I went to put decorations on my friend's gravesite. I post every year about Foster Harrington. This year is a little different. I showed up on saturday to decorate his grave. I met a very nice lady who was decorating the grave next to Foster as well as one other. This solved the mystery as to why sometimes I would find Foster's site already decorated. She admitted that she would often decorate Foster's along with her son's and those of others.
What a classy lady she is. She has spend 10 years with the USO in Dallas.

I told her Foster's story.
Foster was killed in Fallujah in 04. We worked together in the ER in Miami. We had a great friend in common and shared a love of guns. He was a paramedic and had taken over a corner where the Corpsman had been but had become ill. Foster was shot by a sniper. He always did more than he had to and was liked by all.

The lady told me about her son, Gregory Schneider. He served as a Marine and made it back from his deployments. Sadly, he died in a motorcycle accident. You could see the love in her eyes as she spoke of him. Clearly choking up a bit she changed subject to the other gravesite.

One row up rests Wesley R. Durbin. He had served in the USMC and gotten out after doing his time. He missed the service and enlisted in the Army. He was in Iraq when he was killed. He and a fellow NCO (Staff Sgt. Dawson) went to chew the ass off of a Sgt. named Bocizevich (I had to google his name but she had the story right) for screwing up dangerously on a patrol. They went in the early morning and placed their weapons down across the room. The guy raised his weapon and shot Dawson first then Durbin.

Section 26 is a resting place for heroes who have served our country well. I'm honored to have spent some time there and learned more of their stories. I am also touched by the love of this lady for her son and his fellow fallen heroes (Yes, I'm comfortable calling them heroes).

I will try and put in some pics.

section 25



Gregory Schneider



Foster Harrington



Wesley R. Durbin

True heroes that left us too early...

God bless you for caring...and remembering.



May they all rest in peace.

As an aside.  The ARFCOM HQ is going to have a memorial area at entrance.  You can have a paving brick there with someone's name you want remembered    I put Foster's

It's in newsletter.  Bricks in ARFCOM store

You are a good man EvanWilliams.  Gone but not forgotten.

A real friend is a friend forever.

Good on you!

You're a good man.



 

 Rest In Peace, Brothers. May God grant you eternal peace.

God Bless

 

Great post OP

This.....

I'm am too intellectually honest to let that go unchallenged.
I would say I'm appreciative and I'm loyal.

Good, my grandfather was a good man. I aint near the man he was.
My own military foray was abortive and brief as well as mediocre at best.
I have none of my father's and uncle's good 11B genes or more likely their good character


So, seeing the world as it is and not as I would have it, if I'm going to be a cheerleader and not first string varsity, I'm going to be the best most loyal cheerleader I can be.


BTW, Foster would have been a great ARFCOMer.  He carried a SIG P220 in his scrubs when we worked together in the ER
I usually had just a Spyderco endura and maybe a SIG P 239 depending on the news of the day and likelihood of urban unrest.

No, you are a good man. I would happily buy you a drink any day.
 

If you make it to Texas, the Shiner Bock is on me.
If I get to Penn., would you have any Yeungling to spare?