Honoring and remembering SPC Marc Decoteau ~ NH Hero

Honoring and remembering SPC Marc Decoteau, 19
KIA 1-29-10 ~ Operation Enduring Freedom.

6th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne), 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne), Ft. Bragg, NC. Marc was killed while supporting combat operations in FOB Nunez, Afghanistan.

Marc was a standout student and athlete growing up in New Hampshire. He never got into any kid of trouble and was always there if anyone needed anything. Marc helped lead his high school football team to a state championship and also played lacrosse. He graduated from Plymouth High School in 2008 and immediately entered the Army. His service to his country energized by the words love, life, and honor. He put great emphasis on relationships over personal achievements. Serving his country was a relationship with his idea of what duty was all about. Marc was soft-spoken, had an infectious laugh and smile and never gave up trying task until he got them right.

Marc deployed to Afghanistan in early January 2010. He was killed three weeks later when an interpreter opened fire inside Camp Nunez with an AK-47. Marc would not have wished for people to grieve for him. The life suffering and death he witnessed in Afghanistan was troubling to him, but he felt God sent him a message in the Bible to put what he felt was his duty into perspective. It was from Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that well be revealed in us.”

Statement from the family…
Marc’s strong faith in God allows us the comfort of knowing that he is with his Savior and that one day we will join him. We are proud of our son and all that he did and aspired to do for his country. Marc was a rare person who knew very early what he wanted to do and focused on attaining his goals. He learned early the meaning of being on a team and working hard for others. Marc took those values he developed in school and sports with him to the military and used them every day of his service. We are also comforted to know that even though he was young, Marc touched so many people in a positive way. It is great to hear and read of the joy and happiness Marc brought with his smile and quick laugh.

To remember is to honor…

 

 

Remembering CPL Timothy Gibson ~ NH Hero

Remembering CPL Timothy Gibson – Operation Iraqi Freedom – 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. KIA January 26, 2005

Sharing this from his mom, Elaine:

Tim liked people and they certainly adored him. He was never happier than when with friends and family, laughing and having a great time together. Tim was not only a brother to Tom and Patrick but also a good friend. They both looked up to Tim.

Tim always took care of those not able to stick up for themselves, being the protector to many youngsters in school. He once tot in trouble for ‘physical contact’ in grade school. When the principal found that Tim was defending a friend who being picked on, Time was exonerated. In middle school, some boys took a baseball cap from a special needs student and Tim waded right in there and took it back. In high school, a friend and Tim saved a young girl who was trying to commit suicide.

Tim excelled in sports, being the quarterback for three years and captain of the football team his senior year. He also was the centerfielder and captain of the baseball team. Tim led those athletes on and off the field. He always stopped to help the underclassmen who were struggling on the field and kept them true to their pledge of conduct.

Tim was a friend to all – teachers, coaches, athletes, non-athletes, parents of his friends—everyone had a soft spot for him. He was hard to resist with the grin of his and those blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

In the Marines, his men also looked up to him and the letters we have received from him Marine brothers speaks of a leader, serious in his duty, a good man who never had a bad word to say about anyone. His officers sent wonderful letters telling of a “Squared Away Marine”. “The Marine Corps does not build character, the Corps reveals it.” Tim’s heart was the Marines.

 

Remembering Army Sgt. Randy Scott Rosenberg ~ NH Hero

Honor and Remember Army Maj. Brian M. Mescall ~ NH Hero

Honor and Remember Army Maj. Brian M. Mescall

Age 33, died January 9, 2009 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom,
in Jaldak, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device
detonated near his vehicle.  Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, Hohenfels, Germany.

Honor and Remember Pfc. Juctin P. McDaniel ~ NH Hero

Army Pfc. Juctin P. McDaniel, 19 years old, of Andover, N.H; died Dec. 17, 2007 in Baghdad of injuries sustained from a non-combat-related incident in Taji, Iraq

He was assigned to the 524th Combat Service Support Battalion, 45th Sustainment Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, Fort Shafter, Hawaii;

Juctin is remembered by his friends as a young man with a strong desire to serve in the military. It appeared to be his purpose in life to serve his country and support our troops. He went out of his way to help others. He was a friend to all in school, no matter how different they were from him. He loved to make people laugh and smile and would always make light of difficult situations. He was deeply loyal to his family and friends.

Juctin met his wife, Alicia, while they were both in the Army and they married in 2006. They were expecting their first child. He could hardly wait for his child to be born. To his regret, he would be in Iraq when his wife delivered.

May God be with his family and friends, especially today and give them comfort.

To remember is to honor…

Honor and Remember Cpl Matthew J. Stanley ~ a New Hampshire Hero

Honor and Remember Cpl Matthew J. Stanley

Date of birth: Dec 26, 1983
Date of passing: Dec 16, 2006
Matt was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas

Following is written by his Mom, Lynn:

Matt was a fun loving guy. Sometimes I think Matt’s whole purpose on this earth was to make people smile. He himself always had a smile on his face. Everyone who knew Matt will tell you about that smile.

I watched Matt mature from a young boy into a brave young man. His courage and bravery still astonishes me. He had a great love for his family and his country and a great zest for life. In my attempts to honor Matt, I remember to keep his fun loving spirit alive, his joy for life and his love.

In 2002, Matt graduated from Kingswood Regional High School where he was well known and well liked by his peer and teachers. He was outgoing and deeply proud and personal about his two tours of duty in Iraq. He always had a good circle of friends.

He was the type of kid that everybody wanted for a friend Matt had been married less than a year Matt married his beautiful wife Amy on December 31, 2005. Such a wonderful time for the whole family to be together. Little did we know that Matt would be gone before his first anniversary.

He was killed along with four others by an IED when the hummer he was in ran over it. That year he missed his birthday on December 26 and his anniversary. Matt is dearly missed by his family and be everyone who knew him.

 

 

Honor and Remember Cpl Nevin Moreira a NH Hero

Honoring and remembering Cpl Nevin Moreira- Died 12-14-2007 died as a result of service to our country. He served 2 tours in Iraq with the Stryker Brigade from Ft. Lewis, WA.

Please pray for his Mom, Joanne, and his family and friends. May God be with them especially today and give them comfort, strength and precious memories of Nevin. He loved his family and friends and was always defending those who couldn’t defend themselves. Joanne recalled a time that Nevin told her about being in the midst of combat and noticing a flower — “a little symbol of hope and happiness,” as she puts it in the midst of chaos.
Never forget….to remember is to honor…

Cpl Nevin Moreira

LCpl Michael Geary a New Hampshire Hero

Always remembered – LCpl Michael Geary – KIA 12-8-10. As you watch this tribute, please keep his mom-Nancy, family and friends in your prayers. May God be with them and give them comfort, especially today. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; KIA Dec. 8, 2010 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while conducting combat operations. Michael Geary was so proud to be a Marine he wore his dress uniform to show his Pinkerton Academy English teacher after he completed training. Michael, a 20-year-old from Derry, NH, joined the Marines after he graduated from Pinkerton in 2009 and had risen to the rank of Lance Corporal.

He had started training to be a Marine when he was 14 by running and working out with his recruiters. Being a Marine “was just something he really wanted to do,” his uncle Michael said. Michael had been in Afghanistan since August and was due to come home in January. He had other chances at leave but passed them up to help buddies with families. “If he had leave, he passed it up to someone who was married and had children.” He was serving his first tour in Afghanistan. He planned to become a police officer or border patrolman when he got out of the service. He told teachers when he was accepted into the Marines it fulfilled a lifelong ambition, Pinkerton spokesman Robin Perrin said. Several teachers remembered him as a quiet man who deeply loved his country. Michael’s English teacher, Joseph Dion, issued a statement about his former student, recalling the day Michael told him he had been accepted into the Marines. “He was standing tall, proud of his decision to become a Marine,” Dion wrote. “Right from the start I liked having Mike as a student. He was genuinely interested in learning; he asked honest questions with a real desire to know the truth. When he made the decision to join the Marines, it was clear he had made a decision that would help him achieve a goal he truly believed in.”

Marine PFC Matthew L. Bertolino Flag Presentation

 

 

Joyce Bertolino  and family with their Honor and Remember flag for her son, Marine PFC Matthew L. Bertolino.

Presented Nov. 11, 2013 by Gold Star Families Jim and Lynn Savage and Jean Durgin

 Marine PFC Matthew L. Bertolino – 09-February- 2006 – Afghanistan

Remember SPC Seth Haapanen ~ New Hampshire Hero

Remembering SPC Seth Haapanen – Casualty of war on 10-28-08

The last day Linda Haapanen saw her son Seth alive, he told her he wasn’t feeling well. So she went over and gave him a big hug. He squeezed her back. Then he rested his head in her arms.

He turned to leave, walked down the stairs and said, “I love you, Mom,” just like he would always say.

Less than 12 hours later, on October 28, 2008, Spc. Seth Haapanen took his own life.

As a soldier with the NH National Guard 237th Military Police Company, he had returned home only 4 months earlier from a year-long deployment in Iraq.

To read Seth’s story:
http://sethpaves.webs.com/nationalguardarticle.htm

To Remember is to Honor….

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