Posted on 07/14/2008 4:28:53 PM PDT by batco-barry
It is with the deepest sorrow that I have to belatedly report the death in service of my late husband. My husband was a soldier of the British Army with an 18yr service record and combat experience from Northern Ireland to Afghanistan. He was a strong man and a doting father to his 2 children.
He passed away in May due to injuries he sustained whilst serving abroard.
My Husband had been through a hard time the past 18 months, which saw him in civilian court for protecting his family then being accused of a crime he did not commit and was later found not guilty of. He learned that within 10 years he may not be able to walk due to a degenerative tissue disease in his spine caused by the work he did. Despite all this, he kept a positive outlook and believed in all that he did.
In his death chit, my husband said he'd achieved everything he'd set out to achieve from the moment he left secondary school. He knew he wasn't going to die of old age and he didn't want to. His death chit was wrote in Sierra Leonne in 2000.
He met lifes hardships with vigour and relished beating them. He constantly tested himself and enjoyed such tests as the marathon des sables, and was a keen marathon runner before the start of deterioration to his body, and regularly ran sub 3hr times. He was a keen mountaineer and loved being in isolation away from everything.
The last period i spent with him was extremely upsetting as his back was in constant pain and he relied on anti-inflammatories to get him through his work.
I have seen some of the comments to my husband on here and it upsets me, but I know he wouldn't have been, 'in one ear, out the other' he used to say. My husband was a hard man and undeserved of some of the comments, but I guess people really don't know who they're cursing from behind the screen of a computer. However, I also know my husband met and became friends with people from here and that he first started commenting on this site during his stay as liaison in the US during 2000/01.
It has been my pleasure to have known him and be a part of his life, and I will miss him so much.
I did not know your husband but I am grateful to him for serving his Country and to you for sharing him with the world. I am sorry for your loss and pray that God comforts you with His Peace. I hope you will join us again on Free Republic.
I’m very sorry for your loss.
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!
Oh my goodness. I am so very sad to hear this news. I’ve been wondering how he was and have missed hearing from him. He was a great and tough man and lived life to the fullest. I always enjoyed visiting with him and the periodic emails. The world needs more men like Den.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9LVq80oBNE
This is a link he sent me. He was in it. Not sure if it’s ok to point him out on a public forum, but needless to say, he was the real deal and walked the walk. I always got a kick out of the keyboard commando FReepers who argued with him when I knew who he was and knew that he paid his dues many times over. I’m still in shock.
My dear may God look over you and bless you. May you know in your heart that your husband did live a fulfilled life.
Please join us on FReeRepublic more often we look forward to talking with you.
Thanks for the link. batco-barry...Brit’s finest BUMP!
I’m sorry to hear of your loss and join with all the others here lifting you and the family up to God for His peace, blessing and guidance as you deal with his homegoing.
Sad news. Thanks to your late husband for his service and sacrifice, and to you and your family for the same.
To: wife of batco-barry
Thank you for the notice. It was very kind of you to post that. May God bless your family.
LH
Thank you for writing to us about your husband, and please accept our sincere condolences in your bereavement.
He sounds like he is a wonderful man, and he will continue to live on in your children and the memories of him that you plant into them.
This reminds us that there are many who sacrifice more than we can know to keep us free. For that we are grateful to him and to you.
For he could not have been the man he was without your love for him.
Well done.
I am so sorry for your loss. Your husband was a hero who fought for freedom for all of us. May he rest in peace.
Thank you for informing us on FR.
I will include your family in my prayers.
Prayers respectfully offered.
Thanks to all of you for your service and sacrifice.
Madam, I am not aware of any of the negative things said against him, but from all you’ve stated, he sounds like he was truly a great man.
I’m sorry for you and your family’s loss.
Stay true to that which is right and good before God.
From the way you have described him, I am, frankly, admiring of such a man. I hope you found much happiness in sharing his life.
You have my prayers tonight.
He was a True Warrior, and has now found his Peace.
Thank You for sharing this with us on FReerepublic... He has many kindred spirits on this, Freedoms site.
Please feel welcome to come back here and be part of us. His Spirit remains Alive and Well here...
May your husband rest in peace, free from pain. I pray that God comforts you in this hour of need.
It’s never easy to say goodbye to a fellow FReeper, but goodbye, FRiend. We’ll see you on the other side some day.
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