thedrifter
09-08-06, 07:51 AM
Baltimore Marine Was on Third Tour; N.H. Soldier Suffered Apparent Heart Attack
By Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 8, 2006; B03
Marine Staff Sgt. Dwayne E. Williams had survived three concussions from dismantling hundreds of roadside bombs in Iraq. Army Spec. Matthew E. Schneider had overcome a heart condition that a doctor said would kill him before he was a toddler.
The Marine and the soldier who were used to beating the odds were buried near each other at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday.
Williams, a 28-year-old Baltimore native, was dismantling yet another improvised explosive device -- a feat for which he had already been awarded a Bronze Star -- in Anbar province on Aug. 24 when the device exploded, killing him and another soldier.
Schneider, a 23-year-old from Gorham, N.H., was relaxing on his bunk in Ramadi when he suffered an apparent heart attack Aug. 28.
At services yesterday, Williams's wife, LaStar, and 4-year-old son, Malachi, received a flag from a Marine sergeant to honor his contributions to the war. As a bugler played taps, family members and friends huddled, never removing their eyes from the flag-draped coffin.
"What made me cry is now his son won't have a father, like Dwayne didn't have a father," said Melissa Manning, a cousin of Williams's who said their relationship was more like brother and sister. "He was trying to be a good dad, and that's what I'm mad about."
She said that Williams had grown up in a tough neighborhood in Baltimore but stayed away from gangs and drugs because he knew they would interfere with his goals.
Although dismantling bombs is among the most dangerous assignments in Iraq, Williams thrived on it, family members said. He came from a family of military veterans dating to World War I and had long planned to enter the service before enlisting nine years ago. He was on his third tour of duty in Iraq, and his family was anticipating his return to the United States later this month.
"I don't support war, so I didn't want him to go," Manning said. "But he thought it would be a good opportunity to go to school and to see the world and to do something important. That's the promise that the Marines give."
In the face of war, Williams relied on the love of his family and God to stay strong, she said. He called his mother every day and wrote lengthy e-mails that were posted on a family Web site. He saved the lives of his comrades at least once, screaming to them to take cover after he disconnected one bomb only to find another nearby.
"I found another device set as a trap for us. I yelled 'IED' so others could run," he wrote. "Four Marines including myself were within the blast radius of this item. The Lord is good."
An only child, Williams was especially close to his extended family. He lived with Manning for two years before being deployed to Iraq, she said.
"We liked to joke with each other, go out to eat, go see movies," she said. "He was so gifted at building things, drawing and all sorts of things. If I needed something fixed, he could fix it, and he was so down-to-earth."
Less than 30 minutes after Williams was buried, Schneider's family arrived at the same section of the cemetery to bury their son and brother. A Mormon chaplain praised the young man's desire to help people, whether Americans or Iraqis.
"We're here to honor Matthew's devotion to duty," he said.
The chaplain told the assembled crowd about a time when Schneider came upon a woman whose purse had been stolen. Without thinking twice, Schneider went to the nearest ATM and withdrew $200 to give to the woman, he said.
A technological whiz, Schneider spent his spare time in Iraq setting up high-speed Internet connections for about 80 soldiers. His job was to maintain communication with those on the front lines, and he planned to reenlist in the military as an information technology specialist.
Williams and Schneider are the 260th and 261st military personnel killed in Iraq to be buried at Arlington.
Ellie
By Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 8, 2006; B03
Marine Staff Sgt. Dwayne E. Williams had survived three concussions from dismantling hundreds of roadside bombs in Iraq. Army Spec. Matthew E. Schneider had overcome a heart condition that a doctor said would kill him before he was a toddler.
The Marine and the soldier who were used to beating the odds were buried near each other at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday.
Williams, a 28-year-old Baltimore native, was dismantling yet another improvised explosive device -- a feat for which he had already been awarded a Bronze Star -- in Anbar province on Aug. 24 when the device exploded, killing him and another soldier.
Schneider, a 23-year-old from Gorham, N.H., was relaxing on his bunk in Ramadi when he suffered an apparent heart attack Aug. 28.
At services yesterday, Williams's wife, LaStar, and 4-year-old son, Malachi, received a flag from a Marine sergeant to honor his contributions to the war. As a bugler played taps, family members and friends huddled, never removing their eyes from the flag-draped coffin.
"What made me cry is now his son won't have a father, like Dwayne didn't have a father," said Melissa Manning, a cousin of Williams's who said their relationship was more like brother and sister. "He was trying to be a good dad, and that's what I'm mad about."
She said that Williams had grown up in a tough neighborhood in Baltimore but stayed away from gangs and drugs because he knew they would interfere with his goals.
Although dismantling bombs is among the most dangerous assignments in Iraq, Williams thrived on it, family members said. He came from a family of military veterans dating to World War I and had long planned to enter the service before enlisting nine years ago. He was on his third tour of duty in Iraq, and his family was anticipating his return to the United States later this month.
"I don't support war, so I didn't want him to go," Manning said. "But he thought it would be a good opportunity to go to school and to see the world and to do something important. That's the promise that the Marines give."
In the face of war, Williams relied on the love of his family and God to stay strong, she said. He called his mother every day and wrote lengthy e-mails that were posted on a family Web site. He saved the lives of his comrades at least once, screaming to them to take cover after he disconnected one bomb only to find another nearby.
"I found another device set as a trap for us. I yelled 'IED' so others could run," he wrote. "Four Marines including myself were within the blast radius of this item. The Lord is good."
An only child, Williams was especially close to his extended family. He lived with Manning for two years before being deployed to Iraq, she said.
"We liked to joke with each other, go out to eat, go see movies," she said. "He was so gifted at building things, drawing and all sorts of things. If I needed something fixed, he could fix it, and he was so down-to-earth."
Less than 30 minutes after Williams was buried, Schneider's family arrived at the same section of the cemetery to bury their son and brother. A Mormon chaplain praised the young man's desire to help people, whether Americans or Iraqis.
"We're here to honor Matthew's devotion to duty," he said.
The chaplain told the assembled crowd about a time when Schneider came upon a woman whose purse had been stolen. Without thinking twice, Schneider went to the nearest ATM and withdrew $200 to give to the woman, he said.
A technological whiz, Schneider spent his spare time in Iraq setting up high-speed Internet connections for about 80 soldiers. His job was to maintain communication with those on the front lines, and he planned to reenlist in the military as an information technology specialist.
Williams and Schneider are the 260th and 261st military personnel killed in Iraq to be buried at Arlington.
Ellie