God Bless Eric and his loved ones.
Colleen
Posted on 10/15/2004 5:52:12 PM PDT by sushiman
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A Connecticut civilian hired to protect American diplomats was among at least five people killed Thursday when two insurgents detonated explosives-laden bags at a shopping bazaar and restaurant inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
The two lunchtime blasts marked the first time insurgents have penetrated the heavily protected area that is the seat of the Iraqi government and home to American officials.
Iraq's most feared terror group, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the midday blasts and said they were suicide attacks, according to a statement posted on a website known for its Islamic content.
Eric D. Miner, 44, of Brooklyn, Conn., was one of at least three employees of DynCorp International killed in the first explosion in the open-air bazaar where U.S. contractors, soldiers and Iraqis were shopping for Persian rugs and DVDs, officials said. Miner, a graduate of Killingly High School, is the 15th person with Connecticut ties and the first civilian from the state killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since March 2002.
Based in Fort Worth, Texas, DynCorp works primarily for the State Department in Iraq. A fourth Dyncorp employee was missing and believed dead, and two were wounded. At least 20 people were wounded in the attacks, including two U.S. service members, the military said.
Tammy Miner said her husband, a former National Guardsman, was dispatched in August to Iraq by DynCorp. He also had seen military duty in Kosovo and Kuwait since the 9/11 terror attacks, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at ctnow.com ...
Again, Sushiman..My condolences and prayers for the family.
My prayers for you and your family. God Bless you all in your grief and loss.
All humanity is of one Author, and is one volume; when one dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another.
-- JOHN DONNE (1572–1631)
Did he ever say anything about Kosovo?
God Bless Eric and his loved ones.
Colleen
Sad Ping
Our thanks to Eric Miner, for his brave service to our country while in the National Guard in Kosovo and as a civilian protecting diplomats in Iraq.
God Bless and comfort you and your family, Sushiman.
In Prayerful Sympathy,
bd476
FYI, as you probably realize, there are a great many Freepers, including myself, in the near area...If there is ANYTHING, ANYTHING, the family needs, all you probably have to do is post a request, and you'll have a slew of volunteers..at the door, or whatever it takes..so please don't hesitate to ask of your extended family...
condolence and prayers for you & all his family.
condolence and prayers for you & all his family.
Thanks to all of you for your condolences , which I have passed along to the family ...God Bless you ...
My deepest condolences to you and your family. This must be a very difficult time.
The channel 30 news at 11 said something about how his family thought he was serving in the Rhode Island National Guard and not for a private contractor, and that the Guard gave him a leave of absence to work for the contractor. I wasn't paying very close attention - sorry I didn't catch more. It did say that he will be buried with full military honors, as he deserves.
I'm so sorry for the loss to your family, GOD BLESS YOU ALL!
Your family has our prayers tonight. May God hold you and yours close in your time of grief.
Brooklyn Mourns Civilian Slain In Iraq
October 16, 2004
By NOREEN GILLESPIE, Associated Press
BROOKLYN, Conn. -- Eric D. Miner spent more than a decade as a military man, serving his country as a Special Forces Green Beret with a Rhode Island National Guard unit. But when he left for Iraq last August, it wasn't in uniform.
He went to the turbulent region as a private citizen, working for State Department security contractor DynCorp.
Miner, 44, and three others were killed Thursday when two bombs exploded in the tightly guarded area of Baghdad known as the Green Zone. He leaves behind a wife, Tammy, and 11-year-old Audrey, 9-year-old Emily, and 6-year-old Nicholas.
"He had mentioned that there was an opportunity to make a great deal of money over there," friend Andrew Carey told radio station WILI. "I think he liked the adventure that goes along with that sort of life. He was an extremely capable individual, and we're all very proud of him and what he stood for."
A stream of friends and neighbors showed up at Miner's small country home Friday. The home had been decorated for Halloween with pumpkins on the stoop and a large wooden sign welcoming visitors. An American flag flew at half-staff on the well-kept lawn. Casualty officers from Rhode Island met with Miner's widow. A woman who answered the door said family members were too distraught to speak.
Miner grew up in eastern Connecticut and graduated from Killingly High School. He was a cable technician with Southern New England Telephone, now SBC, for 20 years.
His parents died when he was young, and a family friend, Lois Potter, raised then 4-year-old Eric and his 6-year-old brother. Eric Miner stayed in close contact, and had sent an e-mail to Lois Potter earlier this week, her son, Judge Russell F. Potter, said.
"They were like her own kids," Potter said.
When Lois Potter's husband died in the mid-1980s, Miner purchased their farm property in Brooklyn, and has lived there ever since, Russell Potter said.
"He loved the place," Potter said.
Miner was on leave from the Rhode Island National Guard, where he held the rank of sergeant first class with A Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. Military records show that he joined the National Guard in 1991. He was deployed to both Kosovo and, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, to Kuwait.
He asked for a leave of absence in July to pursue the job with DynCorp, said Rhode Island National Guard Major General Reginald A. Centracchio.
"No matter how you lose a soldier, it's still not an easy thing, certainly, for any of us to be able to justify," Centracchio said.
Funeral arrangements were still being made Friday, but the Rhode Island National Guard said Miner would be buried in Connecticut with full military honors. Miner is the 16th person with Connecticut ties killed in either Iraq or Afghanistan since March 2002.
DynCorp provides security and police training for the U.S. government and military in war zones worldwide. It won a $50 million State Department contract in April 2003 to train Iraqi police and prison personnel.
The firm is a division of Computer Sciences Corp., based in El Segundo, Calif.
"The management and staff of CSC and its DynCorp International business unit stand united in our sadness over the deaths and injuries of our employees," CSC spokesman Mike Dickerson said in a statement. "We extend our heartfelt and deepest sympathies to the families of the victims."
The blasts were reportedly the work of suicide bombers. Iraq's most feared terror group, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the twin blasts according to a site known for Islamic content. A fourth DynCorp contractor is missing and presumed dead, and a fifth worker was wounded.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday the terrorists were targeting "not just Americans, but scores of innocent Iraqis. We condemn these acts, and they will not succeed."
Greatful for his service. Continuing prayer for your family.
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