Flaglady's Blog

The town of Steelville received word today one of their own has died in Iraq.  The young man was only 21 years old.  Two times this past school year, when home on leave he would visit a former teacher and her students.   His teacher said he was full of life and full of spunk and he was a proud US Soldier.

Please remember the family, friends, and the town of Steelville.  For Kevin gave his tomorrows for our todays, may his sacrifice and the sacrifices of those before him never be forgotten.

A tribute to all of our fallen heroes:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=riIKTb1WGHM

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=riIKTb1WGHM

They Gave Their Tomorrows For Our Todays.  May their sacrifice and the sacrifice of their families never be forgotten.

Please keep the Zwilling Family in your prayers. 

Gunnar Gave His Tomorrows For Our Todays, may his sacrifice and the sacrifice of his family never be forgotten.

Florissant man dies in Afghanistan
By Joel Currier
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Jul. 15 2008

A man from Florissant who was serving in Afghanistan was among the nine Army soldiers killed in an ambush last weekend, a relative confirmed today.
 
Gunnar Zwilling, 20, died early Sunday morning in an insurgent attack on an American outpost in eastern Afganistan, said his aunt Lisa Zwilling, 47, of O'Fallon, Mo.
 
"He was a dedicated military man," she said. "He loved every minute of it."
 
The U.S. Department of Defense has not confirmed Zwilling's death.
 
Nine American soldiers were killed in ambush, officials said. More than 100 militants showered the base with machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and mortar shells.
 
Zwilling enlisted in the Army after graduating from Hazelwood West High School, his aunt said. He was not married, and had planned to make his career serving the military.
 
He was a parachutist with an airborne unit for the past 15 months and was scheduled to return home in about a week, Lisa Zwilling said. She said he has an older brother, Alex, who serves in the Air Force.
 
His mother died last fall, Lisa Zwilling said. His father is recovering from throat cancer.

IT IS THE SOLDIER
by Charles M. Province

IT IS THE SOLDIER, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press.
IT IS THE SOLDIER, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech.
IT IS THE SOLDIER, not the campus organizer, Who has given us freedom to demonstrate.
IT IS THE SOLDIER, not the lawyer, Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
IT IS THE SOLDIER who salutes the flag, Who serves under the flag and Whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

You must see this . . Turn the sound on.

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08fa
ca5dd9ea45513

Please remember the family of Michael Patton, a Marine who was killed last week in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb.  Michael is from Fenton, a 2007 graduate of Fox High School.  His sacrifice and his family's sacrifice will never be forgotten. 

To the Family of Col Scott,

When Col Scott served you were serving too.  Thank you for your service.  Your sacrifice was a great one.  You were probably looking forward to the day the Colonel would retire.  The Colonel's good work will not be forgotten.

The following is from the STL Post Dispatch in an article written about Col Scott.

"I've managed to actually make friends with the Iraqis, and they're so anxious to embrace not only our know-how and the way we've established our procedures and doctrine and training and leadership capabilities, but also just the way we engage with each other," he said, according to a transcript posted at defenselink.mil.

"It's been a remarkable experience for me in the two and a half months that I have been here. ... I'm real excited about what the future brings for Iraq and their capability to stand themselves up as an Iraqi army."

Scott says that he "spent the last two and a half years up in Washington doing what I thought was important for the U.S. forces, but having come over here and spending a lot of time with my partners in the Iraqi army, I'm 100 percent behind what we're doing. They're on track. They're on schedule. Their hearts are in the right places."

Please keep the Maupin Family in your thoughts and prayers.  We all kept hope that Matt would be found.

Matt Maupin was a 20-year-old private first class when he was captured April 9, 2004, after his fuel convoy, part of the 724th Transportation Company, was ambushed west of Baghdad.

A week later, the Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape showing Maupin sitting on the floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.

That June, Al-Jazeera aired another tape purporting to show a U.S. soldier being shot. But the dark and grainy tape showed only the back of the victim's head and not the actual shooting.

The Maupins refused to believe it was their son, and the Army had listed him as missing-captured. The Maupins lobbied hard for the Army to continue listing their son as missing-captured, fearing that another designation would undermine efforts to find him.

"You never stop hoping. You never know," his mother, Carolyn Maupin, said in 2006 after Iraqi al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike, leading to speculation that U.S. intelligence could be getting closer to learning Maupin's fate.

Sgt Brandon Wallace died for his country in Iraq in April 2007.  Brandon was from Festus, Misouri.  A Memorial was dedicated under the Flagpole at Brandon's former High School in Fall 2007.

To the person or persons who tore the Memorial apart.  HOW DARE YOU.  How dare you hurt the Wallace Family and Friends like that.  HOW DARE YOU take something so sacred and rip it apart.  Do you know who died for your freedoms?  You not only hurt the family of Brandon Wallace, you hurt everyone who understands what it is like to lose someone to war, any war. 

If you feel the Iraq or Afghan Wars are wrong, what you did is not the way to handle or voice your opinion.  How inhuman you are.  For those who defend by saying "oh it was probably kids and they didn't know..."  If they are "only kids", their parents did not teach them what sacrifices men and women have made for their country.  Their parents didn't teach the costs of freedom. 

I hope and pray you will be found and justice is served to the maximum.  You make me sick. 

Tribute to LCPL Drew Weaver, have your tissues ready.

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=
526ac3d91d7037110114ce&skin_id=1703&utm_source=otm&utm_
medium=text_url

May we never forgot the sacrifices of those who died and their families' sacrifices.  May we honor and remember the brave men and women each and everyday for they gave their tomorrows for our todays.

Another tribute to Drew

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=
522a60ba24ca4f2252509e