thedrifter
05-21-06, 08:05 AM
Posted on Sun, May. 21, 2006
Though Iraq deaths drop, Missouri mourns more
By DARRYL LEVINGS
The Kansas City Star
Fewer flag-covered caskets have been coming home from Iraq this year, but try to tell that to the grieving families of Missouri soldiers and Marines.
In a cruel twist of Iraq casualty statistics, the 11 dead from the state is the highest for any six-month period since the war began. And more than a month remains in the period.
In Kansas, three have died so far this year. The state had 10 in 2004, its worst full year.
For Missourians, last year was the deadliest, 14, plus five killed in Afghanistan. So far this year, no one from either state has perished in those unforgiving mountains.
The latest to fall was Lance Cpl. Leon Bertrand Deraps, who was buried Wednesday morning in the cemetery at a little brick Catholic church on a central Missouri hill. The Eagle Scout, prom king and 2005 graduate of Jamestown High School got an emotional goodbye from the town the night before.
Deraps, who had been in Iraq only three months, was one more Marine to be hit by a road bomb in the notorious Al Anbar province.
The year’s first casualty had been 37-year-old Army Maj. William Heckler III, a St. Louisan. His Humvee didn’t make it out of Najaf on Jan. 5.
So they came from small towns and big cities. Similarly, they met their ends in places such as Qasr Ar Riyy and Baghdad.
They died on foot and in Humvees, Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Two went down in Apache and Black Hawk helicopters. Nine of 14 Missourians and Kansans were killed by the devilish rigged-up artillery shells called IEDs. Others were hit by mortar rounds, small-arms fire and traffic accidents.
The oldest was 43, the youngest 18. On average, they spent only 26 years on this earth.
So many fresh faces … so many fresh graves … so many fresh heartbreaks.
Ellie
Though Iraq deaths drop, Missouri mourns more
By DARRYL LEVINGS
The Kansas City Star
Fewer flag-covered caskets have been coming home from Iraq this year, but try to tell that to the grieving families of Missouri soldiers and Marines.
In a cruel twist of Iraq casualty statistics, the 11 dead from the state is the highest for any six-month period since the war began. And more than a month remains in the period.
In Kansas, three have died so far this year. The state had 10 in 2004, its worst full year.
For Missourians, last year was the deadliest, 14, plus five killed in Afghanistan. So far this year, no one from either state has perished in those unforgiving mountains.
The latest to fall was Lance Cpl. Leon Bertrand Deraps, who was buried Wednesday morning in the cemetery at a little brick Catholic church on a central Missouri hill. The Eagle Scout, prom king and 2005 graduate of Jamestown High School got an emotional goodbye from the town the night before.
Deraps, who had been in Iraq only three months, was one more Marine to be hit by a road bomb in the notorious Al Anbar province.
The year’s first casualty had been 37-year-old Army Maj. William Heckler III, a St. Louisan. His Humvee didn’t make it out of Najaf on Jan. 5.
So they came from small towns and big cities. Similarly, they met their ends in places such as Qasr Ar Riyy and Baghdad.
They died on foot and in Humvees, Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Two went down in Apache and Black Hawk helicopters. Nine of 14 Missourians and Kansans were killed by the devilish rigged-up artillery shells called IEDs. Others were hit by mortar rounds, small-arms fire and traffic accidents.
The oldest was 43, the youngest 18. On average, they spent only 26 years on this earth.
So many fresh faces … so many fresh graves … so many fresh heartbreaks.
Ellie