Tonight we honor four more fallen soldiers: Spc. Brynn J. Naylor and Sgt. Samuel E. Kelsey, who died in Iraq; and Staff Sgt. Michael J. Gabel and Cpl. Joshua C. Blaney, who died in Afghanistan. They will all be missed terribly by their loved ones, especially during this Christmas season. Our hearts go out to their friends, family, and fellow soldiers.
This verse from Emmylou Harris’s "Boulder to Birmingham" has been going through my mind this weekend:
I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace.
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face.
Please join me and the IGTNT team in remembering these four.
On Friday, the Department of Defense announced:
Spc. Brynn J. Naylor, 21, of Roswell, N.M., died Dec.13 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
Spc. Brynn J. Naylor
Brynn Naylor had served for 15 months, working security patrol, and had only a week left in Iraq before he was scheduled to return home, according to KRQE News.
Born in Roswell, Naylor grew up in Texas and moved back to Roswell when he was sixteen to live with his father. He graduated from Goddard High School in 2005 and was an exceptional tennis player, which "opened up the door for scholarships but he turned them down to join the army after he graduated," KRQE News reports. Character Counts recognized his excellence as a tennis athlete in his junior year, including a photo of him:
The coaches comment, "Brynn exhibits all the pillars of Character Counts!" He has received the Sportsmanship tennis award and is on the varsity tennis team. he is involved with the Grace Youth Group and Teen CBS. He hopes to attend college at either NMSU or Colorado State.
Friends and family said he was quiet but passionate about serving his country. "In a quiet, reserved way, he made up his mind to enlist," a family friend, Bernarr Treat told the Colorado Springs Gazette. "I just think that it was one of those things he wanted to do, to serve his country."
While Naylor was in Iraq, he talked to his family on the phone as often as he could:
"They would chat with him for a bit," [his stepfather, Robert] McGuire said. "Made it feel that he wasn't so far away."
McGuire said the family sent cards to Naylor for his 21st birthday on Dec. 2. He said he wasn't sure if Naylor was able to celebrate while in Iraq.
"He called home, and we gave him a hard time about being an old man," McGuire said.
McGuire said he'll remember Naylor as an easygoing guy that his siblings — two teen sisters and an 11-year-old brother — and younger cousins always followed.
"Every time they'd see him, they'd hang on him and stuff, and he'd let them," McGuire said. "He had the patience to deal with them. He liked it."
The Gazette reports that Naylor had planned to spend time with his mother, D'Ann McGuire, of Shallowater, Texas, and his father, Ross Naylor, of Roswell, N.M., after he returned from Iraq. He was also going on a trip to enjoy his hobby of snowboarding.
His grandmother Lynn McMennamy told the Plainview (Tex.) Daily Herald, "We were so excited he was coming home [because] he hasn't been home in two Christmases," adding that "he was supposed to come home in October but they extended his time." McMennamy described her grandson as "loving, laid back, and very sweet natured." She said he "adored the younger kids" in his family and that they would always follow him around: his stepsister, 14-year-old Mica, and stepbrother, 11-year-old James. Another stepsister, Kelsie, lives in Roswell along with grandparents Bob and Sue Naylor. "He was just a good Christian kid," McMennamy said.
As Treat observed, "For the Naylor family, Christmas time now will always be marked by that but you never want to forget either and they won't forget Brynn's commitment to family and country" (KRQE News). "We just lost a big quiet kid that was rock solid and true to his family, and just a great American," Treat told Albuquerque's KOAT.
Recent photos of Naylor are here and here.
May he rest in peace.
The Defense Department also announced on Friday:
Sgt. Samuel E. Kelsey, 24, of Troup, Texas, died Dec 13 in Tunnis, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Sgt. Samuel E. Kelsey
Samuel Kelsey died while saving another soldier, who is alive today because of him. "They said that he went back to help someone that got injured, and that's why he got killed," his mother, Denina Kelsey, told KLTV-7. One of Sergeant Kelsey's best friends says that brave and self-sacrificing spirit is something people will remember most: "Someone who's always going to have your back and you got his and that's just the kind of guy he was. You knew he always going to be there," said Brandon Martin. "He was a brave man."
Kelsey graduated from Troup High School in 2001, where he was very involved in sports. He was overseas for the second time and had just signed up for another four years, KETK-56 reported. His mother described her only child as an energetic, charming man who could take control of a room as soon as he walked in.
KLTV-7 aired a heartbreaking interview with Kelsey's mother, wrapped in her son's army jacket. She said her son had served in the army for five years and was a squadron leader:
"It was good for him though," said Kelsey. "He enjoyed what he did." The last time Denina saw her son was in September, while he was on leave from his 15 month tour in Iraq. "I didn't want him to go back, but he told me, 'I'll be alright, momma,' and promised me he would come home."
She told the Tyler Morning Telegraph,
He was my life, my breath, everything I did in my life I did for my child. He was my only child, and I am his only parent.... He felt strongly about wanting his men, every one of them, to come home.... He was saving somebody else's life, and my child lost his life.
His mother's Christmas wish was for her son--and all the troops--to be able to come home: "My heart has gone out to everybody that has lost a child and my whole time, I've always said my Christmas wish, every wish for every holiday is that they would bring them all home." (KETK)
A family friend, Ava Johnson, told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that Kelsey was funny, made friends easily, and was part of an active, tightknit class:
"They were every teacher's favorites, and they just were all there for each other--still very close," Ms. Johnson said. The phones are ringing off the hook, she said, as Kelsey's friends and classmates have called each other for support. "We all celebrate together, and we all grieve together," Ms. Johnson said about the Troup community.... We really kind of hoped we'd miss this one, but we didn't.... Sam's going to be missed."
Ms. Johnson said he and his mother were extremely close friends. "She adored him, and he adored his mother," she said. "Just broke her heart."
"Somebody called him a hero," Kelsey's mother told KLTV-7. "Preferably, I'd like to have him home."
The family has requested that the Patriot Guard Riders attend his service.
A photo of Samuel Kelsey with his mother is here.
May he rest in peace.
Also on Friday, the Defense Department announced:
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died in Afghanistan from wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. The soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade, Camp Ederle, Italy.
Killed were:
Staff Sgt. Michael J. Gabel, 30, of Crowley, La., who died Dec. 12 at Forward Operating Base Curry, Afghanistan.
Cpl. Joshua C. Blaney, 25, of Matthews, N.C., who died Dec. 12 at Forward Operating Base Curry, Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Michael J. Gabel
Relatives told WAFT 9News that Michael Gabel last died Wednesday morning when the convoy he was leading was hit by a roadside bomb. A graduate of Lee High School in Baton Rouge, Gabel had been in the army for eight years. He had been in Afghanistan since October and was scheduled to come home in April.
Although little information is available online yet about Staff Sgt. Gabel personally, he has been quoted by the media in several stories over the last few years, giving some insight into the sort of man and soldier he was.
From "Soldiering On, Even as Spirits Ebb," a New York Times story published on December 26, 2003:
"We've heard the older generation talk of us as Generation X, individuals who've grown up soft," said Sgt. Michael Gabel, 25, of Baton Rouge, La., whose grandfather fought in China in World War II.
"My platoon sergeant at boot camp said, 'If your generation had to storm the beaches of Normandy, you couldn't do it.' I thought he might be right then, but now I disagree. Our generation hadn't been challenged yet, but here we are, and we're rising to meet the challenge."
During NPR's All Things Considered on November 2, 2007, about a memorial service held for three soldiers who had died in Afghanistan, Gabel eulogized Staff Sgt. Larry Rougle, his best friend:
"I will not be bitter," Gabel said. "I will not shed any tears of sorrow. I'm proud to have known such a good man and a warrior to the bitter end. Until we see each other again, sky soldiers!"
The Southern European Task Force's From the Front also quoted Gabel in its article about the same memorial service. Gabel was also quoted in the Armed Forces Journal in 2006.
May he rest in peace.
Cpl. Joshua C. Blaney
Four years ago Joshua Blaney received a Purple Heart after surviving a bomb that struck a convoy his truck was leading in Iraq. He was also in the lead truck of a convoy in Afghanistan that was hit with a bomb last Wednesday but this time he was killed.
His mother, Dianne Massey, told South Carolina's The State, that after army officials notified her of her son's death,
"I immediately remembered his fifth birthday party, the GI Joe cake," Massey said Friday. "He would pitch a tent and play Army with his uncle who was in the Special Forces. They would eat MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). There was the time at Wal-Mart. He was 8 or 9. We walked out, and he had this bulge in his pocket. I asked him, 'Josh, what's in the pocket?' Out comes the GI Joe. I marched him right inside and made him give it back."
Blaney grew up in Matthews, North Carolina. His parents had urged him to try college and then the Air Force, but "he told me the Army would give him the discipline he needed, the focus he needed to figure out what he wanted to do with his life," his stepfather, Eric Massey, told The State. Blaney enlisted in the army after graduating from high school in 2002, living at Camp Ederle, Italy, when not deployed. He was five months into his second tour in Afghanistan and, planning on a military career, had reenlisted for two more years.
Massey told The State that her son had been part of a paratrooper drop into northern Iraq in 2003--the first of its kind for the army since Vietnam. Since his death, e-mails have poured in to the family from his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, who say he was a top-notch paratrooper and friend who was compassionate to his fellow soldiers and a mentor to younger men.
Blaney's sister, Carley, described him as a leader, a humble, gracious man who rarely talked about what he had seen or done in the wars. His aunt Amy, Dianne Massey's sister, said, "Josh went in the Army a boy, and he came out a man." Sid Belk, Blaney's grandfather and an 84-year-old World War II Army Air Corps veteran, told The State, "I know what my grandson was doing.... He was a fine soldier. Brave. I am proud of him."
The Patriot Guard has been invited by the family of Cpl. Joshua C. Blaney, to attend his services:
This will be a 3 part mission. Dates are tentative and no times have been established.
Part 1 - of this mission will be to escort Cpl. Blaney from the airport, (Concord or Monroe - TBD), to the McEwen Funeral home in Mint Hill.
Part 2 - will be to provide a flag line at the funeral home the day of the visitation - projected Thursday evening.
Part 3 - will be to provide a flag line at Hickory Grove Baptist Church, escort the family to the church, and escort Cpl. Blaney and his family to the cemetery - projected Friday.
A newscast video with photos is here.
May he rest in peace.
As of this writing, Iraq Coalition Casualties reports that 3,893 American soldiers, sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Guardsmen have been confirmed killed in action and 4 others are missing or captured in Iraq; and 473 have died in Afghanistan. The DoD news releases can be found here. The death toll among Iraqis is unknown, but is at least in the tens of thousands.
You can help our military men and women! Please consider sponsoring a deployed service member at TroopCarePackage.com. It doesn’t take much time or money. Just send letters or care packages to your soldier, sailor, Airman, or Marine. Remember, "mail is gold" for a deployed soldier. A few minutes of your time and one airmail stamp can make a real difference in a military person's life. anysoldier.com, Operation Helmet, and Fisher House are also wonderful organizations that provide comfort and care to deployed American troops. Finally, if you would like to assist the animal companions of our deployed military, information is available here. Animal companions can provide such solace and comfort.
About "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT)
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one.
Click here to see the entire series, which was begun by i dunno and which is now maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, silvercedes, noweasels, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, Wee Mama, twilight falling, moneysmith, labwitchy, joyful, roses, SisTwo, and Avila.
There is a mailing list on Google Groups for Daily Kos users who are concerned about issues pertaining to our active-duty military personnel and our veterans. Sign up to receive notices when diaries about these issues are posted to Daily Kos; if you write a diary about one of these issues, please send an announcement to the group (http://groups.google.com/...) as well.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and families of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.