Family: Son killed in Iraq was weeks away from coming home

[thedrifter]

Family: Son killed in Iraq was weeks away from coming home
WFMJ Youngstown

KENT, Ohio A sailor from northeast Ohio who was scheduled to return home by the end of the month was killed in Iraq.
Twenty-one-year-old Luke Emch was a Navy corpsman assigned to the Marines. His family said he was killed Thursday by an explosive device near Ramadi.Emch lived in Brimfield Township near Kent.Emch was a 2004 graduate of Tallmadge High School. His family says he was scheduled to wrap up his tour of duty today, and after a few weeks of debriefings, return home by the end of March.Emch attended the University of Akron for a year before deciding to join the Navy in 2006.His father, Wesley Emch, says he argued with his son about that decision. He says his son felt a civic duty and responsibility to the country.

Ellie

[USMCBOXER]

R.I.P. Brother.
Corpsmen always have had a special place in my heart.

[bootlace15]

AMEN MY BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bootlace15 out

[jinelson]

A Corpsman's Prayer

Grant me, oh Lord, for the coming events;
Enough knowledge to cope and some plain common sense.
Be at our side on those nightly patrols;
And be merciful judging our vulnerable souls.
Make my hands steady and as sure as a rock;
when the others go down with a wound or in shock.
Let me be close, when they bleed in the sand;
With a tourniquet handy to save precious blood.
Here in the sand, the enemy near;
Even the corpsman can't offer much lightness and cheer.
Just help me, oh Lord, to save lives when I can;
Because even out there is merit in man.
If It's Your will, make casualties light;
And don't let any die in the murderous night.
These are my friends I'm trying to save;
They are frightened at times, but You know they are brave.
Let me not fail when they need so much;
But to help me serve with a compassionate touch.
Lord, I'm no hero -- my job is to heal;
And I want You to know Just how helpless I feel.
Bring us back safely to camp with dawn;
For too many of us are already gone.
Lord bless my friends If that's part of your plan;
And go with us tonight, when we go out again.

Author Unknown