Worst fears realized for soldier's family

Boston Globe ^ | Feb. 1, 2004 | Jack Hagel

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

She made it through her son's first deployment -- a three-month tour in Iraq last year. But when Erika Mancini learned that her son would be deployed to Afghanistan last month, she started losing sleep.

"I kept seeing him as a little baby, holding my hand," said Mancini, 64, of Lincoln, R.I. "I didn't know he wasn't coming back, but it's that eerie feeling that you feel in your gut."

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

      

 Army Sergeant First Class Curtis Mancini

 

"I need to do this now so that my children and other people's children won't need to do it later.'

 

"He was a soldier's soldier," said his father, John Mancini of Lincoln, R.I., who served 35 years in the Army and retired as a sergeant major.

 

"He was well-liked by the community and the people that knew him," Davie police chief John George said. "It's going to be a difficult set of shoes to fill. I don't know if we ever will."

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 Eight Soldiers 

 Operation Enduring Freedom,

Jan. 29, 2004, west of Ghazni, Afghanistan.

   

     Staff Sgt. Shawn M. Clemens, 28, of Allegany, N.Y.  Clemens was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

 

     Spc. Robert J. Cook, 24, of Sun Prairie, Wis.  Cook was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

 

     Spc. Adam G. Kinser, 21, of Sacramento, Calif.  Kinser was assigned to the 304th Psychological Operations Company, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Sacramento, Calif.

 

     Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Mancini, 43, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.  Mancini was assigned to the 486th Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Broken Arrow, Okla. 

 

     Staff Sgt. James D. Mowris, 37, of Aurora, Mo.  Mowris was assigned to the 805th Military Police Company, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Raleigh, N.C. 

 

     Spc. Justin A. Scott, 22, of Bellevue, Ky.  Scott was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y. 

 

     Sgt. Danton K. Seitsinger, 29, of Oklahoma City, Okla.  Seitsinger was assigned to the 486th Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Broken Arrow, Okla.

 

    

     Sgt. Benjamin L. Gilman, 28, of Meriden, Conn.  Gilman was assigned to the 41st Engineer Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

 

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Some gave all.

 

 

 

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[xzins]

God bless our brave soldiers, and God Bless these grieving families and friends of the departed.

X

[Lijahsbubbe]

So painful to read.

Who says our country is full of lazy ingrates? I read of these fine young men and women who have dedication and character and bravery, and I am so blessed to be living in this country because of them.

God bless him and his family.

[MEG33]

Amen.God bless the families who wait ,God bless the families who mourn.May they be comforted.

[jwalsh07]

God bless them.

[mystery-ak]

There by the grace of God go I.....God, give these families strength.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank God for our heroes! And thank God for their families and loved ones!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

* Thank you. *

[windchime]

Prayers for these brave soldiers, their families and friends.

[serurier]

Bless brave soldier , freedom will win .

[Rome2000]

A Kerry Presidency will ensure that he and all the others will have died in vain.

Kerry will cut and run like the US did in Vietnam.

We cannot afford to lose in Iraq.

The jihadists will destroy us if we show weakness.