarters battle with the insurgents, and carried a wounded comrade to safety. Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez made three trips into the kill zone with a Humvee, while Cpl. Meyer manned its machine gun turret. Meyer went into the zone on foot when they couldn’t find the missing men from the Humvee.

During the award ceremony for Capt. Fabayo and Staff Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said their story “doesn’t need any other explanation… whatever words there are, they’re not adequate in adding anything to the actions of that day.”

True, but words are how we share the incredible treasures of courage our nation has been blessed with. They are how we remember the heroes we have lost, and give thanks for those who made it home. Corporal Dakota Meyer will be the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor since Vietnam. Spread the word.

[phesina]

God bless Corporal Dakota Meyer.

[Grace]

12 July 2011

US Marine Major Jeremy James Graczyk, age 33, died on 12th July 2011 in a BASE jumping accident in Switzerland.

Major Graczyk, a decorated war veteran, had deployed more than seven times to Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa. He attended the United States Naval Academy, and received a BSc degree in Systems Engineering in 1999. He was promoted to the rank of major in 2009.

Major Graczyk holds three Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medals, one Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal, two Combat Action Ribbons, a Presidential Unit Citation, a Meritorious Unit Citation, two National Defense Service Medals, two Afghanistan Campaign Medals, five Iraq Campaign Medals, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and seven Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.

He is survived by his parents, James and Darlene Graczyk, sister Jennifer, nephews Aidan and Gabe, grandparents Richard and Leora Shoop and several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

[Grace]

18 July 2011

Pennsylvania TV station WHTM has reported that three soldiers with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 131st Transportation Company were killed in Afghanistan on Monday, according to friends and relatives.

US Army National Guard Staff-Sgt. Kenneth R. VanGiesen, from Kane, Pennsylvania, was killed along with two fellow soldiers on Monday 18th July when his patrol vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. He was serving with the 131st Transportation Company.

According to a report in Kanerepublican.com, SSgt VanGiesen, a mechanic, was pulled from his "home" base to go to Afghanistan with another National Guard unit that needed someone with his expertise.

The 30-year-old soldier is the son of Tom and Sue VanGiesen from Kane. He and his longtime girlfriend, Erin Sirianni of Kane, have been living in a house they purchased in Erie where SSgt. VanGiesen had been working with the National Guard.

SSgt. VanGiesen had previously deployed to Iraq twice.

US Army Sergeant Brian K. Mowery from Halifax, Pennsylvania, was one of three soldiers killed on 18th July 2011 in Ghazni province, when his patrol vehicle struck a road mine.

The 49-year-old served with the 131st Transportation Company, 213th Area Support Group, based at Williamstown, Pennsylvania.

US Army Sergeant Edward W. Koehler, age 47, from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, was one of three soldiers killed on 18th July 2011 in Ghazni province, when his patrol vehicle struck a road mine.

Sgt. Koehler served with the 131st Transportation Company, 213th Area Support Group, based at Williamstown, Pennsylvania.

After serving with the Marine Corps from 1982 to 1988, he took a 10-year break from the service. He enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1997 as a motor transport operator, serving his entire Guard career in the 131st Transportation Company.

This was Sgt. Koehler's first tour of duty in Afghanistan. He had also served with the 131st in Kuwait and Iraq from 2003 to 2004.

His awards include the Combat Action Badge, three Army Reserve Component Achievement Medals, Army Achievement Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals, Driver and Mechanic Badge, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the Governor's Unit Citation.

[Grace]

18 July 2011

[B]Nebraska Army National Guard Sergeant Omar A. Jones died on 18th July 2011 at a base in Balkh province from a "non-combat" related injury. The 28-year-old soldier served with the 126th Chemical Battalion, 92nd Troop Command, Nebraska Army National Guard, based at Wahoo, Nebraska.

The Nebraska National Guard said Sgt. Jones was born in Jackson, Mississippi and enlisted in the Army in 2001 when he was 18. After his active tour duty, he joined the Nebraska National Guard in 2005. He had previously deployed twice to Iraq. This was his first tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Sgt. Jones, who spent much of his childhood in Colombia, is survived by his wife, Ava L. Jones, his daughter, Airiana G. Jones, son Malachi A. Jones, his father, Dennis D. Jones and his mother, Luz A. Jones.