thedrifter
05-23-08, 05:28 AM
Friends, comrades live on in hearts of Iraq veterans
By Jim Michaels, Andrea Stone and Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
On this Memorial Day, many Americans will remember friends and relatives who fell in wars past and present.
But whom will the troops here and overseas recall, on the day designed to honor the lives of those claimed in battle?
More than paying tribute to selfless acts of a distant past, this generation of servicemembers will see the faces of people they admired, faces of those who served with them side by side.
For those on the battlefield, such as Army Pfc. Thomas Grimm in Baghdad, the death of a mentor just weeks ago still cuts deep.
For others who have returned home, memories of those who died months or years ago remain strong: the death of a tough gunnery sergeant; the loss of a talented and visionary Army doctor; the killing of an Army staff sergeant who knew the wisdom of urging troubled soldiers to seek mental health counseling.
For one Marine, his living memorial is a son named after two close friends killed in combat. The child is not yet 2.
As Memorial Day nears, USA TODAY spoke with soldiers and Marines, reservists and others in the military about the comrades they will honor.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-22-memorial-cover_N.htm?csp=34
Ellie
By Jim Michaels, Andrea Stone and Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
On this Memorial Day, many Americans will remember friends and relatives who fell in wars past and present.
But whom will the troops here and overseas recall, on the day designed to honor the lives of those claimed in battle?
More than paying tribute to selfless acts of a distant past, this generation of servicemembers will see the faces of people they admired, faces of those who served with them side by side.
For those on the battlefield, such as Army Pfc. Thomas Grimm in Baghdad, the death of a mentor just weeks ago still cuts deep.
For others who have returned home, memories of those who died months or years ago remain strong: the death of a tough gunnery sergeant; the loss of a talented and visionary Army doctor; the killing of an Army staff sergeant who knew the wisdom of urging troubled soldiers to seek mental health counseling.
For one Marine, his living memorial is a son named after two close friends killed in combat. The child is not yet 2.
As Memorial Day nears, USA TODAY spoke with soldiers and Marines, reservists and others in the military about the comrades they will honor.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-22-memorial-cover_N.htm?csp=34
Ellie