Airborne hero!
Posted on 11/08/2005 5:43:59 PM PST by Mo1
An Army captain wrote an e-mail to his family and friends just before his death in Iraq.
By Bonnie L. Cook
Inquirer Staff Writer
In a remarkable e-mail written just prior to his death in Iraq late last week, a career soldier raised in Montgomery County told his family he would have no regrets if he lost his life in battle.
Capt. Jeffrey P. Toczylowski, 30, a Special Forces detachment commander assigned to First Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), asked that friends and family not "be sad for me."
"It was an honor to serve my country, and I wouldn't change a thing. It was just my time," he wrote.
Toczylowski fell from a helicopter during combat operations Nov. 3, the Army said yesterday.
The e-mail, read by his father, Philip M. Toczylowski of Ambler, during a telephone interview, exhorted relatives and friends to "be happy for the time we had - not the future we won't."
He left instructions for a party in Las Vegas and said "$100 K" would be available to pay for travel and accommodations.
It may be hard for the dead soldier's companions to treat his death lightly any time soon; his father cried repeatedly as he read aloud his son's last wishes.
Philip Toczylowski said his son had been in Iraq only 17 days when he was killed. The younger man had recently lost a buddy from a heart attack. The loss made Toczylowski aware of his own mortality, his father said, and prompted his son to write an e-mail for friends and family in the event of his death.
Toczylowski perished of injuries suffered in a fall from a helicopter during a combat "infiltration" in Anbar province.
He was pronounced dead at an undisclosed military treatment facility after being airlifted from battle, said a statement issued by the Army.
Maj. James O. Gregory, public affairs officer for the Special Forces and a friend of Toczylowski's, said in an e-mail that the incident was under investigation by the Army. He declined to divulge any details.
"It would be inappropriate for me to speculate as to the cause of his fall," said Gregory, from the Army Special Operations Command Center at Fort Bragg, N.C.
"I can tell you that he will be missed by many on both sides of the [Atlantic] Ocean, to include his fellow brothers in arms here at Fort Bragg," Gregory said.
In the message, Toczylowski adamantly defended the military aims of this country in Iraq.
"Don't ever think that you are defending me by slamming the global war on terrorism or the U.S. goals in that war," he wrote. "As far as I am concerned, we can send guys like me to go after them, or we can wait for them to come back to us again.
"I died doing something I believed in and have no regrets, except that I couldn't do more."
Toczylowski's father and mother, Margaret R. Toczylowski, were making arrangements for a funeral service Friday at Valley Forge Military Academy and College, and burial Monday at Arlington National Cemetery.
Virginia Frantz, director of alumni relations at Valley Forge, said Toczylowski was commissioned in 1995 as a second lieutenant through the academy's Reserve Officer Training Corps.
Frantz said he was vice president of his class.
"He was an all-round good cadet, and a very nice young man, and we are devastated by his loss," Frantz said.
Toczylowski earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, in 1997.
That same year, he took his first assignment, leading a platoon with the 554th Military Police Company in Vaihingen, Germany. He deployed to Bosnia and elsewhere.
He served three years as a force protection officer at Special Operations Command Europe in Stuttgart, Germany. After that, he trained with the Army's Special Forces, and was serving in that capacity when he was killed.
Since he went to Texas, Toczylowski had hardly been home, but he was always a presence, said lifelong friend Tom Schneider. An infectious laugh and a genuine interest in others made him an instant hit wherever he went.
"Anything that was challenging he wanted to do - then he'd move on to the next challenge," said Schneider, who remembered his friend passing up the good time of senior week in high school to attend a special camp to help him get into Valley Forge Military Academy. "That's how he started his career, and that's how he ended his career - putting himself out for the next challenge."
God Bless you Capt. Jeffrey P. Toczylowski for your brave service to our country
Sending prayers for him and his family
This Sentence is enough to make the Dems shake like they was being taken to the wood shed...
...then again, I guess that's exactly what this Dearly-Departed Warrior is doing....from beyond his grave.
What a great American. RIP!
Thanks, Mo1. Prayers up for his family.
I just heard about this soldier from my local radio .. seems it was buried in the paper
@#$%ing great soldier. God bless him and those who raised such a man.
My eyes teared up on this part
Noble, sound thinking. Did something for the betterment of the human condition. His family and progeny can be proud. Didn't sit around whining and fat.
That was exactly my reaction to the whole story ... it's very sobering.
Dems tend to get a blank look on their face as the truth washes over them like a wave, then they change the subject when you have them cornered, or the'd have to admit that they were wrong. Seen it again and again.
That said, guy sounds like a hard-charger. I'm sorry he's gone. I'll tip a beer for him.
Thanks for sharing this article.
God bless him and his family. Capt. Jeffrey P. Toczylowski is an American hero we should always remember.
WOW, I don't know how anyone could read this and not be touched. What an amazing man, prayers for his family. Thank you for posting.
Airborne hero!
You're welcome ...
pong
Thanks for posting. I understand the need for certain guidelines and requirements. But I would like for them to lift the age limit on serving in the military. If a 50 or 60 year old is able to perform a certain task, that is dangerous and we have no qualms about it, we should be able to be allowed to serve and save the the younger men for other tasks. As one nears their twilight years they would like to do something that would save someone elses life.
This man was a true patriot and warrior. His kind are the sole reason this country still enjoys greatness.
God bless him.
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