ANOTHER HERO MADE IT HOME

Capt. Ryan A. Beaupre USMC December 10, 1972 ~ March 20, 2003 " Your work is done my son. Welcome home."

A hero made it home today America cried and wept We felt the pain of grief and loss For the family that was left.

A hero walked the golden stairs To a mansion in the sky I wonder if he looked back to earth And whispered "America Please Don't Cry"

I only did what I had to do I fought to keep you free And if you really want to There's something you can do for me.

I know my MOM is weeping Her heart is about to break Having to give me up Is almost too much to take.

The favor that I'm asking Please keep her in your prayer It will make my leaving easier Just knowing you'll be there.

Ryan AMERICA loves you We thank you for your work You're one BIG SOLDIER in our eyes For the duty you never shirked.

When we thank GOD for our freedom It is you who will come to mind We will ask a special blessing On the family you left behind.

Sharon Steege 3/21/03 Poem is Copyrighted © Sharon Steege revsteege@cs.com , 2003.

Captain Beaupre leaves behind his parents, Mark and Nichole Beaupre of St. Anne, IL. a brother, Christopher Beaupre and two sisters, Alyse Beaupre and Kari Leisure.

Won't you please take a moment to enter your thoughts into Ryan's Prayer Book.. Thank You.

Families Mourn Dead Found in POW Rescue

By LYNN DUCEY
The Associated Press
Saturday, April 5, 2003; 12:47 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35510-2003Apr5.html

TUBA CITY, Ariz. - News of the death of the first American woman soldier killed in the Iraq war hit hard in this community on the Navajo Reservation, not far from Hopi land.

The Pentagon identified Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, one of the few American Indian women in the military, as one of eight soldiers found dead during the rescue of POW Jessica Lynch.

"Our family is proud of her. She is our hero," her brother Wayland said to reporters outside the family's home Saturday. "We are going to hold that in our hearts. She will not be forgotten. It gives us comfort to know that she is at peace right now."

Piestewa, 23, was the mother of a 4-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl and a source of pride in her Hopi community.

Her brother said relatives didn't wish to speak further with reporters for now.

Behind him, family members and friends gathered on the porch of the family's trailer. A low chain-link fence was adorned with yellow ribbons, a red-white-and-blue heart and a sign with a picture of Lori Piestewa, the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center towers.

"The tragedy has rocked the very foundation of the Hopi reservation since many of us have been continually praying with the Piestewa family for Lori's safe return," Hopi Tribal Chairman Wayne Taylor.

Many of Tuba City's 8,200 residents have left yellow balloons and signs with uplifting messages outside her parents' home, and officials from the Navajo and Hopi tribes have attended prayer services in honor of her and other military personnel. Hopi officials said that 56 Hopis are currently serving in the U.S. military, 48 of them in Iraq.

The bodies of Piestewa and the seven other soldiers were found when U.S. troops raided the hospital where Pfc. Jessica Lynch was being held captive, the Pentagon said.

Seven were members of Lynch's unit, the Fort Bliss, Texas-based 507th Maintenance Company, which was ambushed near Nasiriyah on March 23. The other, Sgt. George E. Buggs, 31, of Barnwell, S.C., was a member of the 3rd Division Support Battalion of Fort Stewart, Ga.

"We hate it, but there ain't nothing we can do about it," Buggs' grandfather, George Buggs, 83, said Saturday after learning of his grandson's death. The retired truck driver and his wife had raised the soldier.

The others were identified as Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38, of Cleveland; Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, of El Paso, Texas; Spc. James M. Kiehl, 22, of Comfort, Texas; Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, 35, of Amarillo, Texas; Pvt. Brandon U. Sloan, 19, of Cleveland, and Sgt. Donald R. Walters, 33, of Kansas City, Mo.

A chaplain informed Kiehl's parents of their son's death Friday evening.

"We just want everyone to know we support the president and the troops, and we believe in what James went over there for," his mother, Janie Kiehl said in a telephone interview Friday night.

Kiehl's pregnant wife, Jill, in Des Moines, Iowa, has declined to talk to the media.

Walters' younger sister, Kimberly Cieslak, said the family received the news from the Oregon National Guard on Friday. Their father is an Air Force veteran, and Walters had been surrounded by the military while growing up in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"I guess he was following in my footsteps," said his father, Norman Walters. "He was a patriotic guy. He felt it was his duty to serve his country."

The Pentagon announcement reached the Ohio home of the Rev. Tandy Sloan a few hours after 200 worshippers gathered to light candles and pray for his son and for Dowdy, also from Ohio. Sloan's father declined to comment Saturday.

"The entire Fort Bliss community expresses their heartfelt condolences to all the families during their time of sorrow," Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt said in a statement from the base.

Capsules of U.S. Troops Captured, Missing or Killed in Iraq

The Associated Press
Published: Apr 5, 2003
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAVPQUH6ED.html

Army Sgt. Eugene Williams, 24, Highland, N.Y
In letters to his wife in Hawaii, Sgt. Eugene Williams wrote that thinking about his family kept him safe.

"You will never know how much I love all of you. I know that it takes me being away to really tell you. But I know that no matter where I am, here or by your side, I have you all the same and even more every day," he wrote.

Brandy Williams wanted to share the last two letters she received from her husband, written in Kuwait before Williams was sent into Iraq, because they speak of his love for her and their 3-year-old daughter.

Williams was stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga., and was one of four soldiers from the Army's 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, killed March 29 in a suicide attack when a taxi exploded at a checkpoint.

His wife is expecting the couple's second child in June. In one of her husband's last letters, he said he liked the name Monica Shyann Williams for the new baby.

"He really wanted a boy really badly," she said. "But once he found out that it was a girl and that she was very healthy, he was very happy."

---

Army Spc. Ryan P. Long, 21, Seaford, Del.

Spc. Ryan Long was a fourth-generation soldier who knew as a youngster that he wanted to join the Army.

Active in the Junior ROTC at Seaford High School in Delaware, Long joined the Army after he graduated in 1999, and was deployed twice to Afghanistan. His mother, Donna Long, said she never told her son she was more worried about his latest assignment.

"A mother's intuition; I don't know," she said.

Donna Long said she last heard from her son March 9, when he left a telephone message as he was preparing to ship out.

"He just left a message on the answering machine ... that he wouldn't be able to get in touch with us for a while ... and that he loves us," she said.

She described her son as a competitive soccer player who also loved snowboarding and water sports.

"The most remarkable thing about Ryan was that he lived life to the fullest," she said. "Everything that he did, he gave 110 percent. He was very good, very generous, very kind. We were proud of him."

Long was one of three soldiers killed April 3 when a car carrying two women exploded at a checkpoint northwest of Baghdad and about 80 miles east of the Syrian border. All three were members of the 3rd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Fort Benning, Ga.

---

Marine Capt. Benjamin Sammis, 29, Rehoboth, Mass.

When he took to the skies in his Cobra helicopter, Marine Capt. Benjamin Sammis was realizing his boyhood dream. He was all of 10 when he discovered he wanted to be a pilot, a family friend said.

"Our son...loved to fly and loved the Corps as much as life itself," Steve and Beth Sammis said in a statement. "We will be forever proud of him and the character he held so true."

Sammis was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and was killed in action early Saturday over central Iraq, said Bruce Morris, the family friend.

Morris said Sammis attended The Citadel in South Carolina before joining the Marines. Besides the Cobra helicopter, Sammis also flew jets for the military.

Sammis and his wife, Stacey Sammis, had been married about a year and a half.

In a statement, Stacey Sammis said: "Sometimes in life you are lucky enough to find and marry your best friend. Ben and I were that lucky. Ben is the most gentle, loving and kind man. He loved flying and he loved his country."

---

Army Marine Sgt. Michael Pedersen, 26, Flint, Mich.

Sgt. Michael Pedersen joined the Army right out of high school and was a great father to his 7-year-old daughter, his widow said Saturday.

A Flint, Mich., native who was one of six soldiers killed in the crash of an Army Black Hawk helicopter last week during a fire fight in Iraq, was a helicopter crew chief with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Steward, Ga.

Chanel Pedersen said she was notified by the Army about her husband's death earlier this week.

"He was a quiet person," Chanel Pedersen, 24, said by telephone from her home in Savannah, Ga. "A great father. He loved his daughter. He was an excellent soldier."

She said she met her husband while growing up in Flint. She said they attended the same high school before they married in 1997, but had been separated at the time of his death.

In recent days, Chanel Pedersen said she has told their daughter, Destiny, that her father won't be back.

"She's doing fine. I explained to her that her father is with Jesus," Chanel Pedersen said. "We're pretty much coping."

---

Army Capt. Russiell Rippetoe, 27, Arvada, Colo.

Rippetoe, who was killed when a car exploded at an Iraqi checkpoint, joined ROTC as a junior at Metro State College in Denver - two years later than most cadets.

But he was a natural leader and quickly gained responsibilities in the unit, said Capt. Steve Walker, who recruited him.

"Folks just sort of respected him. At 5 in the morning he had a smile on his face and was ready for a workout," Walker said.

To keep a closer eye on younger cadets, Rippetoe moved to Boulder and commuted 25 miles into Denver for classes. He hoped for a career in law enforcement.

"He was very interested in making a difference and serving in the military fit into that," said Lt. Col. Michael Nifong, who directed the University of Colorado's ROTC program when Rippetoe was a member.

Nifong last saw Rippetoe when he returned to CU in December 2001 for the commissioning of a cadet he knew.

Rippetoe, whose family declined to comment Saturday, graduated from Metro in 1999 and became a Ranger in the 3rd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga.

Friends and Family Gather to Mourn Soldier Killed in Grenade Attack During Early Days of War

By Maryclaire Dale Associated Press Writer
Published: Apr 5, 2003
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA9URIE6ED.html

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) - The wife of slain Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, cradling her 4-month-old son in her arms, followed her husband's flag-draped casket to his funeral Saturday as 1,000 mourners gathered to honor one of the earliest victims of the war in Iraq.
The 27-year-old Seifert was one of two officers killed in a March 23 attack - allegedly by another 101st Airborne soldier - at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait.

Theresa Seifert, carrying her infant son Benjamin, and about 25 family members walked behind six uniformed pallbearers carrying Seifert's casket into Central Moravian Church, where Seifert had been baptized and attended services. Trumpeters from Valley Forge Military Academy played as mourners poured into the church.

The Rev. Douglas Caldwell, who married the couple at the adjacent 18th century stone Moravian Chapel on May 29, 1999, led the funeral services. Seifert had met his wife while attending Moravian College, across from the church.

During the service, which was closed to reporters, the Rev. Carol A. Reifinger recalled that Seifert loved pranks and was always smiling, said Howard Cooper, a former Marine from Allentown who attended the funeral.

"They said he could find the rainbow in any situation," Cooper said. "He just seemed to live a really full life in just 27 short years."

Seifert was one of two officers killed March 23 when Sgt. Hasan K. Akbar, 32, allegedly attacked officers' tents at the encampment with grenades. Fourteen other soldiers were injured.

"It's a shame that he had to be killed by one of his own fellows," said Raymond Dubbs, a 78-year-old Navy veteran of World War II who was among the mourners.

Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, also killed in the attack, was mourned by hundreds Saturday in Boise, Idaho. A B-1 Bomber and four F15's in a missing man formation flew overhead. Silence filled the Cathedral of the Rockies as the 124th Wing Honor Guard marched up the aisle and posted the colors on the front of the church.

During the service, Stone's long time girlfriend, Tammie Eslinger, encouraged people who knew him to keep his memory alive by living in the moment. "Tomorrow is not a promise," she said. "We need to be real today."

In Florida, more than 2,000 friends and family members crowded into a high school gymnasium for a standing-room-only memorial service for Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Rory Buesing, 20. He and eight other Marines were killed in an ambush by Iraqi troops on March 23.

"We're not supposed to be doing this, you're not supposed to be burying your children," Buesing's father, William Buesing III, said during the service. "Being a former Marine, along with my dad, we understand what (U.S. troops) are doing over there. But I don't understand why I'm burying my son."

And in Michigan, relatives and fellow servicemen crowded into a church in White Lake Township to remember Marine Maj. Kevin Nave, 36, killed in a March 26 vehicle accident in the war region.

"I have never felt pain like I feel now," said his father, Reno Nave.

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