Thursday, May 25, 2006

Request from Gulf War Vet on Memorial Day

I got this email from my buddy Chris Chesak this morning and wanted to share it. Chris was one of my roommates in college and returned from Iraq in late 2005. Chris' deployment blog can be found @ http://www.grimeschesak.blogspot.com/.

Below is his note:

I hope you have a great time this Memorial Day weekend. Laugh a lot, drink beer, spend good time with family and friends, eat until you nearly burst, and generally savor life. But I ask you to do me one personal favor.

This Monday, please take a one, quiet, quick moment to give a thought or a prayer for the people listed below, and all those like them.

Thank you,

Chris

Pallbearers from the Idaho Army National Guard Honor Guard bring out the body of 21-year-old Jacob Hamilton Allcott after his funeral services at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Stake Center. Allcott was killed in the line of duty while serving in the War in Iraq on Aprill 22.

As of Aug 22, 2005, at least 19 Idahoans have died since the U.S. began its war on terrorism in October 2001. Two are civilians:

* Air Force Master Sgt. Evander Andrews, 36, of Mountain Home, was the first American serviceman killed after the 9/11 attacks when he died on Oct. 10, 2001, in a forklift accident while building an airstrip in Qatar.

* Air National Guard Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, died March 25, 2003, in a grenade attack by another U.S. serviceman at his base camp in Kuwait.

* Army Cpl. Richard P. Carl, 26, of King Hill, died May 9, 2003, in a helicopter crash near Samarrah, Iraq.

* Richard Hooper, a civilian Arab specialist who grew up in Boise, died in the Aug. 19, 2003, in a bombing U.N. headquarters building in Baghdad.

* Army Capt. James A. Shull, 32, formerly of Kamiah, died On Nov. 17, 2003, in Baghdad, the victim of “non-hostile gunshot wounds.”

* Army Pfc. Jerrick M. Petty, 25, of Idaho Falls, died Dec. 10, 2003, in a firefight in Mosul.

* Army Pfc. Cleston Raney, 20, of Rupert, died March 31, 2004, with four other soldiers when a bomb exploded under his armored personnel carrier near Habbaniyah.

* Marine Pfc. Chris Reed, 20, of Cottonwood, died in July 2004 when the vehicle he was riding in overturned near Fallujah.

* Rick Alan Ulbright, 49, of Boise, died Aug. 8, 2004, at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, from wounds received during a mortar attack. Ulbright was a civilian special agent assigned to the 33rd Field Investigative Squadron.

* Army Spec. Brandon Titus, 20, of Boise was killed Aug. 17, 2004, when a roadside bomb detonated near his Baghdad checkpoint.

* Marine Capt. Alan Blake Rowe, 35, of Gooding was killed in September 2004 when a bomb went off as he returned from inspecting a bridge in Al Anbar.

* Army Capt. Eric L. Allton, 34, of Boise died in September 2004 when he was hit by a mortar in Ar Ramadi.

* Army 1st Lt. Luke C. Wullenwaber, 24, of Lewiston was killed in November 2004 by a suicide bomber in Khaladiyah.

* Army Staff Sgt. Darren VanKomen, 33, was killed in a suicide bomb attack on a mess tent in Mosul in December 2004. VanKomen grew up in Lewiston.

* Army Sgt. Kelly S. Morris, 24, of Boise, was killed by small arms fire March 30 while patrolling in east Baghdad.

* Army Sgt. John B. Ogburn III, 45, of Fruitland, died May 22 in a Humvee accident near Kirkuk.

* Army Staff Sgt. Virgil R. Case, 37, of Mountain Home, died in Kirkuk, Iraq, June 1 of non-combat-related injuries.

* Army Spec. Carrie French, 19, of Caldwell, died June 5 in Kirkuk, Iraq, when her vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

* Lance Cpl. Dustin V. Birch, 22, of St. Anthony was one of five Marines who were killed by a roadside bomb June 9 during combat operations with the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Haqlaniyah, Iraq

HERE IS THE SEPARATE LIST OF 116TH SOLDIERS, SOME OF WHOM ARE NOT FROM IDAHO:

This list is up to date as of 6/6/05
* Sgt. Mark Warren, 44, of La Grande, Ore., died Jan. 31 in Kirkuk of non-combat causes.
* Sgt. 1st Class Robbie McNary, 42, of Lewistown, Mont., died March 31 from injuries during combat operations near Al-Hawijah.
* Staff Sgt. Kevin Davis, 41, of Lebanon, Ore., died April 8 in Balad after explosives detonated near his vehicle in Hawijah.
* Sgt. Timothy Kiser, 37, of Tehama, Calif., died April 28 in Riyhad when explosives detonated near his patrol.
* Sgt. John B. Ogburn III , 45 , died May 22 in a Humvee accident near Kirkuk.
* Staff Sgt. Virgil R. Case, 37, died in Kirkuk, Iraq, June 1 of non-combat-related injuries.
* Spec. Carrie French, 19, of Caldwell, died June 5 in Kirkuk, Iraq, when her vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

About Spc. Christopher Chesak
Spc. Christopher Chesak of Boise joined the Idaho National Guard in August 2003. When he reported for boot camp in March 2004, he was the oldest recruit in a company of 150.In civilian life, the 35-year-old works in the outdoor industry as a nonprofit consultant, grant writer and fund-raiser.


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