Sgt. Michael Ferschke.

[Covey_Rider]

Good friend of mine passed away on Aug 10th. From what I know, and I'll get more information tomorrow...he was doing some house to house searches in Fallujah and was shot. If you guys could say a prayer for his wife and child to be...they were married just a month before he was killed and he has a child do in January.

[outlaw3179]

Semper Fi , Dominic.

[Big Jim]

May he rest in peace, brother....SEMPER FI...

[yellowwing]

God rest and keep Sgt. Michael Ferschke, and comfort his family. Amen

[sgt tony]

God has another Marine at the gates of heaven. We will miss him as will his family and our prayer go to them

[thedrifter]

Rest In Peace

Ellie

[OLE SARG]

God bless Sgt. Michael Ferschke and his family. Will keep his family in our prayers.

SEMPER FI,

[Achped]

Semper Fidelis Marine

http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...q_family_says/

[rb1651]

Prayers are outbound for Sgt. Michael Ferschke and his family. R.I.P. Marine.

[thedrifter]

"Yesterday, in a nameless spot in the Iraqi desert..."
Posted By Blackfive

Via Corporal Seamus:

US Marine Corps Major General John Kelley wrote the note below to the parents of Sgt Michael Ferschke (a team leaders in A Company, 3rd Recon Battalion), who will be buried in the Tennessee Veterans Cemetery, tomorrow, in Knoxville, TN. This one note will tell you more about our Corps and it's leaders than you'll find anywhere.

Yesterday in a nameless spot in the Iraqi desert near the village of Ayn-al Faris east of Lake Tar-Tar, Michael was on patrol when they took fire from a seemingly abandoned house they were about to search. With him at the time were several other Marines two of whom were wounded and are recovering. They live and fight as a team, these young men, and his buddies did what Marines have done from the beginning of our history, something they do without thinking and always without hesitation—they risked their own lives to save his. In spite of grave danger from the continuing firefight they struggled to save his life, but he was already gone to God. They were with him when he died. He was not alone and was surrounded by the finest men on earth...

I did not know your son, but I am sure he was just like every Marine I have known in the three decades and more that I have served. Like my own two sons who are Marines and have served here in this war, I bet he was a good looking young man, fun loving, into sports and a good son—but not perfect—boys never are. He was also different Mr. and Mrs. Ferschke, because he chose to leave the comfortable and safe confines of his home and walk a different path than all the rest. The path he chose led him to be one of the nations finest, to be a Marine. When he did not have to raise his right hand and swear before his God to serve and protect this nation and its people, he did just that. We all owe him an eternal debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. We also owe you and all who loved him a debt—one that can never be settled...

In my private moments I well up and come near to tears when I think of them. They are not just tears of sorrow, but also of joy and hope that we still have men of substance who are not afraid to step forward and face our enemies without flinching or backing down. I never had the privilege of knowing Michael, but I will remember him, and pray for him and for all those who mourn his loss, for the rest of my life.

Twelve terrorists were killed in that house and a trove of intel was discovered. The intel has led to more actions which will make Iraq a safer place. According to Sergeant Ferschke's Battalion Commander, LtCol Seely, Ferschke's team charged into a hail of bullets and fought off suicide bombers and automatic weapons fire to recover the Sergeant's remains.

Sergeant Ferschke was 22, married and had just found out that his wife was pregneant.

Funeral information:

Monday August 18th 10:30 a.m. EST
Our Lady of Fatima
858 Louisville Rd.
Alcoa , TN

Internment:

Tennessee Veteran's Cemetery
5901 Lyons View Pk.
Knoxville , TN

Godspeed Sergeant Ferschke. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family and brother Marines.

Update: Below is b-roll of the arrival of the body of Sgt. Michael Ferschke to Mcghee Tyson Air National Guard Base in Knoxville, Kentucky. Scenes include military, family and media awaiting the arrival of the plane, the landing of the plane, the removal of the flag and casket and the funeral procession leaving the base with a military salute on both sides of the road as it passes by. The video was produced by Tech Sgt. Elicia Summerville.

"Yesterday, in a nameless spot in the Iraqi desert..."
Posted By Blackfive

Via Corporal Seamus:

US Marine Corps Major General John Kelley wrote the note below to the parents of Sgt Michael Ferschke (a team leaders in A Company, 3rd Recon Battalion), who will be buried in the Tennessee Veterans Cemetery, tomorrow, in Knoxville, TN. This one note will tell you more about our Corps and it's leaders than you'll find anywhere.

Yesterday in a nameless spot in the Iraqi desert near the village of Ayn-al Faris east of Lake Tar-Tar, Michael was on patrol when they took fire from a seemingly abandoned house they were about to search. With him at the time were several other Marines two of whom were wounded and are recovering. They live and fight as a team, these young men, and his buddies did what Marines have done from the beginning of our history, something they do without thinking and always without hesitation—they risked their own lives to save his. In spite of grave danger from the continuing firefight they struggled to save his life, but he was already gone to God. They were with him when he died. He was not alone and was surrounded by the finest men on earth...

I did not know your son, but I am sure he was just like every Marine I have known in the three decades and more that I have served. Like my own two sons who are Marines and have served here in this war, I bet he was a good looking young man, fun loving, into sports and a good son—but not perfect—boys never are. He was also different Mr. and Mrs. Ferschke, because he chose to leave the comfortable and safe confines of his home and walk a different path than all the rest. The path he chose led him to be one of the nations finest, to be a Marine. When he did not have to raise his right hand and swear before his God to serve and protect this nation and its people, he did just that. We all owe him an eternal debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. We also owe you and all who loved him a debt—one that can never be settled...

In my private moments I well up and come near to tears when I think of them. They are not just tears of sorrow, but also of joy and hope that we still have men of substance who are not afraid to step forward and face our enemies without flinching or backing down. I never had the privilege of knowing Michael, but I will remember him, and pray for him and for all those who mourn his loss, for the rest of my life.

Twelve terrorists were killed in that house and a trove of intel was discovered. The intel has led to more actions which will make Iraq a safer place. According to Sergeant Ferschke's Battalion Commander, LtCol Seely, Ferschke's team charged into a hail of bullets and fought off suicide bombers and automatic weapons fire to recover the Sergeant's remains.

Sergeant Ferschke was 22, married and had just found out that his wife was pregneant.

Funeral information:

Monday August 18th 10:30 a.m. EST
Our Lady of Fatima
858 Louisville Rd.
Alcoa , TN

Internment:

Tennessee Veteran's Cemetery
5901 Lyons View Pk.
Knoxville , TN

Godspeed Sergeant Ferschke. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family and brother Marines.

Update: Below is b-roll of the arrival of the body of Sgt. Michael Ferschke to Mcghee Tyson Air National Guard Base in Knoxville, Kentucky. Scenes include military, family and media awaiting the arrival of the plane, the landing of the plane, the removal of the flag and casket and the funeral procession leaving the base with a military salute on both sides of the road as it passes by. The video was produced by Tech Sgt. Elicia Summerville.


Fallen Sergeant Returns Home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gl6P...blackfive.net/

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine honored with Purple Heart, respect and praise

By Robert Wilson
Tuesday, August 19, 2008

ALCOA - White doves and a Purple Heart marked Monday's funeral services for Sgt. Michael Harvey Ferschke Jr.

The Marine was killed in action Aug. 10 in Iraq.

The funeral of the 22-year-old Maryville man released an outpouring of respect usually reserved for heroes and patriots. Many say Ferschke was both.

An octagonal pavilion at the Tennessee Veterans Cemetery in Knoxville overflowed with people who had arrived in a lengthy procession from Alcoa, escorted by 28 law enforcement motorcycles and nearly that many ridden by members of the Patriot Guard, Rolling Thunder and various veteran support groups.

Sgt. Fershke's uncle, retired Air Force Master Sgt. Bob Lambert, told the solemn crowd at the pavilion that his nephew died doing something he didn't have to do.

He said Sgt. Ferschke felt his brothers were dying in Iraq, and he wanted to go and "do what he was trained to do. But God had a separate plan."

At the end of the service, 22 white doves were released into a brilliant August sky, one for each year of Sgt. Ferschke's life. Twenty-one fluttered away in a group, and the final one, symbolizing his spirit, was released by Sgt. Ferschke's mother, Robin K. Ferschke, and his widow, Hotaru, who is pregnant with the sergeant's baby.

Sgt. Ferschke's passing was marked by all the traditional military ritual, the 21-gun salute, the careful folding of the flag that covered the coffin, the slow salutes by the white-gloved hands of other Marines in their dress uniforms and the playing of taps, which contains the lines, "All is well, safely rest."

Also attending the cemetery ceremony was John A. Keys, commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Veterans Affairs in Nashville. He offered condolences on the family's loss on behalf of his agency and Gov. Phil Bredesen.

By all accounts, Sgt. Ferschke was focused on being a Marine for a sizable part of his 8,319 days of life. It was his stated aspiration since he was way too young to join, those who knew him say.

Father John O'Neill, who officiated at Sgt. Ferschke's funeral Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Alcoa on Monday morning, said during the homily that Monday was "a very painful, very holy, very special day.

"This man came to do good. This moment of sadness is also one of hope and glory."

O'Neill said he had recently seen the ultrasound images of the child Sgt. Ferschke never got to hold, and O'Neill called it "a huge, huge sign of hope."

In a prayer, the priest asked God to receive Sgt. Ferschke's soul.

Also at the cemetery, Sgt. Ferschke was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded in battle. Sgt. Ferschke was felled by an enemy combatant's bullet as the sergeant helped conduct a house-to-house search in an undisclosed part of Iraq.

He had been married a month.

His death stirred an eruption of sympathy and respect from people in Blount County and by educators and fellow students who had known him at Maryville High School, where he graduated in 2003.

Sgt. Ferschke was laid to rest next to Robert L. Ogle, a Navy veteran of World War II and Korea who died in 2002 at age 77. At Sgt. Ferschke's feet is the grave of Army Spc. Jason Dane Hovater, who was killed last month in Afghanistan at age 24.

Ellie

RIP