Free Republic

March 21, 2004 — Letter that Marine Capt. Ryan Beaupre wrote for his parents to read if he died in the war. Beaupre died March 21, in the war's opening hours. 11 Mar, 2003 Mom & Dad, Well if you are reading this, then things didn't go well for me over in Iraq. I'm sorry for the pain that I have caused you because of this. Please do not be upset with the Marine Corps, the military, the government, or the President. It was my choice to go into the military. The President and my higher commanders were just...

Ex-Iraqi official touts war Iraq's former nuclear chief speaks at IWU By Kelly Josephsen Pantagraph Staff BLOOMINGTON -- Khidhir Hamza was a member of the Iraqi elite -- part of Saddam Hussein's inner circle and the top official in the country's nuclear weapons program. Yet he and millions like him left their native land because they saw no hope. "We gave up," Hamza said. Now, Hamza is preparing to go back to Iraq in a month. His return will probably be during wartime, and he goes back a defector who had to escape through the mountains of Turkey in 1994....

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

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.

Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of St. Anne, Ill., and Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, a Glenview native living in Houston, were among the 12 American and British troops killed Thursday in a military helicopter crash in Kuwait about nine miles from the Iraqi border. When the family dog began barking before dawn Friday, Mark Beaupre, Ryan Beaupre's father, said he knew his oldest son was dead. A delegation of Marines at his door confirmed his fear.