Mourning comes to a town called Comfort

A COUPLE of miles along Highway 87, just past Comfort High School, a collection of seemingly random objects lies on a blanket beneath an American flag inscribed with the name James Kiehl.

James, 22, was killed on March 23 when his team of mechanics, cooks and supply clerks from the US Army’s 507th Maintenance Company were ambushed on their way to repair the computers on a Patriot missile launcher near al-Nasiriyah in Iraq. He is survived by his wife, Jill, whose first baby is due on May 4.

His friends in Comfort, a tiny town of 1,200 residents, a petrol station and a few antiques shops, have built an impromptu memorial to him using some of his favourite things. There is a water melon, a packet of crisps, a bottle of Coke, a model Corvette, some softball gear, a Reader’s Digest Nation of Heroes book and a baseball marked: “Thank you for protecting our and mankind’s liberty — God Bless You and may you rest in peace.”

The memorial began two weeks ago, when a yellow ribbon was tied to the “Welcome to Comfort” sign after James, a computer engineer, and his team were declared missing in action. Since then it has grown by the day as visitors come to add their own objects and messages of condolence.

The two weeks between James’s disappearance and the confirmation last Friday that his body had been found in a shallow grave were an agonising hiatus for James’s father, Randy Kiehl, and his stepmother, Jane.

“We did not know whether he was alive or dead. The army wouldn’t tell us anything, so I took matters into my own hands,” said Mr Kiehl, sitting in his study beneath more than a dozen pictures of his son alongside just as many certificates and trophies marking his achievements at school and in the military.

“I set up the satellite receiver, two telephone lines, the cell phones, the internet. I looked everywhere I could and spoke to dozens of people to try to find my son.”

He eventually found a video on the internet that confirmed his worst fear. The images were so gruesome that he would not let his wife see them.

What Mr Kiehl found was a section of an al-Jazeera video showing the bodies of soldiers from the 507th. One of them, although his face was obscured, was unmistakably James Kiehl, his father says.

“You see, he is 6ft 8in and a pretty big fellow,” Mr Kiehl said, “and you notice the little things about your children. I saw that little patch of fur he’s got growing out of his belly; just like mine. Then I was pretty sure it was him.”

Mr Kiehl does not regret his son’s decision to go to war, and still supports the campaign in Iraq as vehemently as he did before James was killed.

“Me and James had a father-son chat before he left,” Mr Kiehl said. “I said: ‘Son, you’re 6ft 8in — you make sure you dig that foxhole 7ft deep.’

“And James said something to me that was rather profound. He said: ‘Other people around the world think we are spoiled and greedy Americans. But what they need to know is that we are rich in our freedom, and I want to go share that with the Iraqis’.”

Mr Kiehl, who works in a factory that makes the meals ready to eat military ration packs and is a veteran of the US Army, is confident that he passed on enough knowledge of the Armed Forces to his son to prepare him for the worst.

He recalls his son’s enthusiasm and community spirit, which he believes would have helped in the battlefield. “He played trumpet in the high school band, he played basketball, he would help out with everything. And always fixing stuff. He loved being a computer engineer.”

The Kiehls’ front yard is littered with half-built motorcycles and bits of engines, remnants of the projects James worked on with his father.

Jason Liefesten remembers that James, his best friend, was always thinking up crazy pranks, such as the time he abseiled out of a dormitory window while on a trip with the school band. “We were supposed to be in bed. Boy, we got our butts chewed for that one,” he laughed.

Mrs Kiehl is proud that James, whom she had raised since the age of 12, fought and died for his country.

But she said: “I do worry sometimes about what might have been different if I hadn’t told him when he was growing up that joining the army would be a good idea. I do worry about that.”

Carol Howland, James’s natural mother, did not speak to her son for about eight years before his death, the Kiehls said. She will not be invited to the funeral.

James’s wife, Jill, is with her parents in Iowa, waiting for her husband’s body to be released. She is 8½ months pregnant with a son, James’s first child. They had been married for 18 months.

Mr Kiehl said: “Another thing he said to me on our last day was that he did not want his son to be raised in fear of terrorism. We are proud he has made sure of that.”

The baby will have a special gift from his father, which James prepared before leaving for the Gulf in case the worst should happen. He bought three teddy bears; one for him to take away, one for Jill and one for the baby, who is to be called Nathaniel, a name chosen by James.

Nathaniel’s bear has a tape inside with James’s voice recorded on it. “Daddy loves you,” it says.

Mr and Mrs Kiehl travelled yesterday to the Centre Point Cemetery, near their home, to buy a plot of land in which to bury their son. “We bought a place for him, one for Jill next door, one for the two of us and two for Jane’s parents. Something like this makes you plan for the future,” Mr Kiehl said.

Centre Point is not a military burial place, as James told his wife before he left for the Gulf that if he died he wanted to be buried somewhere more personal. But in Centre Point Mr Kiehl believes that he has found somewhere worthy of being the final resting place for his son. “There are 33 Texas Rangers buried in Centre Point: more than anywhere else in Texas,” Mr Kiehl said. “He’ll be in good company.”

Specialist James Kiehl

Click here
for “Taps”

Mourning comes to a town called Comfort

Excerpt:

A COUPLE of miles along Highway 87, just past Comfort High School, a collection of seemingly random objects lies on a blanket beneath an American flag inscribed with the name James Kiehl.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!

The Creation of the Soldier

When the Lord was creating Soldiers, he was into his sixth day of overtime
when an Angel appeared and said, "Your doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said "Have you read the specification on this person?
Soldiers have to be able to go for hours fighting or tending to a
person that the usual every day person would never touch, all the while putting
in the back of their mind the circumstances.

They have to be able to move at a moments notice and not think twice of what
they are about to do, no matter what danger.
They have to be in top physical condition at all times, running on half-eaten MRE's,
and very little sleep.

They must have six pairs of hands."
The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems, " said the Lord,
"it's the three pairs of eyes a Soldier has to have."

That's on the standard model? " asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees through the smoke and haze where they and
their fellow Soldiers should fight the enemy next. Another pair here in the
side of the head to see their fellow Soldiers and keep them safe.
And a third pair of eyes in the front so that they can look for the the wounded
caught in the fight that may need their help."

"Lord" said the angel, touching his sleeve, " Rest and work on this tomorrow."

"I can't, said the Lord, "I already have a model that can carry a 100 pounds of gear
for miles on end, or a fellow soldier to safety from a battle area, and can feed a
family of five on a Military service paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the Soldier very slowly, "Can it think?"

"You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the parts of a hundred different pieces
of equipment; and can recite many procedures in their sleep that are needed to
care for a wounded soldier until they are taken away by the medics.
And all the while they have to keep their wits about themselves.

This Soldier also must have phenomenal personal control.
They can deal with scenes full of pain, hurt, noise and smoke,
They can be laughing and joking one second and fierce and hard in the next.

And still they rarely get the recognition for a job well done from anybody, other than from fellow Soldiers."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Soldier.
"There's a leak", she pronounced. "Lord, it's a tear."

"What's the tear for?" asked the angel.

"It's a tear from bottled-up emotions for fallen comrades.
A tear for commitment to that funny piece of cloth called the flag.
It's a tear for all the pain and suffering they have encountered.
And it's a tear for their commitment to defending our freedoms and
saving lives of their fellow man!"

"What a wonderful feature Lord, you're a genius" said the angel.
The Lord looked somber and said "I didn't put it there."

Rewritten in honor of our Troops 3/26/03
by David K. (aka Johnny Gage)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.