MORGANTOWN, WV, USA U.S. Army PFC, HHC, 1ST BATTALION, 503D INFANTRY, 173D AIRBORNE BRIGADE, VICENZA, IT PAKTIKA, AFGHANISTAN 08/27/2007
Thomas was an awesome young man. I raised him to love each day and to live his life simply, to serve others and to be kind. He was all those things and much more.
I continue to find out how much from all his “brother’s”. He was my oldest son but, second of four children. We were and always will be a close family. He tried college at WVU for two years but, needed to be doing something, so it didn’t surprise me when he enlisted in the army. He graduated from basic and airborne and was in the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
Yes, he was trained to be an infantryman and that was what he was determined to do. He was only a Private First Class and was the armorer for his battalion, which I understand is usually done by someone no lower then a Sergeant. He was very good at what he did.
The day he was killed, Monday, August 27, 2007 they were on the road to Zerok. He was the gunner, shot off four canisters, bent down to reload a fifth and was shot in the face and then a sliver of metal served his spine. He fell into the arms of a beloved brother and was surrounded by the love and sorrow of his family.
His roommate told me that he did not suffer and he knew that the angels were there to take him to his Father. I will never be able to express the love and pride that I feel for my son’s sacrifice and the love and pride that I feel for all my sons who served with him.
Thomas loved his friends and once you were his friend you knew that you were a friend for life. He loved the outdoors and was very artistic. I would love for Mr. Reagan to see some of Thomas’s work someday. He adored his two sisters’, Chloe and Chelsea and gave his brother Ethan a nickname, “Shotgun” because he said that he was his sidekick.
He loved God and Jesus Christ with his whole heart and soul and knew that they were always with him and his “brother’s”. There is so much more that I could say about him but I know that I’ve probably gone on too long.
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