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.

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.

 

Remembering Army Master Sgt. Richard L. Ferguson ~ NH Hero

Honoring and remembering Army Master Sgt. Richard L. Ferguson of Conway, NH. He died March 30, 2004 when the military vehicle he was riding in rolled over in Samarra, Iraq. He was serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Richard was assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, Fort Carson, Colorado. He had served in Bosnia, Germany, Iraq and elsewhere, but his missions and deployments were often kept classified.

“What went on, he left at work or with the guys”, said his father, Lee Ferguson, Sr. “When he came home, he laughed, he joked, he went camping with the kids, he went on trips, he worked around the house.”

Richard dropped out of high school at age 17 and later earned his GED. He joined the Army becoming a career military man. “Once he got in, he loved it and he stayed with it. That was his home, “his father said.

He was also a history buff and spent 20 years putting together a family tree tracing his roots back the to 1700’s. Richard had come to terms with the dangers of the military job he loved.

Despite being a member of an elite military force, Richard was humble and found more often in fatigues than his dress uniform. He turned down a promotion that would have taken him out of the field. “He wasn’t a person to stand out there and say, “Look what I did,” his father said. “He liked being in the field. He was behind the scenes. He was a team leader”

TO REMEMBER IS TO HONOR….

Remembering Sgt Jeremiah Holmes ~ NH Hero

Remembering Sgt Jeremiah Holmes, the first New Hampshire National Guardsman killed in Ramadi, Iraq on 3-29-2004 when a bomb rocked the truck in which he was riding in a convoy.

He was a member of the Army National Guard 744th Transportation Company with headquarters in Hillsboro, N.H., and detachments in Claremont and Somersworth. His unit was deployed for training in late December, and sent to Iraq in February for 18 months.

During the departure ceremony two weeks before Christmas, Holmes’ wife, Kimberly, held their infant son, Kaleb. When asked how she felt about his deployment, she told the newspaper, “Not good. I feel bad for the baby.” Holmes and his wife had been selected by Foster’s Sunday Citizen for a series of stories showing how one family copes with a military deployment.

“I’m worried about losing my best friend and not being able to see the person I’ve spent every day with for a year and a half,” Kimberly Holmes told the Dover newspaper in January. The day before her husband’s death, she was in the process of setting up a second interview.

Holmes served on active duty from 1994 to 1999, when he joined the New Hampshire Guard.

“Jay was just a wonderful individual, a keeper,” said Patsy Koelker, a neighbor, using the name everyone knew him by. “He was kind and caring,” she said, and if there was an errand to be done, he was “at the head of the line.”

To Remember is to Honor….

Remembering CPL Michael Ouellette ~ NH Hero

Remembering CPL Michael Ouellette – KIA 3-22-09 in Afghanistan he was 28 year old, of Manchester, N.H.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; while supporting combat operations. He trained as an infantryman and served two tours in Iraq before being sent to Afghanistan in November 2008. Mike was the kind of person that if you ever had the pleasure to meet, you would never forget. He was genuine, kind, down to earth, and he always knew how to have a good time. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

This is from his mom, Donna: “Michael loved the outdoors, hiking with friends in the the beautiful White Mountains. He enjoyed traveling, had a wicked sense of humor and was very outgoing, making new friends wherever he went. He was very insightful and concerned about not only major issues like politics and the environment, but also about people and how/why they should get involved in helping to make this a better place t live. He would go out of his way to help someone who needed a helping hand. His biggest passion was food – creating new recipes, going to culinary school, and firmly believed that no one in this country should go hungry or be homeless. He was a true and loyal friend, always finding a way to inspire others to be part of something bigger than themselves.”

Michael Ouellette will forever be remembered as a brave and courageous hero who sacrificed his life for the freedom of others. For his conspicuous gallantry, bold leadership, wise judgment, complete dedication to duty, displaying exceptional valor in combat by leading his Marines in a gun battle in Afghanistan, even after suffering a mortal wound, Cpl. Ouellette was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the highest award presented by the Department of the Navy and the military’s second highest award for valor next to the Medal of Honor.

Michael was a squad leader in 1st Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, from Camp Lejeune, N.C. On March 22, 2009, his unit was in its fifth month on the ground in the Now Zad district in northern Helmand province.

Almost two hours into a foot patrol, which began in the morning at Forward Operating Base A.P. Hill, Ouellette was wounded by the blast of an improvised explosive device that detonated under his feet.

As the dust settled, the gunfire began from enemy positions a few meters away, and Ouellette lay bleeding in a crater.

Gaining their bearings, the Marines of 1st Platoon scrambled to lay down suppressing fire and Cpl. Jesse Raper, a squad automatic machine gunner, pulled Ouellette, who was conscious and breathing, out of the crater. Together they began to apply tourniquets and Ouellette stayed in charge, said Hospitalman 3rd Class Matthew Nolen, who ran to Ouellette’s side within moments.

With the lower half of his left leg gone and his right upper thigh and groin area ripped through with shrapnel, Ouellette knew there was no time to waste. He calmly took charge of his squad’s response to the enemy ambush.

“When I get there, he’s still calling out orders, he’s still telling the radio operator what to call in for helos, what to call in for mortars, calling his evac nine-line in and making sure that his assistant team leader, Lance Cpl. Rupert, has everything under control,” Nolen said.

But Ouellette’s time was slipping away. As a quick-reaction force sped toward the ambush site, having been hampered by additional IEDs along the route, he was taken by ground ambulance to a casualty evacuation landing zone about two kilometers away. And, according to Nolen, Ouellette was still breathing and conscious when the bird took off.

“I’m proud of my Marines,” were the last words Nolen heard Ouellette say as he waited for that bird.

TO REMEMBER IS TO HONOR…

Remembering Sgt. David Stelmat ~ NH Hero

Sgt. David “DJ” Stelmat, 27, was KIA on 3-22-2008, in Iraq as a result of a roadside bomb while serving as a medic in the 237 Military Police Company.

Stelmat was a former U.S. Army infantryman who fought on the front lines in Afghanistan. He later traded his weapon for a first-aid kit as a medic with the New Hampshire Army National Guard in Iraq.

His mom, Maryanne, told me that she “would like people to remember his smile and the glint of mischief in his eye.” “My son was a well loved and respected young man.” “I was truly blessed. He was the best son a mom could ever, ever have had.” “He always wanted to help others. Perhaps what most distinguished D.J. as a person was the way he was connected. Not only to his family and his friends, but to the world he lived in.”

He loved the outdoors and for 3 years he choose to live in a humble 10×10 cabin in the woods of Franconia because he wanted to see what it was like to live like Daniel Boone.

David and his friends were responsible for a widely circulated photograph after the 2001 terrorist attacks. They climbed to the top of the Old Man in the Mountain to hang a huge American flag from the granite profile. He went back later to retrieve it, but not before some photos were made into posters memorializing the moment.

He was expected to return from Iraq after 15 month deployment and resume his studies at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord and become a Physician’s Assistant.

May God be with Maryanne and the rest of the family bringing them comfort, especially today.

TO REMEMBER IS TO HONOR…

Remembering SPC Jesse Conger ~ NH Hero

SPC Jesse Conger was killed in a training accident on 3-22-02 at Ft. Lewis, Washington. A letter sent to his parents, Jeff and Ann, had this from his Commander…”I will always remember Jesse as an important member of Charlie Company. As his Commander, I can tell you this Company was great because of his efforts. Jesse touched all our lives. I distinctly remember Jesse’s constant grin that he carried with him everywhere. His joyful expressions and sharp mind were always present and made each of us in Charlie Company a little bit better for having known him.”

His mom, Ann, said “he enjoyed computers and soccer. He gave up a well paying job in computers to join the military because he wanted to serve his country and see the world.”

“God gave me Jesse for 22 years and I think Him for that.” His dad, Jeff, received a letter from Jesse after he enlisted. On it he said things to his dad that were ‘easier on paper.” “I wanted to say that you are the best dad a guy can wish for.”

On Memorial Day, 2009, the bridge in Barrington spanning the Isinglass River on Rt. 202 was renamed the Specialist Jesse Conger Memorial Bridge.

May God be with his parents, especially today, bringing them comfort.

TO REMEMBER IS TO HONOR…

Tennessee became the 19th State to officially recognize the Honor and Remember Flag

Remembering and honoring SPC Justin Rollins ~ NH Hero

Remembering and honoring SPC Justin Rollins who was killed on March 5, 2007 in Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

I remember talking with his mother, Rhonda, later in 2007 and she had said he was due home for his break as he had been in Iraq since August 8, 2006 – that was the last time that she got to see her beautiful and loving son. She told me that Justin gave up his life so that we could have our freedoms. She said how proud she was of him and for being so strong. She said she mourns too for the plans he had of marriage (he planned to propose to his long-time girlfriend, Brittney Murray, during an upcoming leave), having children and living a full life. He was only 22. She said the families lives have changed forever – life will never be the same again. He was vivacious, always fun to be around, and was such a good friend to all.

Justin’s story can’t be told without mention of Hero the puppy that was brought from Iraq to his parents after Justin’s death. The night before Justin died, he found a dog had given birth in the back room of an Iraqi police station. According to his dad, Skip, Justin yelled for his men. They came in with guns drawn and found Justin lying on his back on the floor covered in puppies. We all have been blessed by the story of Hero and Justin’s love for this dog. Skip said that Justin always wanted to focus on the lives he saved, including the stray animals. “Saving lives was more important to him” Skip said. “…he was running around trying to rescue everything. To us, Hero was the last life he ever saved.” He really did believe in what he was fighting for.” Rhonda said of Justin, “I think he’d be thrilled there was a positive story from the negative that happened to us…He was such a happy-go-lucky guy.”

To learn more about Justin visit ~ www.rollinsride.com

Honor and Remember

Remembering SGT William Tracy ~ NH Hero

Remembering SGT William Tracy – Killed on 2/25/03 in a UH-60 Black Hawk – crashed in a sandstorm during training in Kuwait.  He was assigned to B Company, 5th Battalion, 158^th Aviation, Aviano Air Base, Italy.

William graduated from Merrimack Valley High School in 1993 and spent one semester pursuing his love of art at a local school before enlisting in the Marines.  After four years, he returned home for a short time before joining the Army to fly helicopters.  He was a crew chief; he fixed the aircraft on the ground and helped pilots navigate in the air.  William was a soldier to the core, volunteering for every mission.  His deployments ranged from Atlas Drop, Tunisia; Flintlock, Mali, Strong Resolve, Norway; Lariat Response, Hungary; Victory Strike III, Poland; and Enduring Freedom, Kuwait.  He loved to travel and rarely stayed home on weekends.  He remained close to his family through e-mail and long telephone calls.  He loved meeting people from around the world and brought toys and gifts with him so they would think well of the United States and its soldiers.

May God be with his family and give them comfort and peace.  Never forget.

TO REMEMBER IS TO HONOR….

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