Posted on 05/26/2003 5:57:25 PM PDT by UB355
Memorial Day that hits home
Beaver Dam services to honor Marine who died last week
By MARK JOHNSON
markjohnson@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: May 25, 2003
Beaver Dam - On Memorial Day, residents in this city of 15,000 get into high gear: The high school band marches in the parade, families gather to watch the floats go by, and Fire Chief Del Yaroch always thinks of his father, a World War II veteran who spent time in a Berlin prison camp.
This year, the day will have a new and painful poignancy in Beaver Dam.
Residents have lost one of their own: Kirk Straseskie, a 23-year-old Marine, who died May 19 trying to rescue fellow Marines after their helicopter plunged into a canal 60 miles south of Baghdad.
"This will be certainly a different Memorial Day for us," says Mark Kirst, the principal of Beaver Dam High School, where Straseskie graduated in 1998 and where he is still remembered fondly. "When you talk about the sacrifices people have made for us, you can't make one bigger than the one he made."
This has not been easy for the school or for Beaver Dam, the principal says. "When we lose young people, it's absolutely devastating. It's not fair. We just have to do the best we can to move ahead."
'It tears your heart out'
Monday, after a wreath has been tossed into the Beaver Dam River in honor of the troops who lost their lives at sea, and after the 39 units have marched in the parade, there will be a special prayer for Kirk Straseskie. Then his father, John Straseskie, will speak at the podium, which will be decorated with a large photograph of Kirk in his dress uniform.
Then the high school band will play the Marine Corps hymn softly. Then, finally, the band will play the hymn louder.
"It will be more solemn," says John Omen, a 71-year-old Korean War veteran who is chairman of the Memorial Day parade.
Like many here, Omen knows the Straseskies. "A very good American family," he says.
"It was a shock because the war was over. Everything was peaceful. Then this came up and all of a sudden it was Beaver Dam. It was Wisconsin's first."
Straseskie was the first Wisconsin native to die in the military operation in Iraq.
In this small, close community 90 minutes northwest of Milwaukee, it was hard, if not impossible, to view his death as anything less than personal. If you don't know the family, chances are you know someone who does.
"It bothered me because I remember the boy sitting in my backyard when he was in grade school," Yaroch says. "He and my son, Paul, were close. . . . This hits home. It really does."
"It's horrible," says Linda Carney, the confidential secretary to the mayor. "It tears your heart out."
She was in the office when one of the young man's relatives dropped by to ask about lowering the flags at city buildings. The mayor requested that flags be kept at half-staff until the day after the funeral. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Murray Community Funeral Home in Beaver Dam. The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Beaver Dam.
Hard Marine, soft heart
Much of America now knows Kirk Straseskie as the rugged Marine staring out from the widely reprinted photograph, bare-chested, lips clamped on a cigarette, eyes locked in an unflinching stare. His picture seemed as if it had been pulled from one of those classic Time-Life books of World War II.
In Beaver Dam, though, folks knew that Straseskie's tough, indomitable side was balanced by a gentle, caring side.
He was the high school wrestler, the guy who played whatever role the team needed him to play, even if it meant taking on bigger kids.
He was also the violin player in the school orchestra, the kid who volunteered to help disabled children.
Two sides.
Todd Sobrilsky, the high school's director of co-curricular activities (and a graduate, class of 1980), remembers the young man who always said he was going to be a Marine.
"I never doubted it for a second," he says. "He had that discipline, that work ethic. . . . Athletically he was a leader. He wasn't necessarily the most gifted, but he worked really, really hard. He was chiseled. He was cut."
He had to be chiseled to play linebacker on the football team, especially when he carried such a modest weight. In wrestling, Straseskie should have been competing in the 152-pound division, but the team already had a star at that weight. So Straseskie took on the big guys, grappling with 170-pounders from the other teams.
Talk about tough. One time he dislocated his elbow. Three weeks later, he was back wrestling in the conference tournament.
In high school, where kids often sort themselves into cliques, "Kirk cut across all those groups," Sobrilsky says.
Straseskie volunteered to help disabled students during study halls and after school. At graduation, he sat with an autistic student who was receiving his degree. The ceremony could have been difficult for someone with autism, but Straseskie made sure the young man stayed calm. He even walked onstage with him when his name was called.
Straseskie also volunteered at a youth sports camp in the summer, working with children in grades one to six. And when he talked up the camp, other students joined.
"He made it cool to be there," Sobrilsky says. "We never had to ask Kirk. He just came, and he brought others with him."
Lasting memories
Beaver Dam is the kind of place, residents say, that people come back to, or never leave. Even when Straseskie moved on to the Marines and the next phase of his life, he kept returning.
At Christmas, he was back in Beaver Dam, helping out for a couple of hours at the big Elks' food and toy drive. That was Kirk.
"He was one of our most solid citizens," says Kirst, the high school principal.
That was why the news of his death hurt so much.
On that Monday night, Sobrilsky learned that the young man he'd coached was dead. He couldn't sleep.
Jennifer Klug, who graduated with Straseskie, learned of his death from a friend.
"I didn't hear a word," she says. "She had to repeat it all."
Over the past few days, one thing has helped to ease the grief, if only a little. People think of the way Kirk Straseskie died, trying to save his brother Marines.
"It was Kirk," Sobrilsky says. "I'm sure he didn't hesitate a moment before jumping in."
They will remember that image in Beaver Dam, today and for years to come.
May God welcome him home.
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Photo/Los Angeles Times
Kirk Straseskie is shown in Iraq in this photo that was
published in the Los Angeles Times in April to illustrate
the seeming invincibility of U.S. forces in Iraq.
OOPS! Hope I don't get smacked by too many leathernecks for that. Anyhoo, the story of this Marine has been running a lot in our area and I really feel like I've gotten to know him. May God welcome him home and comfort his family.
Straseskie also volunteered at a youth sports camp in the summer, working with children in grades one to six. And when he talked up the camp, other students joined.
What a legacy Kirk left behind. His life counted for something. In 23 short and young years he made a difference for others.
I got up this morning, hung my flag up outside, and had a barbecue with family & friends. And it was because of Kirk that I was able to enjoy this day.
Thank you Kirk, for your service and giving your life to save others. God Bless you and your family.
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