Free Republic

Army Pvt. Devon D. Jones moved from one San Diego group home to another until he finally found the foster family he had prayed for. Now, the woman who took him in three years ago, the woman he called mom, is mourning the 19-year-old artillery specialist, who died Friday when a Humvee crashed into an Iraqi ravine. "He was praying for a family and God answered his prayers," his foster mother, Evelyn Houston, said yesterday, as relatives and friends brought bouquets, cards and condolences to her Valencia Park home. Jones left for boot camp a few weeks after graduating from...

<p>Wilfred Bellard of Lake Charles joined the Army in search of a better life for his family, following in the steps of two siblings who had joined the military.</p> <p>On Friday, Bellard, 20, a private first class, died in Iraq, becoming the first known Louisiana resident to be killed in the war.</p>

Names of the four US Marines who died in yesterday's helicopter crash: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill. Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston, Texas Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore, Md. The Pentagon has just released the names of two more US Marines who were killed in Iraq. I'll post as soon as I find that.