The new year's first casualties have been reported. The families of Sgt. Reno S. Lacerna, PFC Joseph R. Berlin Jr., and PFC Brian L. Gorham ended 2007 with the worst news imaginable. 2008 is only a few days old, but for these families, it is guaranteed to be the most horrible of their lives.
Please follow me across the fold to remember these men.
Reno Lacerna
The DoD reports:
Sgt. Reno S. Lacerna, 44, of Waipahu, Hawaii, died Dec. 31, 2007 in Al Qayyarah, Iraq, of a non-combat related illness. He was assigned to the 87th Corps Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Sadly, I was unable to find any information about Sgt. Lacerna. If you have any information you can share, please post it in the comments and I will so gladly update the diary.
HERE RESTS IN
HONORED GLORY
AN AMERICAN
SOLDIER
KNOWN BUT TO GOD
~ Inscribed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetary
Sgt. Lacerna, we were not fortunate enough to know you, but you are no stranger to those of us for whom you willingly offered your life to defend, and we mourn your passing.
Rest in peace, Reno Lacerna. May your brave and dedicated spirit find peace and tranquility forever, and may your memory be a blessing for those who love you, and for those who can only grieve that we did not have the chance to know you.
Update: SisTwo found the following information about Sgt. Lacerna on the Iraq Page (thank you!!):
He is the 75th soldier with ties to Hawaii to die in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003. Four sailors, 80 Marines, two Air Force personnel and one civilian with Hawaii ties also have died there.
Lacerna was the second servicemember from Oahu to die in the Middle East in the last week.
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Victor W. Jeffries, 52, of Honolulu, also died Tuesday as a result of injuries suffered Dec. 24 in a vehicular accident in Kuwait. He was assigned to the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group in Kuwait.
Update: Free Spirit learned that Sgt. Lacerna had signed up in October to be an AnySoldier.com contact. AnySoldier contacts agree to receive letters, cards, and care packages from the folks back home and distribute them to soldiers in their unit who otherwise recieve little to no mail. He was representing 10 male and 3 female soldiers.
(Thank you, Free Spirit!)
Joseph Berlin Jr.
Joey Berlin enlisted in the Army in August, 2006. He served his country as a fire support specialist. He had only been deployed to Iraq for a short time (arriving in December) when he died of injuries sustained in an as-yet-undisclosed incident.
I'll let Joey's family say the rest:
BERLIN, PFC JOSEPH RICHARD, JR., In loving memory of Pfc. Joseph Richard Berlin Jr., US Army 13 Fox Hooah, age 21, deceased December 30th, 2007 while serving his country in Iraq. He is survived by his parents, Joseph Richard Berlin Sr. and Deborah Beavers; a brother, Bill Curry; sister, Jennifer Rushing; grandparents, Nancy LaRock and Robert Berlin and Mary Jones; also aunt, Melissa Resse. A memorial service will be held Saturday, January the 5th, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at Cahaba Heights Baptist Church with military burial on January the 8th at 2:00 p.m. in Arlington Cemetery, VA. I never met a finer person, I love you son forever.
A guest book for Joey is rapidly filling with tributes from those who knew him and many who did not. His former teacher, Glenda McArdle, posted this tribute:
To All of Joey's family peace be with you. Now Joey is in the Lord's Army. Joey was one of my after school day care Kids,at Chelsea Elem. I will tell you ,His Death has broken my heart. The memories of Joey Will alway's be a part of my Life.Looking back last night at pictures of him,suddenly brought the tears along with my heart ache. He was the cutest kid with a beautiful smile and yes,a favorite of mine.I continued to watch Joey grow from year to year because I also worked in the lunch room through his middle school years. After that I would see him about Chelsea, He always gave me a hug....It's kid's like Joey that make my job easier.Please if there is anything I can do, let me know. My Husband Steve, My Son Shawn, and my Daughter Megan will always remember "LITTLE JOEY" Thank you for allowing me to be a part of his life.
You can see a photo of Joey here.
Rest in peace, Joseph Berlin Jr. May your beautiful spirit find peace and tranquility forever, and may your memory be a blessing for those who love you, and for those who can only grieve that we did not have the chance to know you.
Brian Gorham
The DoD reports:
Pfc. Brian L. Gorham, 21, of Woodburn, Ky., died Dec. 31 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, of wounds suffered on Dec. 12 in Afghanistan when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Camp Ederle, Vicenza, Italy.
Everyone liked Brian Gorham. By all accounts, he was a kind, thoughtful, sweet person. Everyone thought the world of him.
"If you were around Brian for very long you would like him," Jack Wright, a Sunday school teacher at Woodburn Baptist Church, told the Bowling Green Daily News. "I'm proud to have known him." (Houston Chronicle)
"When my dad was sick, Brian and his mother would come over and help him up and get around the house," [Frances] McKinney [a neighbor] said. (Houston Chronicle)
19-year-old Stephanie McKinney says Gorham's "like a big brother to her".
"We rode the bus together, so he would always watch out for me," she recalls. (WBKO radio)
Brian Gorham was proud to serve his country.
"I remember him coming over [after he enlisted] and saying he was really excited about doing something meaningful," [Frances] McKinney said. (Houston Chronicle)
"He was doing what he loved. He loved being a soldier," said Stephanie McKinney. (WBKO radio)
Brian Gorham was a fighter. He fought hard for 18 days after being severely burned over more than 50% of his body when an IED hit his vehicle. But he couldn't win this fight. He died on New Year's Eve.
Brian's friend and fellow soldier, Chris, left this message from Afghanistan on Brian's MySpace page:
SPC. Brian Gorham it was an honor to serve with you, your mission is completed you can stand down now. You are a true hero an outstanding soldier. I wish I could see you off more than anything in this world but the fight continues and I will bring it to enemy’s door step for you my dear friend. God needed another angel and he chooses you, may you forever rest in peace. Mr. And Mrs. Gorham I send you my most sincere condolences and I have no way of expressing my sorrow and sadness for your loss and Americas loss, we truly lost a great one.
You can see a picture of Brian here.
Rest in peace, Brian Gorham. May your courageous spirit find peace and tranquility forever, and may your memory be a blessing for those who love you, and for those who can only grieve that we did not have the chance to know you.
To date, 3904 members of the United States military have lost their lives in Iraq, with 3 additional deaths pending notification of the families. Nearly 40,000 men and women have been wounded, and 132 have taken their own lives while on active duty. All of the fatalities can be seen here. The Department of Defense Press Releases can be seen here. The death toll among Iraqis is unknown, but conservative estimates place it at least in the tens of thousands.
You can help our military men and women. Please consider sponsoring a deployed service member at TroopCarePackage.com. It doesn’t take much time or money. Just send letters or care packages to your soldier, sailor, Airman, Marine, or Guardsman. One of my "adopted" soldiers told me that "mail is gold" for a deployed soldier. A few minutes of your time and one airmail stamp can make a real difference in a military person's life. anysoldier.com, Operation Helmet, and Fisher House are also wonderful organizations that provide comfort and care to deployed American troops.
And please don't forget them when they get home! Read welcomebackveterans.org to learn what you can do. (Thank you, noweasels!)
About "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT)
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by monkeybiz, Sandy on Signal, silvercedes, noweasels, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, Wee Mama, MsWings, labwitchy, moneysmith, joyful, roses, and sistwo.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and families of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.