Month of May to Honor and Remember all of your local fallen heroes
Hope you are having a Great Morning!
Just a short note of thanks today from me for your help in the continued sharing in the mission of Honor and Remember. We have made tremendous strides in our goals this year, including many amazing partnerships enabling the honor of Gold Star families nationally, nineteen state adoptions, fifteen state chapters, nearly 2000 personalized flags presented to date and opportunity of sharing the message of the flag and its symbolism with thousands across America. Be watching NASCAR Memorial Weekend for an amazing surprise!
Our April newsletter talked about claiming the month of May to Honor and Remember all of your local fallen heroes. We are encouraging everyone to reach out to their media and communities in sharing their stories of remembrance. (see article), and in recognition I would ask that you display an Honor and Remember Flag throughout the month. .
In order to help you with the purchase we are offering a 10% discount on any non-personalized orders processed by the end of May. By using the code May2014 in the coupon section at WEBSTORE checkout, the discount will be automatically applied.
If you have been thinking about flying an Honor and Remember Flag, giving one as a gift, needing to replace your faded flag or were thinking about other ways to display Honor and Remember, check out some of the great ideas in our store. We have some wonderful NEW flag items available such as;
Thank you for continuing to support this national symbol of remembrance and for helping us to see Honor and Remember flying everywhere for our heroes and their families this most significant month of remembrance!
If you are not able to display a flag or other item please consider a donation so that we might bring greater efforts to our journey of thanks.
With Great Respect,
George Lutz
Founder
HonorandRemember.org
Please click here to sign the PETITION. www.honorandremember.org/sign-the-petition
Please click here to visit our new online store MERCHANDISE. www.honorandremember.info
Please click here to make a DONATION. www.honorandremember.org/donation
Please click here if you are a Gold Star family member requesting a flag REQUEST.
www.honorandremember.org/the-flag/flag-presentation
Remembering and honoring Sgt Angelo Lozada, Jr ~ NH Hero
Remembering and honoring Sgt Angelo Lozada, Jr. – KIA 4/16/2005 – Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Te4am, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Hovey, Korea.
The last call from Angelo to his family was a happy one; he was headed home in 2 weeks. He wanted to surprise his mother for Mother’s Day and meet his first grandchild. He was killed in Ramadi, Iraq when his section’s M109 Paladin took a direct hit from a rocket while in the battery firing position.
Angelo grew up in Brooklyn, NY with his parents, 5 brothers, 2 sisters and a large extended family. Growing up, he earned a reputation as a practical joker who always looked out for his younger siblings. He and his two brothers, Louis and Antonio, joined the reserves after graduating from Easton District High School in Brooklyn, NY. He moved to Nashua when he was 19 and served in the New Hampshire National Guard for 6 years before switching over to active duty in the Army. His family says Angelo considered New Hampshire to be his home.
His brother Antonio said one of the reasons he loved the reserves was traveling the world. “He wanted to travel and he got to. He was gung-ho all the way.”
Gus, another of Angelo’s brothers referred to Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled” saying his brother took a road of unselfishness, sacrifice and service. Family was very important to Angelo. His son, Michael, said his father often brought him to the movies and had coached his baseball team when he was little. “He did right for everybody. We were always worried about him, but he was always worried about us,” his sister Angela said. “He was a sweetheart” said his brother the Rev. Augustin Rodriquez. “He cared very much for everyone – he was just a good person.”
Angelo was the first NH soldier killed in Iraq to be laid to rest at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen.
To Honor is to Remember
-
- Sgt. Angelo L. Lozada, Jr.
Remembering Capt. Jonathan Grassbaugh ~ NH Hero
Honoring and remembering Army Captain Jonathan Grassbaugh KIA on April 7, 2007
On April 7, 2007 came the sad news that Exeter had lost its first alumnus in the Iraq war. Army Captain Jonathan Grassbaugh ’99, who was serving as an Army Ranger in Iraq, was killed by a roadside bomb. This was his second tour of duty in Iraq. He was stationed at Fort Bragg, NC, and was a member of the 73rd Cavalry, 5th Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. He leaves his wife, Jenna, also an Army Ranger, whom he married the summer of 2006.
His older brother, Army Captain Dr. Jason Grassbaugh, spoke at a special assembly in Exeter. Here is his tribute….
“Twelve years ago, when I was sitting where you are, I dreamed of being asked come back and speak after I’d cured cancer, spread democracy or made millions of dollars. I never expected to be back under these circumstances, and I want to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to come here and speak. The Jon I remember observed little things and delighted in sharing them with all of us. One March night when I was home from college, Jon made our whole family go to Grainger Observatory at 1AM. We were all skeptical about this trip, but Jon delivered. He provided stunning views of Saturn’s rings, a full moon and the nebulas he’d been studying in astronomy. Jon delighted in finding beauty around him and then sharing it with all the people that he knew.
In Iraq, Jon was a supply officer for a battalion, a unit of about 1,000 people. Over the past two weeks I’ve learned how Jon had achieved minor celebrity status in Iraq by getting hot pizzas delivered to his guys who were out in the mud. His guys consumed cases of an Iraqi energy drink called Wild Tiger as fast Jon could find ways to acquire it. The skills he learned here—looking closely at the people around him and then doing whatever they needed, whether they asked for it or not—are what made Jon a good officer in the Army and a better person. Ultimately, Jon died on a supply mission going to check on some of his guys at an outpost, making sure they had all the construction equipment that they needed to stay safe.
Someone asked me if I was angry that a hate group had decided to protest Jon’s funeral. I am actually glad they are here, because it allows us to see the face of extremism and intolerance that we may be better prepared to identify and confront it in the future. You will all face hate and intolerance, and through those things people will be hurt and people will suffer. Ultimately, the tools that you will use to combat hate and intolerance will be your reason, your empathy and your compassion for other people. You already have all of these things. Just be sure to use them to make the world a better place for the people around you, one hot pizza at a time.
Jon didn’t think there were many true moral dilemmas. He felt that if you had such a dilemma, you probably knew what was right inside. You just had to find the courage to act on it. My friends, your decisions in the future will have the ability to change the world and make it a better place. My brother strove to do that every day, to try to make the world a better place for the people near him.
If you take anything from here today, remember that if you observe the world closely, you will see how you can make it better. Let that be Jon’s legacy to you: to make the world a better place.
-
- Capt. Jonathan Grassbaugh
-
- Cpt Jonathan Grassbaugh
-
- Jonathan and Jenna Grassbaugh
