May the grace of God bring peace to this family, to ease their greif and amplify the joy they have in sharing Louis' life. I 'd like to express my gratitude for their service and sacrifice.
Posted on 11/19/2004 8:23:25 PM PST by Dubya
Gary Qualls had put the letter from Louis down and tried to busy himself.
It had been hard to read the letter from his son, and he couldn't reply, not right then.
There's a lot going on here, Louis wrote. The next month will be some of the most serious combat the war has yet to see. Well, I'm right in the middle of it. I think I'm truly scared.
Dad, I need your prayers and your advice more than ever.
It was Tuesday, and Gary Qualls had returned to his house in Temple after a long weekend of hunting with an old Army friend. The trip had been a temporary distraction from worrying about his 20-year-old son, a Marine lance corporal from a reserve unit in Grand Prairie.
But distractions were always temporary. Reminders of Louis were everywhere - on CNN, on the front porch where his 1979 Harley-Davidson was parked, in the photos of Louis wearing his Temple High football uniform.
I know you've always been there for me. I just can't wait to come home. I want you to know that whatever happens in the next weeks, I have always looked up to you and I always will.
I love you and look forward to seeing you soon.
Your son,
Louis.
Louis joined the Marines after graduating from Temple High in 2001. It was hardly a surprise. He was all-boy, learning to shoot a rifle at a tender age, competing in martial arts, riding his Harley with his dad.
In high school, he wore the Air Force blue uniform of the Junior ROTC, carried the flag in the JROTC color guard, played linebacker for the Wildcats, ran track and made good grades too.
"He had a good pair of hands and he was quick on his feet," his dad said. "He played defense very well."
He was a squared-away kid in high school, quiet and attentive, according to his JROTC instructor, retired Lt. Col. Sid Thurston.
Mostly, he wanted to be like his dad. Gary had served in the Army and the National Guard for years and raised two sons almost entirely by himself.
"He had the vision that he wanted to serve in the military," Thurston said. "He looked up to his dad as an influence in his life."
In July, Louis got orders to mobilize with 85 Marines from Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines. They said their goodbyes to family and friends on a hot morning outside the reserve center in Grand Prairie, then boarded buses.
"As soon as the mission came up, his hand came up," said Lt. Col. Roger Garay, the battalion's inspector. "His heart was in it."
Gary proudly told Louis' commander that day, "Sir, you give that boy half a chance and he'll give you everything he's got."
Those in Louis' unit were sent to Iraq to drive the heavy trucks for the infantry, but they did a lot more. In letters and e-mails, Louis told his father of house-to-house searches and how humbling they were.
"He told me, 'I thought I had a few problems when I left here,' " Gary said. "These people were so poor, they had dirt floors and a sheet hanging in the corner with a can for a toilet.
"He realized how lucky he truly was. He gained a lot more respect for life."
With less than three months of a seven-month tour behind him, Louis sent his dad an e-mail recently in which he said, cryptically, that he would be tied up for three or four weeks and wouldn't be in contact for a while.
"I knew where he was," his dad said. "Fallujah."
That was why the letter that came on Tuesday meant so much, a surprise card that Louis had picked up in a store on post, the kind with heartfelt words about sons and fathers.
About an hour after Gary read the letter inside the card came a knock on the door. Louis' younger brother, David, answered it. He came into the kitchen, where Gary had the refrigerator open.
"Dad, there's three Marines on our front porch and they want to talk to you," he said.
Gary knew why they were there. Fallujah.
"All I could do was stand at my door and say, 'No, not my baby.' "
There was a long silence as he remembered.
"Then I let them in."
Texans in Iraq
• Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Qualls, 20, of Temple died Tuesday as a result of enemy action in Fallujah, the Defense Department announced Thursday.
• Qualls was assigned to the Marine Corps Reserve's Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines, in Grand Prairie.
• Qualls was at least the 110th Texan to die in the war in Iraq. Chris Vaughn, (817) 390-7547 cvaughn@star-telegram.com
© 2004 Star-Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.dfw.com
Oh dear, RIP to a brave American Hero. God comfort this heartbroken family.
You're probably right, but it's still so hard. Why did the Qualls son get a chance to have a family? It's hard to make sense of these things. It's just so tough.
What a blessing that his Dad received the card on that day. I'm sure it gave him strength to receive the worst news of his life.
You found the words to express how I feel about losing such fine patriots.
Thanks,
mc
You are most welcome.
Understood.
I also understand that it is precisely because of the sacrifice of such excellent men as this that we *must* ensure that complete victory is the only outcome of this.
The cost has been high, and it will go higher. But it must mean something. It must be about a new shift in the whole of the middle east, and a seed change in the threat that the region has posed to the rest of the world for so long now.
I don't know if I could express it to a grieving parent in words that could possibly make sense, but from the point of view of a nation, if we can finally fix this wholly broken part of the world it will mean as much for the future history of this new century as did the sacrifices of WWII for the last century.
No kidding. God's not to blame in this one.
If you want to be angry, be angry at the ... scum that are killing our friends and family over there.
Or be angry with the scum in this country who rejoice when our children die and throw a hissy fit when the terrorists are killed.
The vermin.
God is no more to blame for this than for Cain killing Abel.
May He bless the Qualls family.
Hero's Reward
Rest your head now weary Soldier. Cast your weapons to the ground. Close your eyes and feel the peace. The light of Jesus fold around.
Heed not our earthly battle cries. There is no post for you to stand. So rest now as he carries you within His loving hand.
Do not look back upon us. Disregard our selfish tears. Walk in the sunlight of the spirit free of war or pain and fear.
Your duty here is done now as ours will someday be, so go with Him now to places only heroes ever see.
Absolutely heart breaking. God rest his soul.
May Louis' soul and the soul of all the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace... Amen.
Semper Fi
Your Canadian Friends
My heart breaks for them. Thank you does not even begin to honor him or his family for their sacrifice. May God hold them all close and bring peace to their hearts and spirits.
I get mad also every time I see another face on the "Wall of Honor" - it just makes me ill to see precious young lives snuffed out by such heartless terrorists. I want them all dead! And I know that is not the "Christian" way to look at things, but by God I want them to PAY! And they will, but not at my hand, and not in my time - but in HIS! They will receive the just recompense for their brutality at the hands of an angry God.
May the God of love who raised Jesus from the dead and to whom our tears are priceless, give you perfect peace.
We will see Louis again.
May God grant this fine young marine peace and my He grant his family the strength to endure this unspeakable loss.
I don't know if there is a way to express to a parent faced with such a catastrophe... any way to express a perspective that they could possibly see over the blackness. I don't know that there is any point to try.
Presenting the flag "on behalf of a grateful nation" is the custom, but I doubt that any parent at graveside ever really even hears those words. Their world is collapsing in on them at that moment.
It is only from the distant view of history that justification ever makes any sense. Was D-Day worth it? Of course it was. Was it worthwhile to a recipient of the horrid telegram that day? There is nothing to be gained by asking.
I am personally distant from these losses so far. But I seek out these stories and these people because I need to know the pain of it. I support this effort, and I know there is a horrible cost, and it is precisely because I think we are doing right that I must at least see the whole cost of it.
Another debt I can never repay...
Thank you, Mr. Qualls, for raising this hero.
May God Bless this family. There are still some of us who respect its sacrifice and pay homage to it.
May the grace of God bring peace to this family, to ease their greif and amplify the joy they have in sharing Louis' life. I 'd like to express my gratitude for their service and sacrifice.
But Temple is remarkable for something, just like other cities and towns all over this great country. Temple is remarkable in that it can produce fine young people like Cpl. Louis Qualls, that they are willing to give up all they have and all their ever going to have to protect this country. To protect you and me and our families from the harsh reality of evil.
It's so tragic that our best and bravest have to be the ones to pay the ultimate price for the rest of us, but that's how it is. I thank God Almighty for great Americans like this who have the will and the courage to answer their nations call. I pray for the Qualls family, and all the other families of our service men and women, in this their hour of testing and grief and hope that they understand that millions of people around the country share their grief of this loss and their pride in this truly Brave American Hero.
God Bless Louis and all who have bought and paid for Americas freedom with their service and their blood.
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