Posted on 10/01/2005 7:54:33 AM PDT by WestTexasWend
A package is in the mail on its way to Sgt. Steve Morin in Iraq.
The Eagle Scout, husband and father of two won't know the joy of opening it as his mother imagined when she wrapped a recorded video of a Dallas Cowboys game into the package after talking with the sergeant Sunday.
On Wednesday, Morin was killed west of Umm Qasr, Iraq.
According to a Thursday announcement from the U.S. Department of Defense, an improvised explosive detonated near his military vehicle, overturning it.
"He said he would get bored some days on his days off," said Audrey Morin of Brownfield, who talked of her son's interest in Texas Tech football and the team's success. "He was so proud of them."
Holding back tears, Audrey talks of just wanting to hear her son's voice Sunday on the phone, even though she did not follow some of his detailed assessments of the Cowboy and Tech teams. She supported her son's endeavors as he sought to serve his country in the Navy and later in the Army National Guard. He first signed up when a recruiter stopped by Brownfield High School before he graduated.
"He was very adamant about it," Audrey said. "That's what he wanted to do was to serve his country and be in the service."
Morin, 34, joined the Navy after high school, serving for 14 years. Fred Cawthon, Morin's assistant scoutmaster at his troop in Brownfield in the 1980s, said he remembered a Scout dedicated to leadership and the outdoors.
"He was a patrol leader for us, teaching younger Scouts," Cawthon said. "He was a very good leader in our troop."
After the Navy, Morin enlisted in the Army National Guard, serving in the 111th Engineering Battalion, 36th Infantry Division in Mineral Wells.
He met his wife, Gwendolyn, while they were students at Tech, and the two married in 1999 in Brownfield. They have a daughter, Brianna, 12, and a son, Esteban, 6.
Gwendolyn talked of a husband whose dedication to his country forced him to Iraq following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"When Sept. 11 happened, I knew from that moment that it was just going to change our lives forever," said Gwendolyn. "I thought our lives changing forever was him going to Iraq and him coming back. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he was not coming back."
As National Guardsmen tapped on her door, telling her of her husband's death, she did not believe them. Neither did his mother.
"I thought it was a mistake," said Audrey. "They said he did everything right. He was wearing everything he needed."
His wife said Steve died doing what he loved.
"He was attracted to the discipline and the structure of the military," Gwendolyn said. "That was just a part of who he was. He was a Boy Scout and altar boy. He believed in a higher power. He's just not about the individual."
Services are pending. The family has yet to determine the details of receiving Morin's body from the military, Audrey said.
Prayers.
Another fallen Hero..I hope we finish the mission soon as I fear I may run out of compassion and go hunting anti-American protesters.
God bless him, God rest his soul, comfort his family. My gratitude to them all, and love.
God Bless Him
Prayers outbound.
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