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Posted on 02/11/2004 1:13:19 AM PST by dansangel
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 1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar. |
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I won't..
Mornin', everybody ! Happy Wednesday !
And Happy Birthday to The Mayor !!
This is the biggest Teddy Bear (with Logan) in the world...or at least in Texas.
Really cute thread today. : )
My fave bear is Mama_Bear, even if she does have beans in her bottom. LOL
Happy Birthday, Rus!
| HARRY SCULL JR./Buffalo News U.S. honor guards lift the casket of Army Staff Sgt. Shawn M. Clemens on Tuesday as they prepare to carry it to its resting place in Allegany Cemetery.
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| Staff Sgt. Shawn M. Clemens
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The first of the letters - all read by friends, family and Army personnel - was from his mother, Candace, to Clemens after he was killed along with seven other U.S. soldiers Jan. 29 in an apparently accidental explosion of a weapons cache while on duty in Afghanistan.
In that letter, mourners learned all about her soldier son - about the toddler who wouldn't stay in his crib, about the little boy found standing in a foot of snow wearing only his diaper and a pair of boots, about his later prowess as a three-sport high school athlete, about the look of love in his eyes when he played with his young son and about his love of any challenge.
"Son, you have chosen another challenge in your life," the letter stated. "It's the biggest one yet. There's another big hill to climb. I know you can do it."
That letter also sought to reassure Candace Clemens - and the close to 300 mourners who more than filled Bethany Lutheran Church here.
"Don't worry about your son. I'll love and rock him (to sleep), too."
The second letter was written as if from Clemens himself, assuring family and friends that he had been called to heaven and would be watching over them.
"Please know that I did not die in pain," the letter added. "Don't cry for me. I never really left you. I will be here waiting for you. I love you so much. - Shawn."
And the third letter, which left many in the crowd dabbing their eyes with their handkerchiefs, came from his 3-year-old son, Gavin.
In that letter, read by an Army colleague, mourners heard a little boy relate how much he loved going fishing and camping with his father, riding in the back of his truck, going for an ice cream with him and looking at tons of photos of his soldier father.
"I love you, Daddy. I will love you forever - Your son, Gavin."
The hour-and-45-minute funeral - billed as a celebration of the 28-year-old Allegany resident's life - gave those who didn't know Clemens a glimpse into the type of person he was.
The Rev. Paula E. Roulette, from the family's Bethel Lutheran Church in Portville, talked about the photogenic towheaded boy who grew into a star athlete, a proud soldier, a loving father and a man who cherished all his family's traditions.
"I encourage all of you to continue telling stories about Shawn in the coming days and years ahead," Roulette said. "In doing so, we will keep his spirit alive."
This was a celebration of a small-town soldier hero, filled with all the military trappings, including the flag-draped coffin, the crisp military maneuvers and an Army honor guard serving as pallbearers.
Near the end of the service, Clemens' brigade commander walked up to the lectern and reeled off a list of medals, honors and memorial tributes that would be going to his fallen comrade.
But, Col. Mark Milley quickly added, those honors aren't Clemens' true legacy.
"He, in a very real sense, shed his blood for you and me," said Milley, commander of the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum in Watertown.
Clemens' legacy, he added, will be felt whenever a person has a right to worship in any church, synagogue or mosque. It will be felt when a person opens a newspaper, benefiting from the freedom of the press. And it will be felt in any defendant's right to a fair trial.
"Those rights were given to you by the person in that casket," the colonel said.
Then Milley referred to Clemens' long-term legacy.
"If Gavin grows up and our country remains free, and we haven't had additional terrorist attacks, and if that (American) flag continues to fly high . . . then he will not have died in vain," he said.
Clemens, an eight-year Army veteran who recently had signed up for an additional six years, didn't pursue that job for the money or the honor.
"He did it for you," Milley said, looking at the mourners. "The only thing we ask is that you remember that every day."
Family members asked the media not to approach them for comments during the funeral or the burial in Allegany Cemetery. But in a phone interview Monday, Candace Clemens talked about the almost immeasurable pride she and her husband, William, feel about their son.
"We're really honored that we were his parents and that he was our son," she said. "I'm just overwhelmed with pride."
Mrs. Clemens talked about her son's and the family's pride in his getting through sniper school, volunteering to go to Afghanistan and becoming a squad leader for a sniper reconnaissance unit.
"He mentioned to his dad that he was finally doing the job he was trained for," she said.
Mrs. Clemens had talked to her son three days before his death, when he told her he was leaving for another mission and might not be able to call her for weeks. Now she and other family members want to make sure they pass on his legacy to his son, Gavin.
"We can tell him that his father was a brave soldier and how he died," she said. "And we'll tell him how caring he was, how he fought for his country, for his family and for our freedom."
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