I cannot imagine what it must be like to receive the news that your loved one has died while serving his country. But I imagine that it must be even more difficult when no one can tell you how it happened. That's the case with Staff Sgt. David L. Paquet, 26, of Rising Sun, Md., who died "of undetermined causes while conducting a patrol" near Combat Outpost Vegas, Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Aug. 20th.

There's a thin strip of woods behind our house. It runs through every back yard on our side of the street. The ground is hard under a layer of leaves, so not much grows there other than the trees.

My wife put a park bench there. We can sit there in the shade and look back at the house and deck and think about what life means to us. We have a few cats, and they'll always stop by to see what we're up to.

I lost my wife in March of this year, after 30 years of marriage.

After struggling to start a new romantic relationship, I finally did, about a week ago.

I am writing this to express my joy at finding what I was looking for.

What I was looking for was sex.

What I found was sex.

Along with ordinary friendship,

sex.

Tonight we pay tribute to three men who gave their all for their country - Sgt. 1st Class David J. Todd Jr., a soldier who died recently in Afghanistan; Sgt. 1st Class George Stanciel, a soldier who died recently in Iraq; and Sgt. Nickolas Lee Hopper, a marine who died nearly a year ago of wounds he received in Iraq but who was mistakenly not formally identified as a casualty of the war in Iraq until last Friday.

Tonight, we gather to pay tribute to Lance Cpl.Travis M. Stottlemyer, 20, of Hatfield, PA, a Marine who was assigned to the 3rd Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team Company in Bahrain.  Lance Cpl. Stottlemyer passed beyond sleeps dark and silent gate this week, in what the Department of Defense has described as a "non-hostile incident".  
http://www.defenselink.mil/...

Sleeps Dark and Silent Gate

Sometimes I lie awake at night and wonder
Where my life will lead me
Waiting to pass under sleeps dark and silent gate

Sometimes I lie awake at night and wonder
Where the years have gone
They have all passed under
Sleeps dark and silent gate

- Jackson Browne

The Department of Defense announced five casualties today: four in  Afghanistan and one in Iraq. So far, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, has claimed 578 American lives and according to the Iraq Casualty Count, there have been 4145 killed in Iraq. 109 were women.  

The DoD classifies deaths in combat as hostile or non-hostile.  There have been 18 casualties: 8 hostile and 10 non-hostile so far in August.  Families of the fallen often dispute the findings of non-hostile with the DoD and for good reason.  Vehicle accidents, electrocutions, domestic violence and suicides are some of those classified as non-hostile.  The reality is they served our country and died in a far away place. Their sacrifice is just as heroic and shall not be diminished or forgotten.  

  We Shall Keep the Faith  

      Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
      Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
      We caught the torch you threw
      And holding high, we keep the Faith
      With All who died.

      We cherish, too, the poppy red
      That grows on fields where valor led;
      It seems to signal to the skies
      That blood of heroes never dies,
      But lends a lustre to the red
      Of the flower that blooms above the dead
      In Flanders Fields.

      And now the Torch and Poppy Red
      We wear in honor of our dead.
      Fear not that ye have died for naught;
      We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
      In Flanders Fields.

   by Moina Michael, November 1918

Tonight we remember 3 Marines who were killed in Afghanistan.

Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I don’t remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you’d always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you’re nowhere to be found.

--For a Dancer by Jackson Browne

Today we remember Pfc. Daniel A.C. McGuire, 19, of Mashpee, MA who died Aug. 14 while supporting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

You, whose forebodings have been all fulfilled,
You who have heard the bell, seen the boy stand
Holding the flimsy message in his hand
While through your heart the fiery question thrilled
"Wounded or killed, which, which?"--and it was "Killed--"
And in a kind of trance have read it, numb
But conscious that the dreaded hour was come,
No dream this dream wherewith your blood was chilled--
Oh brothers in calamity, unknown
Companions in the order of black loss,
Lift up your hearts, for your are not alone.

~ Henry Christopher Bradby
 April 1918

She and her brother came to me almost 14 years ago, joyous balls of fluff with puppy breath, endless curiosity and an uncanny ability to stay underfoot. Many a sock and shoe met its demise during their teething period--and never a pair, oh no. Once they figured out my schedule, I never again got to sleep past 7:00 am, and if there was more than one hit on the snooze button, a cold wet nose would work its way under the covers before the alarm went off again. In January, by God, that'll wake you up. And a quiet moment in the bathroom? Ha! There's a saying at our house: You'll never pee alone.

Her brother, who could always somehow manage to leave eye boogers on clothes no matter how vigilant you were, and snored louder than any human being I ever shared a room with, left this world two years ago. He was sick for a while before we knew it, the cortisone that helped his hips masking the symptoms of something far worse. By the time we realized he was ill, it was too late to do anything but let him go. My beloved and my father dug the grave he now rests in, and while his passing left a hole in our lives, we still had her.

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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Goodbye. My Friend.  You had a sweet soul. Always attentive and interested in what was going on.  Oddly scared of children from some unknown trauma before I met you.

I loved you Mobley.  You were the outcast of the pack, the beta, deferential to the basset, not challenging the other dobie. Nice to those other dogs Charlie, Banzai, Katie, Haven and of course Ted, who shared your home over the years.  Patiently w\aiting in the background for your turn.

Tonight hearts are breaking for the loss of Cpl. Adam T. McKiski, 21, of Cherry Valley, Ill. and of Cpl. Stewart S. Trejo, 25, of Whitefish, Mont., two Marines killed just days ago in a accident involving their vehicle.

Please join me in remembering their lives and offering condolences to all those who knew and loved them and who miss them so much.

Bye.

You had a sweet soul my friend.  Always attentive and interested in what was going on.  Scared only of children from that unknown trauma before I met you.

I loved you Mobley.  You were the outcast of the pack, the beta, deferential to the basset, not challenging the other dobie. Nice to those other dogs Charlie, Banzai, Katie,Haven and of course Ted, who shared your home over the years.  Waiting in the background for your turn.

Tonight, we remember:

Sgt. Jose E. Ulloa, 23, of New York, New York, killed by an IED in Iraq.

Sgt. Kenneth B. Gibson, 25, of Christiansburg, Virginia, killed by an IED in Iraq.

Pvt. John A. Mattox, 23, of Daingerfield, Texas who died of injuries from a non-combat related incident in Afghanistan.

We also welcome home Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Manuel R. Denton, U.S. Navy of Kerrville, Texas who was killed in a helocopter crash during a search and rescue mission over Quang Nam Province, Vietnam on October 8, 1963.

I've been watching coverage of what happened in Arkansas earlier today, specifically the unimaginable tragedy of the death of Arkansas Democratic Chairman Bill Gwatney, and it brought to mind something I've been struggling with over the last week and a half...

Tonight we celebrate the lives of Petty Officer Second Class Anthony M. Carbullido, 25, Guam and Master Sergeant Danny E. Maybin, 47, of Columbia , SC.  In the days since their deaths were announced by the DoD, they’ve been remembered by friends and colleagues with loving, glowing memories, as unselfish leaders, always making sure people knew they were there for them...no matter what.

Please join twilight falling and me as we mourn their loss and pay tribute to their remarkable service and character.

These hearts were woven of human joys and cares,
Washed marvellously with sorrow, swift to mirth.
The years had given them kindness. Dawn was theirs,
And sunset, and the colours of the earth.
These had seen movement, and heard music; known
Slumber and waking; loved; gone proudly friended;
Felt the quick stir of wonder; sat alone;
Touched flowers and furs and cheeks. All this is ended.

There are waters blown by changing winds to laughter
And lit by the rich skies, all day. And after,
Frost, with a gesture, stays the waves that dance
And wandering loveliness. He leaves a white
Unbroken glory, a gathered radiance,
A width, a shining peace, under the night.

~ Rupert Brooke
 The Dead, 1921