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| Saturday, 29-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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Cpt Tyler Swisher 2/2 Easy C.O.
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Cpt Tyler Swisher
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http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051027/NEWS01/510270366/1077
Mariemont grad killed in Iraq
Swisher was known for dogged perseverance
By Eileen Kelley
Enquirer staff writer
In the end, war was the only thing that would stop Marine Capt. Tyler Swisher, 35, who was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq on Friday.
Early on, the Mariemont native's life revolved around overcoming obstacles, said a family friend and spokesman, Jack Buchholz of Madeira.
The youngest of three children and son of two educators, Swisher had a learning disability and struggled to piece together sounds and form words when reading.
But he never gave up.
He would diligently tackle his reading assignments, often with his mother, Mary Beth, father David or siblings John or Sara at his side, Buchholz said.
As a teen, Swisher tried to bulk up, but never managed to get more than 100 pounds. As a football player at Mariemont High School, Swisher spent most of the games on the sidelines.
As a student, he continued to prove himself, making the honor roll his senior year. He graduated from Butler University in Indianapolis in 1993.
Swisher died near Al Amariyah, Buchholz said. The Department of Defense released his name Wednesday.
"Nothing was ever going to defeat Tyler Swisher," Buchholz said.
Swisher enlisted in the Marines 12 years ago. This stint in Iraq was his third.
"He was one tough cookie, but had a heart of gold," Buchholz said.
David and Mary Beth Swisher, who live in Pierce Township, were informed of their son's death on Friday.
"It cannot be tougher than this," Buchholz said. "He worked so hard. He worked hard at Butler. He wanted to be a Marine.
"He struggled, but he overcame."
In college Swisher finally got the much-wished-for growth spurt and went from 5 feet 6 inches tall and 100 pounds to his most recent weight of 210 pounds and height of 6 feet 2 inches.
"But that's Tyler Swisher for you; he'd overcome anything," Buchholz said.
He also leaves his wife, Stephanie, daughters, Ashleigh, 15, and Madison, 7, and a son, Jacob, 5. The family resides in the Camp Lejeune area.
Plans for a local memorial service were incomplete Wednesday.
E-mail ekelley@enquirer.com
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2825222p-9274254c.html
Lejeune Marines killed in Iraq
Roadside bomb hits vehicle of pair
By JAY PRICE, Staff Writer
Two Camp Lejeune Marines -- one a North Carolina native -- were killed together while on patrol in Iraq, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
Cpl. Benny G. Cockerham III, 21, of Conover in Catawba County and Capt. Tyler B. Swisher, 35, of Cincinnati, Ohio, were traveling beside a canal in Anbar Province west of Baghdad on Friday when a bomb exploded near their Humvee. Both men, who were with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, were thrown into the water.
Cockerham's father, Ben G. Cockerham, of Conover, said the Marines at first had trouble finding his son's body, which is why it took so long for the Department of Defense to release his name. On Friday, Cockerham's parents were told that he was missing in action. Three days later, the Marine Corps confirmed that he had died.
Cockerham went by his middle name, Gray. In a way, he started life as a Marine: He was born at Camp Pendleton, Calif., while his father, who also served in the Corps, was stationed there.
On Wednesday afternoon, relatives were sitting around swapping stories about what a determined kid he had been, like the time when he was 14 or 15 years old and playing paintball. In the course of the game, he ran into a stick, sinking it so deeply into his leg that later it had to be surgically removed.
That didn't stop him, though.
"He kept running, and he got the guy he was after," Ben Cockerham said. "Then he came home and said 'Hey, look what I did.' "
Cockerham carried that straightforward style onto the soccer field, where, as a four-year striker in high school, he would use his speed and power to thrust through defenders, his father said.
"He played his personality," Ben Cockerham said. "If you shook hands with him and looked him in the eye, you'd know exactly what he thought."
As a boy, Cockerham had talked about joining the Marines but seemed to drop the idea when he graduated from Hickory's St. Stephens High School in 2002, his father said.
But he couldn't concentrate in college, and one day in March 2003, he came home and told his father that he had enlisted.
This was his second tour of duty in Iraq, and neither had been soft. The first time, in spring 2004, his squad had been one of the first into Fallujah when the Marines assaulted the city after the slaying and mutilation of four civilian security contractors from Blackwater USA, which has headquarters in North Carolina.
Riding in peril
At least four times, Humvees he was riding in or near had been hit by roadside bombs. The most recent was about three weeks ago. After his convoy stopped, Cockerham decided to switch vehicles. The trucks had barely started moving again when a bomb blast destroyed the one he had been riding in, killing the man who had taken his seat and three other Marines.
During his first deployment, he was wounded by a mortar blast and later received a Purple Heart, his father said.
The attack in which he died took place near a small town called Zaidon, a particularly dangerous place that had troubled Cockerham on both his stints in Iraq. Whenever the Marines went there, something bad always seemed to happen, he told his father.
"Last year, he'd call and be quiet and I'd ask what was the matter," Ben Cockerham said. "He'd say, 'We're going into Zulu tomorrow,' and I'd know what he was talking about. I don't know, maybe he had a premonition."
Cockerham's survivors include his wife, Amanda, whom he married between tours in Iraq; parents Ben and Jill; and brother Adam, 17.
He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Company commander
Swisher was the Echo Company commander, and it was his second deployment to Iraq, too.
Capt. Gary McCullar of Camp Lejeune, his best friend, called Swisher a "picture-perfect Marine" and one of the toughest guys he'd ever met.
They once served in the same company, and after grueling hikes, the Marines would have what's called a "bear pit" -- a mass wrestling match that ends only when one guy is left standing and all others have conceded.
"You took 50 guys, and he'd win, and I mean every time," McCullar said.
Swisher liked hunting and fishing, and rode a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He also was a world-class family man, McCullar said.
"He loved his kids dearly," said McCullar. "He loved being a father, wrestling with his little boy, putting together toys and just spending good quality time with them."
Swisher's survivors include: his wife, Stephanie; daughters Ashleigh Lynch, 15, and Madison, 7; son Jacob, 5; parents David and Mary Beth Swisher of Cincinnati; brother John Swisher of Cincinnati; and sister Sarah Swisher, also of Cincinnati.
Staff writer Jay Price can be reached at 829-4526 or jprice@newsobserver.com.
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| Friday, 28-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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Cpl Benny "Gray" Cockerham
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Cpl Benny "Gray" Cockerham
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http://www.hickoryrecord.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=HDR/MGArticle/HDR_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128767770630&path=
A father's tribute to fallen son
Gray is my favorite color
Hickory Daily Record
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
The following was written by Ben Cockerham, father of fallen Marine Benny Gray Cockerham III. Gray died Friday in Iraq.
Gray is my favorite color
Every morning Just before the rising of the sun the world is Gray. Expectant and hopeful for opportunities; anticipation embodied. Half sunshine half rain, Poised to run either direction, the shape of things are formed with a shift of the wind.
The Clouds and Sun battle for the dominance of bright sky and dark cloud. On occasion, when the conditions are just right. Perfect balance is achieved and Gray is born.
It happened once on June 28, 1984 on a Marine Corps Base in California. The Navy nurse said, “Why would anyone name a child like this Gray. You should call him Sunshine.” She was not present at the birth in the early morning. She was not present during the struggle of labor in the predawn. She was unaware that Gray is Sunshine and Cloud, the personification of this child.
Gray is the blur of perpetual motion, on to the next as the first is done. With fingers spread wide in the relaxed sleep of Angels, Gray is the color of Down, soft and peaceful readying for the next race. Always in a hurry, nothing left behind, no regrets.
Gray is the color of Ocean, reflected in the wonder of a child’s eyes, the color of a Thunderstorm, adolescence in all its rage and glory. Gray is the clear gleam of Steel reflected from the determination and pride of a Marine’s face. Gray is Smoke, rising form from a chimney guiding you home promising comfort.
On Oct. 21, 2005 in a place called Zaidon, Al Anbar Province, Iraq, protecting those less able, Cpl. Benny “GRAY” Cockerham III, USMC, became dark to Gray no more.
Gray is my favorite color and if you get a chance in the predawn light, as you wait with anticipation the coming day, look anew at Gray. When you do I hope this helps you remember to: Live life with wonder, ready to change with the shift of the wind. When you must fight, do so with all the fury you possess. Be in constant motion and leave no regrets. Truly relax when time permits for the next race must be run. Be determined in all you do because this determines your success. Appreciate the home fires; family should come before all things. Love unconditionally and sacrifice as if you were Gray.
Semper Fidelis,
Dad
http://www.the-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051025/APN/510251215&cachetime=5
Catawba Marine killed in Iraq loved soccer, movies
The Associated Press
A Marine corporal killed Friday in Iraq was remembered as a good friend who loved soccer, movies, and his family.
Benny Gray Cockerham III, 21, was in Iraq on his second tour of duty when he was killed, his father said in a letter.
Cockerham is the first Catawba County soldier to die in the Iraq conflict, according to the Hickory Daily Record.
His unit and where he was based were not available Tuesday.
Cockerham enlisted in the Marines shortly after graduating from St. Stephen's High School in 2002, the newspaper reported. He played soccer on the school team all four years in high school.
"He was a great person to be around," said Adam Bowman, 18, a senior at the school. "He loved his family a lot."
Members of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church posted a message on its sign asking people to pray for the Cockerham family.
Cockerham is survived by his wife, Amanda Johnson Cockerham; his parents, Ben and Jill Cockerham; and a younger brother, Adam.
He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Other funeral arrangements were incomplete Tuesday.
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| Thursday, 27-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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Petty Officer 3rd Class Chris Thompson
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Fair Winds and Following Seas "Doc"
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http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128767715361
Navy corpsman from Millers Creek dies in Iraq
Marines are killed when armored vehicle is hit by a roadside bomb near Baghdad
By Monte Mitchell
JOURNAL REPORTER
Monday, October 24, 2005
MILLERS CREEK
A Wilkes County native, who was a Navy corpsman assigned to the Marines, was killed in Iraq on Friday in a roadside bomb attack.
"I can't let my Marines go without me," Chris Thompson, 25, told his father, just before shipping out on his second combat tour. "I take care of them."
A corpsman - similar to a medic in the Army - goes on patrol with the Marines and tries to keep the wounded alive. Thompson was a petty officer hospitalman third class. Thompson and another member of the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) were killed in the bombing near Amiriyah, 25 miles west of Baghdad. Thompson was riding in the left rear seat of an armored vehicle when someone set off an improvised explosive device, his parents said.
Larry and Geraldine Thompson were home at 9:25 p.m. Friday when they got the news. She was already in bed reading. While he was in the living room, Larry Thompson looked up from the television and through the front door's glass panel to see Navy officers in dress blues. He knew immediately why they were there, Larry Thompson said.
Churches throughout Wilkes County offered up prayers for Chris Thompson and his family yesterday as news of his death spread. Mourners offered condolences at the family's home beside a road off N.C. 16 in the Millers Creek community.
His brother, David, also a Navy hospital corpsman assigned to the Marines, said that Chris Thompson's executive officer told him he was proud to go to war with Chris.
"He knew if something happened he'd take care of them," David said. "If things were worst, he'd be the first one to step up."
David Thompson, 35, hugged his parents before leaving yesterday to return to Camp Lejeune. He is scheduled to travel to Iraq on Nov. 4 and expects to meet with his commanding officer today to see if he will still do that.
The family doesn't know when Chris Thompson's body will come home.
Larry and Geraldine Thompson sat at their kitchen table as they talked about their son. They wore yellow bracelets with the message "Support Our Troops."
The bracelets were a gift from Chris, presented as they all stood in the rain July 21 at Camp Lejeune and he boarded the bus that would take him to the plane back to Iraq.
"We promised him we wouldn't take them off until he got back and they haven't been off," Larry Thompson said.
"Mine neither," Geraldine Thompson said.
While he had been home from his first combat tour, someone asked him how he could manage to insert an IV in someone's arm on a battlefield, while bullets were crackling by and bombs exploding.
"He said, 'All I can tell you is I haven't missed yet. When you've got somebody dying, you've got to do what you can do,'" Larry Thompson recalled.
During his first tour, from March 2004 to October 2004, Thompson used those skills to help four Marines seriously hurt when a bomb exploded beside the Humvee in front of his. One man was blinded. Another lost his right leg. Another lost his right arm. Another had a head injury.
Thompson attended to them, and held a fifth Marine, his best friend, who died in his arms.
When the fight was over, they would find two bullets inside Thompson's medical pack. He was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with valor for his actions.
When he was home, he talked to his father about still seeing the faces of those who had died.
Larry Thompson, an Army veteran, understood. Larry said he still sees faces of those lost when he was in Vietnam in 1967-68.
"I don't want to forget them," he says he told his son. "I want to remember them and honor them.... You do the best you can and come home. That's all you can do."
His mother remembers a funny boy. She told the story of how as a teenager he would sneak her convertible out to take his buddies for a ride. He would think she didn't notice when she'd crank up and the gas needle would be on empty and the radio blaring. She never told him she knew.
She remembers the time he was wrestling for fun with his oldest brother, Jimmy Epley, who is now 42. Epley pinned him against the wall, but Chris got the last word by saying he would still be young when Epley was old.
Chris Thompson played football and baseball at North Wilkes High School. He grew up in the Mulberry area, and the family only recently moved to Millers Creek.
He joined the Navy when he was 21, and finished basic training three days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He didn't get to go to his promised school, but was sent straight to the fleet as a seaman aboard the USS Austin.
Eighteen months later, he finally started the corpsman training that he had wanted.
Because Wilkes County was relatively close to Camp Lejeune, it wasn't uncommon for the Thompsons to come home and find tents hanging outside to dry. Their son and several Marine friends would be sprawled asleep inside the house.
Chris Thompson wanted to become a coach and teacher. Once his military duty ended in July 2006, he hoped to study at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.
In his parent's last phone conversation with him Thursday, Thompson asked them to send some clear lenses for his sunglasses. He also wanted some Kool-Aid mix because the water there tasted nasty.
They talked for only five minutes.
"He said 'Dad, I'm awfully tired, I can't stay long, I'm going out on another patrol,'" Larry Thompson remembers. "He said, 'I love you,' and we said 'We love you.'"
They talked about Coastal Carolina's overtime football win against Gardner-Webb University the previous weekend.
"He said, 'I'll go down there and go to school and you may see me on the sideline next year,'" his father recalled.
Military officials have told them that Chris Thompson's body will be flown into Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, his father said. They plan to have the funeral at Peace Haven Baptist Church and bury him nearby in Mountlawn Memorial Park.
• Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at (336) 667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com
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| Wednesday, 26-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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LCpl Kenneth Butler
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LCpl Kenneth Butler
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http://www.heraldonline.com/local/story/5286646p-4796042c.html
Death of a dream
By Andrew Dys The Herald
As a kid learning to ride his bike around Rock Hill's Hargett Park, Kenny Butler wanted to be a cowboy. He succeeded, riding bulls on the rodeo circuit in North Carolina.
Then he joined the U.S. Marine Corps straight out of high school.
Butler went to Iraq as a humvee turret gunner two months ago. On Friday, a bomb blew up his humvee west of Baghdad, Butler's brother said.
Lance Cpl. Kenneth James Butler won't ever ride another bull. He died at 19.
Butler moved away from Rock Hill in elementary school, but his family -- and their memories -- remain.
"My brother was tough, tough enough to get kicked by a bull then get up and walk away," said brother Carl Butler, 23, who still lives in Rock Hill in the house on Steed Street where the Butler boys rough-housed and played.
Butler's father, Carlton "Buster" Butler Jr., who served seven years in the Army, lived in Rock Hill all his life until moving to Mecklenburg County last year. Butler's grandparents, Cynthia and Carlton Butler Sr., are still in Rock Hill.
Proud to be a Marine
All the Marines will say is Butler died when an "improvised explosive device" blew up while Butler was "conducting combat operations against enemy forces."
What the family knows is Butler, called "Cowboy Bill" by his grandmother, is dead.
Carlton Butler Sr. said his grandson was proud to be a Marine. The Navy veteran said he was proud to be the grandfather of a Marine.
"I've known him since he was 12, and I thought he'd be a farmer," said Nina Butler, Carl's wife. "He loved horses."
Butler joined the Marines after a recruiter came to Butler's Rowan County, N.C., high school, where he lived with his mother and stepfather.
"He called me up one day and said, 'Yep, I joined the Marines,'" his father said. "I knew he'd go to Iraq or Afghanistan or one of them places, so I asked if he was sure. He said he was sure, so he went."
Butler is the third serviceman with York County roots to die in Iraq. Paul Neff II, who grew up in Fort Mill, died in November 2003. Rock Hill pilot Pat Leach died in December.
With the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, Butler racked up three medals in about two months in Iraq, said Lt. Barry Edwards, a spokesman for the 2nd Marine Division. Butler was promoted from private first class Oct. 1.
Now Butler gets a Purple Heart, Edwards said.
Butler's father said he's not against the war and he doesn't blame anyone. The country had to do something after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he said.
"The last time I talked to him before he shipped out, I wished him luck," Buster Butler said. "Can't say this was luck."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Recently, Butler's grandmother, Cynthia Butler, stopped by Richmond Drive Elementary School around the corner from her Rock Hill home to drop off a picture of her grandson.
"She wanted to show me I would be proud of one of the students I had taught in the first grade," said Lu Anne Cox, a longtime teacher at Richmond Drive. "I remember him distinctly. A wonderful student. Bright. Energetic. Just a great kid."
Tuesday night, Cox was talking to her son, Army Staff Sgt. Jamie Wagoner, who is in his second tour in Iraq. She mentioned one of her former students was in combat. She gave her son Butler's contact information with hopes the two could meet. Cox planned to write a letter today to Butler, saying how proud she was of him.
But Wednesday she found out the kid from the first grade died in some place in the desert called Al Amariyah, Iraq.
Cox, whose students have adopted Wagoner's military unit and sent hundreds of care packages, was stunned.
"The children we teach in first grade are not supposed to die in wars," Cox said.
Andrew Dys • 329-4065
adys@heraldonline.com
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| Tuesday, 25-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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SSgt Nick Pummill
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SSgt Nick Pummill
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Recruiter sought combat role
Anderson Twp. Marine killed in Iraq spurred by 9/11
By Steve Kemme
Enquirer staff writer
ANDERSON TWP. - Rick Pummill was a U.S. Marine recruiter when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred.
When the United States began its war with Iraq, he was still a recruiter.
Pummill, intensely patriotic and energetic, couldn't stand it any more.
The Anderson Township native gave up the safe, sedate job of recruiting to prepare for combat.
"He said he was tired of sitting on the sidelines," said his mother, Lynn Pummill. "He couldn't wait to go over there."
Pummill, a Marine first sergeant, died in Iraq on Thursday along with two other Marines when an explosive device hit their Humvee that was part of a convoy traveling about 25 miles west of Baghdad.
Pummill had been in Baghdad since July.
Lynn Pummill learned of her son's death from two Marines who came to her Anderson Township apartment at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Numb with grief, she stayed up all night. When she finally went to bed at 6 a.m. Friday, she slept only two hours. She said she's still trying to absorb the tragic news.
"I keep waiting for the Marines to call me and tell me they made a mistake and that he's still alive," Pummill said.
Rick Pummill's wife, Chantel, lives in Jacksonville, N.C., where the Marines' Camp Lejeune is located. He leaves a 3-year-old son, Donald Richard "Cliff" Pummill, who lives with Pummill's first wife in Norfolk, Va. He was also close to his grandparents, Donald and Ann Lesher, of Anderson Township.
On Friday afternoon, Lynn Pummill, teary-eyed, sat on her couch. Her friend, Patsy Hager of Mount Washington, and her son's best friend, John Morgan Jr., were there to comfort her.
"The day Rick went into the military, he gave me his spare dog tag," said Morgan, who had known him since they were 4 years old. "I've had it on my key chain every since."
He joined the Marines after graduating from Anderson High School in 1996. He spent his last two years in high school attending Scarlet Oaks Joint Vocational School.
Rick Pummill, whose great-grandfather was a Marine, was a stocky, muscular guy who played football and wrestled at Anderson High School.
Morgan described him as a generous, compassionate man who deeply valued family and friends and loved his country.
Pummill's mother said he didn't talk a whole lot about himself when he'd call her from Iraq. He wanted to know about family and friends. She last talked to him Tuesday night.
"He called just to make sure everything was OK," she said. "He was in good spirits."
She said her son didn't understand why some Americans oppose the war in Iraq.
"He had very strong convictions," Lynn Pummill said. "He'd say, 'Did they forget about 9/11?' "
E-mail skemme@enquirer.com
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| Monday, 24-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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LCpl Steven Szwydek
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http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=122745&format=html
UPDATE 11-17-05 I'm adding some photos from the family today of Steven. I'm having trouble transferring but will do the best I can. A special favorite is the one of Steven with the Iraqi kids. They touched his heart! God Bless - JHD
Monday October 24, 2005
'Always upbeat'
Friends and family say Marine fulfilled his lifelong dream of joining Corps
by DON AINES
WARFORDSBURG, PA.
chambersburg@herald-mail.com
From the time he was a boy, Steve Szwydek had set his goal in life: He wanted to be among "The Few. The Proud. The Marines."
"He told us when he was 5 years old," his mother, Nancy, said Sunday at their Fulton County, Pa., home, where family and friends had gathered to console the family over the loss of the son and brother killed last week during his second deployment to Iraq.
Lance Cpl. Steven W. Szwydek, serving with Weapons Co., 2nd Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, and two fellow Marines were killed Thursday when an improvised explosive device detonated while they were on combat operations near Nasser Wa Salaam, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
"He was a typical kid, but never had any problems," his mother said. Born in Portsmouth, Va., Steven Szwydek graduated in 2003 from Southern Fulton High School, where he played outfield and catcher for the baseball team, managed the basketball team, sang in the school choir and was chaplain for the FFA chapter.
Steven was active in the youth group of his church, St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Hancock, the family said.
"He was one of the nicest guys you ever knew," said his friend, Timothy Keebaugh of Needmore, Pa. "He'd do anything to help you out. He was a funny guy" who loved the outdoors, Keebaugh said.
In the summer before his senior year, Szwydek joined the Marine Corps through the delayed entry program, Nancy Szwydek said.
"We did try to talk him into - very strongly - looking into other branches of the armed forces," said his father, Wallace Szwydek.
"We told him the Marines were brainwashed," Nancy said, apologizing to two Marine sergeants who were with the family. Their son spoke with a U.S. Army recruiter, but was unwavering in his desire to join the corps, she said.
Nancy Szwydek told her son she would not sign the permission form necessary for those under the age of 18 to enlist in the program.
"He said, 'Mom, I love and respect you, but I'll wait 'til I'm 18,'" and sign up then, she recalled.
"So I signed," she said.
"He left for boot camp four days after graduation," she said.
Stephanie Bard of Warfordsburg, Steven Szwydek's older sister, said she read letters written to her brother by classmates when he was in first grade. In them, the classmates wrote that "he always wanted to be an Army man."
"He was a military history buff," his father said. His son was very proud of a military weapons collection that included American and foreign firearms from World War I to the present.
The family said he planned to make the Marine Corps his career. His younger brother, Corey, said he had discussed leaving the Marines to go to college and then returning as an officer.
Steven Szwydek, who has an older brother, Gregory Craven, in Oklahoma City, was deployed to Iraq from March to October of 2004, his father said. He was redeployed July 20, he said.
"He had leave and we also spent time with him at (Camp) Lejeune (N.C.) before he left," his mother said. About two weeks ago, they spoke with him by telephone.
Nancy Szwydek said her son had just finished a patrol and sounded tired, "but fine as always."
"Always upbeat," said his father, who noted Steven made the call at 3:30 a.m. Iraqi time.
Szwydek was the recipient of many awards during his service, including the Purple Heart. Other awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment ribbon and the National Defense Service Medal, his parents said.
"He had no regrets about what he was doing, and he made it clear we have no regrets, either," Bard said.
"My husband and I both believe that freedom isn't free," Nancy Szwydek said.
About two miles from the Szwydek home, there was a sign in front of Wilkins Farm & Home Supply bearing Steven Szwydek's name.
Below his name, the sign read, "The Last Full Measure."
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| Sunday, 23-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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They Came In Peace
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Pictures and text used from the following sites:
http://www.beirut-memorial.org/
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/0/e3b7f3fde02825c98525709d005fb047?OpenDocument
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/grenada.html
A moving tribute to our fallen Beirut Marines from Lance Cpl. Jeffrey A. Cosola:
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C.(Oct. 17, 2005) --
"These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you’ll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you’ll no longer burn
To be brother- in-arms"
They were more than names once. They were our fathers and husbands, our friends and sons. They were asked by their nation to stand a post in the center of a religious hellstorm they didn’t understand. They were Marines and they came in peace.
At approximately 6:22 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23, 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon, a lone terrorist driving a yellow Mercedes-Benz stake-bed truck loaded with explosives accelerated through the public parking lot south of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 8th Marines headquarters building and penetrated into the lobby of the barracks there.
According to the official Department of Defense commission report, the force of the explosion [12,000 pounds of hexogen] ripped the building from its foundation. The building then imploded upon itself and almost all of the occupants were crushed or trapped inside the wreckage.
“It was one of the largest noises I’ve ever heard in my entire career,” said retired Marine Major Robert T. Jordan, the 24th MAU Public Affairs Officer at the time of the bombing. Jordan was in his rack in an adjacent building when the explosion split the still morning air and showered him with glass and pulverized concrete.
Recovering his senses, Jordan made his way into his press tent to find his Marines and located Press Chief Staff Sgt. Randy Geddo, who had been “blown out of his seat.” “He looked at me with these big, round eyes and said, ‘Sir, the BLT is gone.’”
“I crested a hill and looked down into the ground below and it was filled with debris,” remembered Jordan. “All that was left of the 5-ton truck was a 40 foot by 30 foot deep crater and a crank case in the bottom.”
"Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I’ve watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers-in-arms"
Inside a tomb of twisted rebar, broken glass and slabs of concrete, hundreds of Marines, Sailors and Soldiers were fighting for their next breath. One of those was a 19-year old corporal who went from deciding what to have for breakfast to playing a starring role in his own nightmare.
“When the bomb exploded, there we’re no words to explain how loud it was,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. John Nash, 3rd Marine Division communications chief. “Everybody was buried. Cement, wood, everything was laying on top of us.”
Nash was one of the few trapped inside who was able to dig themselves out of the rubble. He escaped through the screams of pain, the calls for help and the panic of dying men. He did what he could to save the Marines around him.
“You’re thinking, ‘Who are we going to find next? Who is still alive? Why would anyone do something this devastating?’ We went there as peacekeepers. When we left, we left as victims,” said Nash.
Outside, Jordan was among the Marines who rushed to their fellow servicemembers. They did the best they could to save lives, but the day’s horrors seemed endless, said Jordan.
“We went into the debris and there were two Marines sitting side by side and they looked in shock,” said Jordan. “They were covered with dust and they were moaning. We couldn’t see any obvious wounds, so I reached down and grabbed one of them and my hand went into a huge hole in his back.
“At the end of the day, back at the press tent I walked in and heard someone call out, ‘Oh my God, he’s covered in blood. The blood had saturated my utilities. I looked up and replied, ‘Don’t worry, it’s not mine.’”
In the fading velvet light of the setting sun, at the back of a headquarters building, Jordan started to cry. He explained, “I couldn’t hold it in any longer.”
"Now the sun’s gone to hell
And the moon’s riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it’s written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We’re fools to make war
On our brothers-in-arms"
There is nothing left now but the memories of 241 Marines and Sailors who gave their lives, the first casualties in the Global War on Terrorism.
“Our first duty is to remember, to acknowledge their sacrifice,” said Jordan. “There are a lot of men with stories similar to mine. They need to be recognized.”
“We can learn a great deal from our past,” added Nash. “This is our history. We must never forget the sacrifices that these 241 Marines and Sailors gave that terrible Sunday morning. They are all heroes and should always be remembered.”
Their names are now etched in stone. They are our brothers-in-arms and they died so that others know what freedom gives and what it takes. They did their duty. They were Marines. They came in peace.
Editor’s note: The lyrics used in this song were taken from Dire Straits’ 1985 song “Brothers-in-arms.”
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| Saturday, 22-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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LCpl Andrew Russoli
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LCpl Andrew Russoli
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Article published Oct 22, 2005
Family, friends recall slain Marine
By Allison Perkins
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- Tears turned to smiles Friday as friends remembered Andrew David Russoli's "explosive laugh" and his efforts to keep girls out of his childhood "boys only" backyard clubhouse.
Russoli, 21, was killed Thursday in Iraq.
Russoli, a lance corporal, was one of three Marines and a soldier, all assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), who were killed by a roadside bomb attack near Nasser Wa Salaam.
Military officials said that during the subsequent engagement, Marines killed two terrorists and detained four others suspected of involvement in the attack.
Russoli, who graduated from Northwest High School in 2003, was serving his second tour in Iraq. He left for the combat zone in mid-July, one day before his 21st birthday.
He had previously been awarded a Purple Heart for injuries he received during his first tour, which ended in September 2004, when a roadside bomb caused his vehicle to flip upside-down.
Friends and family say being a Marine was something Russoli had wanted to do since he was a little boy.
"He always loved military things and he would play with G.I. Joes more than anything else," said his mother, Sally White, of Greensboro. "He used to dress up in camouflage, and he and his friends used to go to the creek and play 'creek control' and look for the bad guys.
"I think he was born to do this, just not for as long as I thought," White said.
"I'm very proud of him," she said. "He was a very good son. He gave the greatest bear hugs you could ever want."
On Friday, the friends he grew up with in his church youth group at College Park Baptist Church gathered at his mother's home and often burst into giggles as they talked about their childhood exploits together.
"So many stories. So many stories," said longtime friend Phillip Jones. Russoli was the cute one, the girls said. The one everyone had a crush on. His sense of humor, his laugh, were infectious.
He was a poet. When he watched movies, his mother said, he tried to learn the moral of the story and live by it.
Russoli was a trombone player in his middle school jazz band. When he was 10, he learned how to fence. When there were no students his age to compete against, he fenced against adults -- and won.
His dedication to friends and family was the memory they cherished most.
"If I ever needed to talk to him I really felt like he was listening," said Jones said.
As they shared stories and laughed, the gathered friends said they were proud of Russoli.
"Proud beyond belief," Jones said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Allison Perkins at 373-7157 or aperkins@news-record.com
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| Friday, 21-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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LCpl Shayne Cabino
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LCpl Shayne Cabino
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http://www2.townonline.com/bellingham/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=351559
Franklin Marine is laid to rest
By David Riley/ Staff Writer
Friday, October 21, 2005
FRANKLIN - Hundreds mourned Lance Cpl. Shayne Cabino Monday as a young Marine lost all too young, who sacrificed his life out of love for friends, family and his country.
St. John's Episcopal Church on Pleasant Street could not hold all those who attended the 19-year-old Marine's funeral, the crowd spilling out the front doors.
Through tears, Cabino's family spoke fondly of his infectious smile and personality, his bright blue eyes. His older sister recalled how she felt 25 feet tall when he lifted her on his shoulders.
"Shayne is a hero, and he'll be remembered as a hero," Brandi Cabino-Navas said.
A Franklin native, Cabino finished high school in Canton and entered the Marines after graduating a year ago. He was killed Oct. 6 with three other members of the 2nd Marine Battalion by a roadside bomb near Karmah, Iraq.
As family members filed inside Monday, a small group of Marines in dress blue uniforms marched silently down a drive leading to the church.
Gov. Mitt Romney quietly made his way inside.
Cabino's father, William Cabino Sr., is a state corrections officer, and about 50 of his colleagues lined up silently and upright outside.
Flanking the church doors holding rifles and flags were the Massachusetts Correction Officers Honor Guard and Marine Corps League.
With bagpipes sounding, all in the building stood as six Marines lifted Cabino's flag-draped casket from a hearse and slowly carried it inside, removing their white caps before setting it down in the church.
The Rev. John Sullivan of the family's church, Tri-County Full Gospel Fellowship of Franklin, said Cabino left behind four brothers, two sisters, four parents and step-parents, two grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.
"He was extremely proud, and rightfully so, of the uniform he wore and the fact that he was serving his country," Sullivan said.
Singer Susan Savaria led worship songs including "We Are Standing on Holy Ground" and "Jesus Lamb of God." Some friends and family sang along, reaching up toward the sunlight that streamed into the church.
Relatives spoke and prayed one by one, with a cousin, Greg Thompson, saying Cabino was now wrapped in God's arms. He said he was not surprised when Cabino joined the Marines.
"That's what people of his character do," Thompson said. "They see the world as it is and as it should be, and they set about completely, boldly ... to change it."
Cabino's brother, Justin, and grandmother, Carol Mazelli, also spoke. His uncle, Mark Mazelli, recalled how Cabino's personality kept him "wrapped" around his nephew's finger.
Cabino-Navas remembered jumping on a trampoline with her little brother and keeping their mother, Jodi Cabino-Cipriano, hopelessly bouncing about.
"There are a lot of things I wish I'd remember that I never will," she said.
The sister said she would be thankful for the blessing of Cabino's life, but lamented that she would never meet his children.
In his homily, Sullivan said Cabino made the "highest sacrifice a man can make," devoting his life to something he believed in without regard for the danger.
He quoted the Bible, noting that Christ said there was no greater demonstration of love than to lay down one's life for friends.
"No matter where you go from this place today ... any time you hear the name Shayne, you will remember what Shayne Cabino did," he said.
After a prayer from the Rev. Andrew Savaria, also of the Tri-County Full Gospel Fellowship, mourners filed outside.
Six Marines again lifted Cabino's casket and carried it to a hearse. Correction officers and other members of the military stood at attention, saluting.
After gently laying the casket down, the Marines led a procession that marched silently back up the drive.
Before friends and family left for Mount Hope Cemetery, where Cabino was buried, Sullivan had the last word.
"Shayne set the bar a little higher for us," he said.
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| Tuesday, 18-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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Cpl Nick Cherava
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Fair Winds and Following Seas Cpl Cherava
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http://www.ironwooddailyglobe.com/1018recr.htm
Several followed Cherava's lead
Published Tuesday, October 18, 2005 1:09:16 PM Central Time
By JAN TUCKER
Globe Staff Writer
ONTONAGON -- Jim, Craig, Mike and Dave called him "The Recruiter."
Marine Cpl. Nick Cherava, who died Oct. 6 in Iraq and was buried Monday in Ontonagon, was one year older than Jim Schmidt, Craig Plutchak, Mike Mansell and Dave Sirvio. All four followed Cherava's lead and enlisted in the U.S. Marines.
Cherava graduated with the Ontonagon Area High School Class of 2003, the others in 2004. He was eventually assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Carol Gingerich, a 2003 classmate of Nick's also entered the Marines.
Schmidt's mother, Cindy, and Craig's dad, Jim, said that Nick loved being a Marine and convinced the others to enlist. "He was even rewarded by the Marines for being such a good recruiter," Cindy said.
The four young men returned to Ontonagon and marched in the 2004 Ontonagon Labor Festival Parade. Just out of boot camp, they were proud, handsome Marines.
Nick and Mike Mansell were sent to Iraq. For Nick it was his second tour. Schmidt, Plutchak, and Sirvio are in Afghanistan.
Mike Mansell was injured in Iraq just days before Cherava was killed. Mansell sustained a broken left leg and a ruptured artery when the vehicle he was riding in hit some loose turf and sank. The vehicle overturned.
As Mansell was loaded on the helicopter, Cherava told medics, "Take care of him, he is my good friend." Days later, Cherava was killed by an improvised explosive device while conducting operations against enemy forces near Al Karmah.
Mansell is now being treated at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.
Cindy Schmidt said Nick's death and Mike's accident have been very hard on all three of the classmates in Afghanistan.
"They have been very sad, and we are urging friends to write to them and tell them how much we appreciate their service," Cindy Schmidt said.
Two more members of the OAHS Class of 2004 have since enlisted in the Marines. Scott Jackson and Kirk Kaurala are at the School of Infantry, Marine Corps, and Scott's brother, Roy Jackson, left for Marine boot camp Sept. 12.
The latest enlistment brings to six the members of the Class of 2004 who were influenced directly or indirectly by the young Marine who was buried Monday.
Only Gingerich was able to return to Ontonagon for her classmate's funeral. In the congregation at Holy Family Catholic Church were parents of the Marines still in Afghanistan.
Schmidt, Plutchak and Sirvio all wanted to return for the funeral of their friend. "They nearly got a chance to come home and be pallbearers, but were told that since Nick was not a relative, they could not get leave," Cindy Schmidt said.
In a way, the group is related -- as friends, brothers and Marines.
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