~ Photo Credit llbear
As of today, 1,678 American soldiers have been killed in or near Afghanistan. 4,474 have died in Iraq.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
All of the U.S. fatalities can be seen here and here. They all had loved ones, families and friends. The DoD news releases are here. I Got the News Today is intended to honor, respect and remind.
Click the IGTNT tags to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, Monkeybiz, Noweasels, Blue Jersey Mom, Chacounne, Twilight Falling, Joyful, SisTwo, Spam Nunn, True Blue Majority, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, Maggie Jean, Jax Dem, Kestrel 9000, Ekaterin and me, TheFatLadySings.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.
Pfc Christophe Marquis joined the army at 39 to provide for his wife and infant son. "It was the health insurance, the chance to have a house and just to not have to worry about anything," confided his wife, Brittany Jackson-Marquis, to a reporter from the St. Petersburg Times.
Marquis was born in Strasbourg, France, January 25, 1971. He spent five years in the French military, and became a successful businessman after leaving. He moved to Normandy where he owned two bars and buzzed about in a Porsche.
Marquis visited his sister who was studying theater in America in 2007. In 2008, he moved to Florida to be closer to her.
It was in Florida that he met and married his wife, Brittany Jackson. He owned a bar near the bank where she worked and would frequently seek her out to make deposits, ask for change, or just smile. He liked to butcher the tune, "The only one for me is you and you for me...so happy together!"
The couple had spent seven months together when he joined the army. Brittany had reservations about his choice. Marquis was away for his son Christopher's first birthday, but when he came home, "it was just giggle after giggle" for father and baby, Brittany told the Times. The couple looked forward to one day having another child.
Marquis communicated frequently with his wife through his facebook page. She told the Times,a few days after he died, she received his last message:
From now on, every morning I'm going to be on Facebook at 10 a.m. to talk to you.
Marquis was mortally wounded by a suicide bomber at the checkpoint in Kandahar province where he worked. He was flown to Germany. He was on life support when Brittany and Christopher arrived to say good-bye. He was removed from life support and passed away on September 4, 2011 after Brittany thanked him for their son and sang, for one last time, "The only one for me is you, and you for me...so happy together."
Thank you to Jessica Vander Velde of the St. Petersburg Times for her article about Pfc Christophe Marquis.