Batco_Barry RIP

[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.

[bamahead]

Prayers for your husband and to you for your loss. We all thank him greatly for his long service and sacrifice (as well as your sacrifice) for the people of the free world.



Reading his posts, he was a man very proud of his service!

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Bump to the top for a true FReeper hero.

[grey_whiskers]

My sincere condolences and prayers.

God Bless You for supporting him in service and afterwards.

grey_whiskers

[batco-barry]

Thank you for this. As with most his work, he kept it from me because I assume he felt i’d feel less of him if i’d known more of what he did.
I’m sure there’s no problem pointing him out, it took me a few times to pick him out myself, but he’s unmistakable in it. Just typical of him to have a big smile on his face though. No matter where he went and how bad it was where he went, there’s a picture of him with a big beaming grin on his face, as if to say “you’re not getting me down!”.

I’m assuming it was you that spoke to me on the phone when we visited Florida a couple of years ago?
It made me laugh watching him going out in his T-shirt, shorts and sandals that night, and into a wall of rain with only a newspaper for protection. Nothing phased him. He once said that the only time he ever remembered his heart rate go above 100 was when the kids were born. Probably a slight exaggeration, but was his way of saying not to worry about him, but we did.
He had a hard time in 2004 whilst operating in both Iraq and afghanistan. Our daughter started to get nightmares involving him, not what would happen to him, but him and his men coming to the house and turning on her. It was one of the only times I saw him hesitate going, so he arranged for all the men to come and pick her up from school in their land rovers and take her out for the day, just so he’d go away with peace of mind.

I do have some pictures of him which could maybe be put on here, but i don’t know how to.

[batco-barry]

And he somehow deleted all the holiday photos from the digital camera and tried to tell me that it was the scanning equipment at the airort that must’ve done it.

He must’ve thought I was born yesterday!

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Yes, ma’am, I am the one who called and met him in Orlando.

I also met him in London twice, most recently around Christmas 2006, where he met my wife (then fiance), my parents, and sister. I have some pictures of us all that I would like to email to you. I sent an email to you on FR. Look up near the top of the screen and you will see “Mail” that is colored red. My personal email address is in the email. You can give me yours via the FR mail, if you don’t mind.

I can understand what you mean about him not getting his pulse up and the smiling. Rugby, sub-3 hour marathons, multiple combat tour soldier. One tough guy.

It really hit me from out of the blue a couple of nights ago when you posted. I knew he had a tough and dangerous job, but it was still shocking to me. I often wondered how he was doing and what he was up to while on his missions. We kept in touch every 3 or 4 months or so. I remember him telling me about your daughter having difficulty and I remember him saying how much more difficult it was to leave the children behind when he went away once they were at the age where they worried. The story about what he did to comfort your daughter and get her over her fears says all one needs to know about him.

I would love to have you put pictures of him up here. I don’t know how either, but I will find out.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

LOL, I forgot about that!

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Also, you mentioned negative comments towards him on FR. Please know that what you saw wasn’t personally directed to him, rather, that’s just the way some horses’ butts behave here sometimes. I always got a kick out of reading the comments from the ignorant arm chair commandos who unbeknowndst to them were dealing with the real deal. I’m sure he didn’t take it personal and knew that some of the comments just go along with the turf here.

[Liberty Valance]

Heartfelt prayers and condolences to you, your children and his fellow Soldiers at the loss of this great man. Thank you for sharing him with us and a large part of this world. He is a Hero and we shall not forget him.

[batco-barry]

Thank you all for your kind comments and wishes. Here's some pictures of him that always put a smile on my face.

[rabidralph]

Thank you, for sharing these memories with us. God bless you and your family.

[B Knotts]

Prayer BUMP

My husband was a hard man

It is "hard men" that keep us free.

[tajgirvan]

You are most welcome. Thank you for sharing your pictures of your husband, May I say that he was a brave, handsome man. I am glad you are back on Free Republic. You will find some of the finest people in the world here. It is a unique place full of Freedom loving people and those that fight to keep it that way.
May God bless and keep you and your family.

[mojo114]

God Bless you.

[LonePalm]

Prayers up for you and your family.

Notre père, qui êtes aux cieux!
Que votre nom soit sanctificié. Que votre règne vienne.
Que votre volonté soit faite, sur la terre comme au ciel.
Donnez-nous aujourd'hui notre poindre ce jour.
Pardonnez-nous nos offenses, comme nous pardonnons aussi a ceux, qui nous ont offensés,
et ne nous soumetez pas à la tentation, mais délivrez-nous du mal.
Car c'est à toi qu'appartiènne, le régne, la puissance et la gloire, pour les siècles des siècles.
Amen.

Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâces,
le Seigneur est avec vous, vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes,
et Jésus le fruit de vos entrailles est béni.
Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, priez pour nous pauvres pécheurs,
maintenant, et à l'heure de notre mort. Ainsi-soit-il.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[retrokitten]

Here's some pictures of him that always put a smile on my face.

I see why! They are great. Thanks for sharing them with us. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.

[Lancey Howard]

Those are great pictures! They brought a smile to my face, too.
Thanks for the ping.

FRegards,
LH

[PGalt]

Thanks so much for sharing the pictures with us. They certainly bring a smile to my face. You and the children carry on his wonderful legacy as points of light in this world, and I am grateful for for it.

[Wuli]

First, thanks for sharing your testament to your husband; we are all better for having read at; you’ve given everyone, especially those who never met him, enough to wish we had known him.

You and yours must know that God is with him, and with you and your family, now and always, and His power, presence and protection is always looking over you. You can know it and affirm it and He will give you peace.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you oh so very much for sharing your pictures with us!