Good evening, dear ones. Will you please join me and the IGTNT team as we honor the lives of two sailors who lost their lives on foreign soil:
Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley, 30, of Wheatridge, Colorado, who died from wounds sustained from a July 23 incident in the Logar province, Afghanistan. Coalition forces recovered his body on July 25 after an extensive search.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, 25, of Renton, Washington, who died from wounds sustained from the incident in Logar province, Afghanistan, on July 23. Coalition forces recovered his body on July 28 after an extensive search, and the July 23 incident remains under investigation.
Due to the sensitive nature of what might be an on-going situation there in Afghanistan, tonight's tributes are sadly but deliberately brief. Your warm wishes for the friends and loved ones of these two young men are deeply appreciated.
Will you dear Kossacks kindly take a moment to send a warm thought or prayer to the hundreds of thousands of forgotten or unnoticed souls who have suffered, and continue to suffer, from the insanity of war? This is not their diary but still, we all feel and grieve the pain of a broken human spirit.
Blessings and Light to all who share our world.
As you read this diary, please remember that friends and loved ones of the soldiers honored here may read your comments. Please, whatever our personal feelings about the war may be, may our comments only reflect compassion for their grief and loss. Thank you.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley
Justin McNeley was from the Colorado area but he moved to Kingman, Arizona in 2004, three years after he joined the US Navy. His mother still lives in Kingman and his father, George McNeley, is a Deputy Fire Marshal in Encinitas, California. PO II McNeley is the father of two little boys.
Rep. Jim Kerr (CO-R) told the Denver Post that Petty Officer II McNeley was his wife Patsy's nephew, and that the family learned of the death on Monday. PO II McNeley was expected to return home from his current tour of duty in August.
Petty Officer II McNeley was assigned to Assault Craft Unit One (ACU-1) out of San Diego, California.
Rep. Kerr told the Colorado Springs Gazette that, "He was young, full of energy, a good kid and a patriot defending his country."
Out thoughts are with all who knew and loved Justin McNeley.
May we also ask that you keep Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, 25, of Renton, Washington, in your thoughts and meditations? Petty Officer III Newlove is listed (on July 27) as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) from the same July 23 incident that took Petty Officer II McNeley's life. Search and recovery efforts are ongoing at the time of this writing (July 28) and the Department of Defense states that the incident is under investigation.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove
UPDATE: Today at 4:22PM, AP/MSNBC.com reports that Petty Officer III Jarod Newlove's body was removed from a river on Wednesday night by Afghan officials. A sign outside the Newlove's home in West Seattle reads, "The family has no comment. Please respect our privacy" and we will of course do that.
Petty Officer III Jarod Newlove was assigned to Commander, Navy Reserve Force Command.
Our thoughts are with all who knew and loved Jarod Newlove.
I can't think of a better way to honor the fallen than to contribute to the well-being of their fellow soldiers still on active duty.
The following fine organizations could sure use your support and your donations:
AnySoldier.com, Books for Soldiers, Fisher House, the Military Pets Foster Project, Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pets, Operation Baghdad Pups, Operation Enduring Christmas, an organization that sends holiday presents to the children of our fallen troops, and Helping Udders, an organization that sends cooling vests to the Military Working Dogs stationed with their handlers in Iraq.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Click here to see other IGTNT diaries, a series which was begun by i dunno and which is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, noweasels, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, TrueBlueMajority, CalNM, and Wide Awake in Kentucky.
These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but, we believe, an important service to those Americans who have died, and to our community's respect for an remembrance of them. Fallen soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and National Guard whose names have been released by the Department of Defense will usually be diaried two days after the official announcement on the DoD website. This allows the IGTNT team to cover each fallen service member more fully, but still in a timely manner.
PEACE AND BLESSINGS