Two prayers....

God's will be done and may He have mercy upon us all.

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A Catholic who follows Rome & the Magisterium. I'm against gay "marriage", abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, human cloning. Altar girls, Communion in the hand, Eucharistic Ministers and "Protestant" music in the Church doesn't bother me at all. A proud American retired submarine sailor. Our borders should be secured with a 10 ft. high fence topped by concertina wire with minefields out to 20 yards on both sides and an additional 10 yards filled with warning signs outside of that Let's get energy independent NOW! Back Israel to the max, stop appeasing followers of the Pedophile Prophet. Pro 2nd Amendment, pro death penalty, Repeal all hate crime legislation. Back the police unless you'd rather call a hippie when everything hits the fan. Get government out of dealing with education, childhood obesity and the enviornment. Stop using the military for sociological experiments and if we're in a war don't micromanage their every move. Kill your television, limit time on the computer and pick up a book. God's will be done and may He have mercy upon us all.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

R.I.P. Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith




Air Force Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith

24, of Troy, Ill.; assigned to the 10th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Riley, Kan.; died Jan. 3 near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained while supporting combat operations.

(Taken from www.bnd.com of Jan. 6, 2010) Air Force Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith, 24, came from a close-knit family in Troy, and he was eager to build a family outside of home.

He was a mentor to youth at Bethel Baptist Church and played football and went fishing with his classmates from Triad High School.

He made loyal friends of servicemen at military bases from North Carolina to Kansas.

He married Tiffany Smith in February 2008 and became the proud father of Chloe Lynn in October.

"You could tell he absolutely loved his family," said Smith's uncle, Jessie A. Forrest, of Cordova, Tenn.

And now, Smith's loved ones say he has found his final home in heaven.

On Sunday, not a month after he was deployed to Afghanistan, Smith was killed in an attack on his unit near Kandahar Airfield.

He was among four U.S. service members who died of wounds from improvised explosive devices, marking the first American combat deaths of the year.

Smith, who joined the Air Force in December 2006, was assigned to the 10th Air Support Operations Squadron in Fort Riley, Kan.

"He knew the dangers and all that, but I know that, like everyone, he was very excited to go over there and do his part to serve the country," said Army Specialist Chad Eilering, a former classmate and neighbor of Smith's.

Eilering said he and Smith had known each other since the fifth grade, and went camping together "every other weekend" during middle school.

They used to talk about joining the military together, Eilering said. When the two graduated from Triad High School in 2004, Eilering joined the Army right away.

But Smith was torn between the Army and Air Force.

He eventually followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Ryan Smith, an airman now based in Texas.

"He was intent on serving this country, just like his brother," said Smith's cousin, Alicia Forrest, of Cordova, Tenn.

Jessie Forrest remembers how Smith had long talks regularly with Smith's grandpa, the late Army Master Sgt. Jesie Willard Forrest, a World War II and Korea War veteran.

"One of his greatest fans was his grandfather," Jessie Forrest said. "Brad was one of the finest young men I have ever known. He had a tremendous faith in the Lord."

Smith's pastor, the Rev. Jim Wiens at Bethel Baptist Church in Troy, said the church and community have come together in a "marvelous" way to support Smith's family, including his parents, Gary and Paula Smith, of Troy.

"We've got a lot of military church members, and lots of deployed guys, and this is the first time we've suffered this kind of tragedy," Wiens said. "This is the first time in my ministry that I've had to deal with this. It's a marvelous thing to see how everyone has come together for this wife and young baby, this tiny baby who will now never know her dad."

3 comments:

Unknown said...

May God Bless this brave soldier and comfort the family who loves him so.
~AM

Sandi said...

I learned about Bradley Smith today. His wife and mother's rental car was broken into while in Colorado Springs for a memorial service. Many of his possessions were stolen including the dog tags he was wearing when he died. http://www.newsfirst5.com/news/theft-of-dead-airmans-belongings-under-investigation/

Subvet said...

AirmanMom, thanks for your comment.

Sandi, words fail me on this one. Thanks for the notification.

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