They pop into my mailbox, the notices. Just slip in when I'm not looking. They wait patiently.
Another Blue Star turned to Gold.
The heartbeat of the war, in a sense.
They pulse into my mailbox with the tempo of operations. A steady dribble of IEDs punctuated by a short burst of artillery or small arms fire as raids are conducted, or patrols ambushed. Then there is the occasional blip of a non-combat accident, or even a heart attack doing PT.
Sometimes, sometimes, I have to fight the urge to delete them, unread. I owe it to them to read them. They are my brothers-in-arms. And I know that there are so few, compared to what flowed when my father was in Vietnam and Korea, my uncle in WWII, my Grandfather in WWI.
Of course, they didn't just pop into email then, either.
They're someone's family member. 35, no, 36 times now since 9/11 there have been names I know, or families I know, touched by the flame of combat, the blowby of war that always scorches the hearth, even if the war itself does not, physically.
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 514-07 May 01, 2007--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died Apr. 29 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their unit during combat operations.
Killed were:
Staff Sgt. Jay E. Martin, 29, of Baltimore.
Sgt. Alexander J. Funcheon, 21, of Bel Aire, Kan.
Pfc. Brian A. Botello, 19, of Alta, Iowa.
They were assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. For more information in regard to this release the media can contact the Fort Carson public affairs office at (719) 526-3420; after hours (719) 526-5500.
Pretty simple. I can't honor them all, as individuals. So I limit myself to those I knew, or who touched the Denizens here somehow. Those who were bemedalled Heroes, in the capital H sense, and those who were Kansans, because well, by dint of fate and PERSCOM, that's where I find myself.
Sergeant Funcheon has a milblog connection, and is a Kansan.
There is always a story.
In Funcheon's last e-mail to his parents about one week ago, he wrote that he was preparing for an upcoming R&R to Germany."He ended with, 'I'll be home before you know it,' " said his mother, Karen Funcheon.
She said that her son had been in good spirits since going overseas. He had enlisted in the Army in 2004.
"He never got down, and he knew that he was doing a good job," she said. "He knew what was expected of him, and he was going to do it."
Karen Funcheon said that after her son completed his military duties, he had aspirations of going to college and becoming a firefighter.
Bob Funcheon said that his son was starting to get his life together, starting to grow up.
"He was starting to figure out what he wanted to do," he said. "And that's the sad part of this, is the life that (he) will never live out."
The rest is here, at the Wichita Eagle.
Lyn Perry, of Bloggin' Out Loud knows the Funcheon family. Visit his place to leave a note of condolence for the family.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I say unto you, Sergeant Alexander J. Funcheon.
Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.
A big thank you to Lyn for the family picture.
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