Rest in Peace
Terry Ball Jr
My prayers go up for the friends and family who now mourn his passing.
Blessings,
trussell
If you want on/off my prayer ping list, please let me know. All requests happily honored.
Posted on 08/10/2005 9:12:15 PM PDT by Graybeard58
EAST PEORIA - Terry Ball Jr. promised his wife and three children he would make it home from Iraq. He kept that promise, although he was in a coma when his fellow Marines carried him off the plane from Germany.
Ball, 36, spent another month at a hospital in Bethesda, Md., trying to recover from the horrific wounds of war - the brain injuries, the kidney damage, the amputation of his left leg - before dying suddenly Friday after an operation when his blood pressure dropped.
His wife, Jennifer, was in a social worker's office at the time trying to arrange for him to be flown to a hospital in Tampa, Fla., for rehabilitation.
"He promised he would come home, and he did," Jennifer Ball said Tuesday. "I think that's all he could do."
A memorial service for Ball will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Remmert Funeral Home in East Peoria. He later will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
Ball nearly died several times after he was injured June 12 by a roadside bomb. Jennifer Ball said he lost 85 percent of his blood.
"They didn't know how he made it to the hospital," she said. "They didn't now how he made it out of Iraq."
Ball was in a coma for almost eight weeks but came out of it July 29, the week before he died. He was able to recognize his wife and see his three children. The two older children, 8-year-old Gavin and 5-year-old Riley, stood outside the room and looked at him. Ethan, the 1-year-old, who had seen his father only in videos and pictures since his deployment, called out for his father and cried.
President Bush came to the hospital July 31 to award him a Purple Heart, but Ball slept through it. He also has been awarded the Bronze Star.
Because of a tracheal tube, Ball could only mouth words to his wife. He seemed angry and in pain.
"There were times I couldn't understand what he was saying, and it was frustrating for us," Jennifer Ball said.
Ball, who grew up in East Peoria where he was a co-captain of the wrestling and football teams, joined the Marines with his cousin, Jeff, for adventure.
"He was a leader," said high school friend Tom Simpson. "You always knew he had your back."
His football coach, Jim Dulin, remembered his work ethic.
"I've been coaching a long time," Dulin said. "There's 15 or 20 kids you never forget. He was one of them. A hard worker, an overachiever, one of the kids you never had to worry about."
Ball made the Marines his career and served in Operation Desert Storm and Kosovo. He had also been to Haiti, Turkey and Japan.
Jennifer Ball said they never even considered the possibility that he could be killed.
"It was never even in the realm of possibility as far as we were concerned," she said. "He had been in dangerous places before, and he had always come home."
After this stint in Iraq, Ball planned to see the family's new home in North Carolina, which had been built while he was away. He wanted to visit Disney World and Arlington National Cemetery and go fishing with his oldest son, Gavin.
Three days ago, Gavin received a card Ball wrote May 20 from Iraq, saying he was looking forward to taking the boat out.
"He cried, and he bargained with God and he said, 'Please don't bury my daddy,'<0x200A>" Jennifer Ball said. "He cried himself to sleep."
At age 35, she is just starting to think about how she will make her life without the husband she considered her best friend and how she will raise their grieving children.
"Even though he was gone, he was always coming home," Jennifer Ball said. "I'm going to try to raise the kids the way I would have if he were still here."
As an aside, the family first contacted Deiters Funeral Home for the memorial service and were told that it would cost $3,000.
They then contacted Remmert Funeral Home and Remmert says "no charge".
There are decent people in the world and the owners and management at Remmers are among them.
Tears. And disbelief as to how this nation is so blessed that we have such heroes among us.
I'm praying for Terry's family. East Peoria is a good community full of decent people. No doubt they will be good neighbors and help them through the difficult time.
Sending prayers for Terry and his family
Where do you live chief? I am in North Pekin.
Heartbreaking...God, bless this family, and all the families whose loved ones have been killed, and please God, especially bless the kids. Please help ease their pain and suffering.
What a tear jerker.
Red6
Posting this through tears for this courageous family. Their suffering just tears the heart to pieces for them, and should remind free people everywhere to never take freedom for granted. We can never repay the debt that the ones who gave all are owed.
May God's blessings surround them, and give them strength to endure the grieving process through the raw pain of their loss, and bring comfort to them. May His providence guide and grant their every need for a successful, fulfilling life close to Him.
My father was a WWII hero, and he had many stories of heroism he told of the bravery he saw, but he also complained of the people that flew to Switzerland to get out of the war, and since it was voluntary to fly, many chose to peel potatoes and wash jeeps rather than do the jobs they trained for. Korea and Veit Nam had their hero's and problems as well, but since it has become all volunteers, there seems to be very few. We are truly losing America's finest in this struggle.
God bless all of them and their families.
Rest in Peace
Terry Ball Jr
My prayers go up for the friends and family who now mourn his passing.
Blessings,
trussell
If you want on/off my prayer ping list, please let me know. All requests happily honored.
"Ball and his unit were driving along a road they often patrolled on June 12 when he spotted something unusual. After he got out of the vehicle, he approached the suspicous-looking object and told his unit to stand back, Sharon Ball said."
"He saw something in the road that didn't look right, and when he walked up to see what it was they detonated it," she said.
"Military officials told relatives that Ball's actions prevented others in his unit from being wounded, Sharon Ball said."
"Because he held his men back and walked up there, someone told his wife he had saved his unit's life," she said.
God bless Terry Ball's family. He will be sorely missed. Thank you God for blessing this country with such brave souls.
Tears of thanks.
Our sixteen year-old hopes to enter the Marines.
Where does America get such men?
I bow my head, eyes filled with tears, and thank the Lord for heroes such as these who sacrifice it all to keep me and mine safe and free. I pray the Lord watch over and comfort his family, and ease their pain as they mourn. Rest in peace now, HERO.
God love em
These kind of threads make me want to go out and beat the crap out of some hippies. Does anybody else feel like chokin' some longhairs out with their own peace beads or am I the only one?
Carolyn
Thank God for this hero and his loved ones! And thank God for Remmert Funeral Home!
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