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.
Thanks for that link. bump for later.