TEMECULA, CA, USA
U.S. Army
CPT, COMPANY A, 412TH CIVIL AFFAIRS BATTALION, WHITEHALL, OH
KARBALA, IRAQ 01/20/2007
Brian was a bit of a clown he liked to have fun in all things that he did. He was also the luckiest person on the world until January 20, 2007. Everything he did, touched, or dreamt about came true or worked in his favor.
Brian was into soccer and lacrosse in high school with surfing and rollerblading as things to do in his spare time. He decided to take German as a foreign language and that lead to have an exchange student visit him and later he visited the family in Germany. While on this trip, the family got in their motor home and went to visit Berlin. This was naturally during the time that the wall was coming down. We got a call from and East Berlin guard station one night to let us know what he was doing. Lucky Brian. We now have a picture of him on the wall and a small piece of the wall that he brought back.
After high school he decided to go to Washington State University and study political science and someday run for President of the United States. He was always thinking of where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do. He did want to mess with our Social Security system so we didn’t know how that would work out…
He had only been at Washington State for one year before he told us he was going to West Point. Kathy and I laughed as he was not an athlete or an honor student. Darn if he didn’t get accepted but did not get an appointment. He went to work the next summer for Congressman Huffington and learned a bit about how Washington DC works. He got an appointment but needed to get accepted again. He got accepted and was on his way for R day. Lucky Brian. At Parent’s Day, Kathy and I heard the Superintendent talk about that 2% of the student body that was from the regular population to round things out on campus. We then knew where Brian fit in. He graduated in 1999 and started his career with tanks at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
One day Brian was asked to help with a fund raiser onboard the Forbes’s yacht. After just one time of helping, the person in charge of getting the students left and Brian was put in charge. Lucky Brian. He was very popular when it came time to mingle with the upper crust in New York and help get donations for West Point.
I have attached another picture of Brian and his buds at West Point to show you how he got along with everyone and liked to kid around even in pictures.
While at Fort Carson, he started hanging around the Olympic Training Center and met a coach that wanted to train people for the Olympics. Lucky Brian. He was accepted into the WCAP for the Skeleton and Bobsled teams. He finished his Army duty training for the Winter Olympic in Turin, Italy. He never made it to Italy but he did have fun at Lake Placid, NY.
He got a job working for KB Homes as a project manager and started a family. He found a way to get his name on a list for new homes and got one. Lucky Brian. Marriage and two babies later he got a letter to report to active duty. Gunnar was 2 and Ingrid was on the way. After Ingrid was born, Brian shipped of the Iraq to start his civil affairs duties in Karbala.
While stationed in Karbala, he worked with the people there to get basic necessities back on line. He also showed them that the people over here really did care for them. He started a project to get the son of a local police officer a needed heart operation. After months of working with various agencies and raising enough money to get Ali over here everything was just one day away from being finalized. The evening before all was in place, Brian was kidnapped and executed. He never knew that Ali did come to NY and get the needed surgery and went back home.
We really miss him and all of the things that he would have done to help the world become a better place.
Comentarios