Story how National Guardsman wrote his own obituary.

[Tim4319]

This is an extremely moving story of a National Guardsman who, upon receiving his orders he was going to Iraq, tore out two pieces of notebook paper and wrote his own obituary. This story really puts things in perspective.

Sorry if this is a dupe!

<<snip>>

"Mr. James O. Kinlow, 35, of Holt St. died -------- in Iraq."

Nearly seven months later, the sentence was completed.

He died on July 24.




http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/25/iraq.soldier.story.ap/index.html

[tyedyeto]

1. My heart weeps for his family

How many others fighting this war have done the same?

God! I hope it ends soon.

[Fridays Child]

2. No words...

:cry:

[ClayZ]

3. If there is a heaven, It must be getting full!

:cry:

[nookiemonster]

4. I'm speechless. It's so sad, and I've seen it firsthand.

Our soldiers worry about death everyday. This is an email from a good friend of a friend who is currently in the sandbox. The harsh reality is in bold

Afternoon,



I don’t remember if I sent you and ***** any photos. It takes awhile to send it from yahoo so I am trying to send it from my work. The pics are from my first convoy and first flight. I like it here. So much better than Florida. I don’t know what the next couple of months will bring due to Ramadan starting tomorrow and Sadaam’s trial and the elections. Anyway, I hope ***** didn’t get to upset that I would like for my sister to God forbid anything happens to me out here, but, have my sister take my ashes where I want them to be thrown at. I don’t like to upset people and tell her I’m sorry. I hope all is well with you and your family. Again, thank you for everything that your family is doing for me.



Sincerely,



***** ******

[Tim4319]

10. That was really touching!

These young men and women need to come home! They are being sacrificed, for the riches of a few people.

[Renegade Six]

5. No Obit

But I did leave two sealed letters when I left. One for my wife and and one for my then 1 yo son. I was lucky. I came home and no one but me will ever know what they said.

[Chi-Town Exile]

7. I'm glad you're here to tell us that.

Thank you for your service. :patriot:

[Tim4319]

8. Hey Renegade Six.

From the bottom of my heart. I am so glad that you are here with us. My heart goes out to the families of those who were not as blessed as you are.

May God Bless you and your family.

Thank you!

[nookiemonster]

9. Welcome home soldier.

Glad you made it back safely.

:thumbsup:
:patriot:

[OnionPatch]

21. So glad to hear

a happy ending, i.e. a safe return, and your baby has his daddy. Welcome back and God Bless!

[lostnfound]

23. Welcome to DU.

Thanks for your bravery and your service.

As the mother of a young boy I am all the more glad that you came home, so that he has a daddy to know and love as he grows.

[AwakeAtLast]

24. Hi Renegade Six

I have seen your posts and have meant to reply, but haven't been able to until now. My husband is currently in Iraq (National Guard). He has been there since July and will return for good next summer (God willing). I am so glad to see a military voice on this message board, especially one who echoes my husband's thoughts so much (pagan, anti-shrub, etc.)

I will say that I am more blessed than some in that he is part of the Signal Corps, so I get to talk to him on the phone almost every day and we are able to IM and webcam a lot. This means that our 3 1/2 y/o daughter thinks that Daddy lives in the computer, lol! It still doesn't mend the heartache of separation and anxiety, though.

I bid you a hearty welcome to DU, Renegade. Hope to see more of your posts in the future!

:hi:

[Renegade Six]

28. many here at Ft Hood...

echo my thoughts to. You wont here it publicly 'cause they are scared of the DOD. I have nothing to lose so I'm a pain in the ass.

[Chi-Town Exile]

6. Thank you for the article.

Rest in peace, thank you for your service and may your families remain whole and learn to live without you but always hold you close in their hearts. :cry:

[Tim4319]

11. Amen, Chi-Town.

[rumpel]

12. Someone should cronicle all these individual stories and send them to

to the ones that wanted this this illegal war, press in tow.

[Tim4319]

16. I don't think that will be enough.

These people just see them as interchangeable parts! They do not realize what effect these deaths are having on families and communities. I believe they really should send someone from the Bush family, Cheney family, Rumsfeld family, and the Rice family. And I do not mean distant relatives, I'm talking about brothers, sisters, first cousins, nieces and nephews. If they are not willing to send them, then the troops that are over there now should come home.

Just my opinion.

[texpatriot2004]

13. "Mr. James O. Kinlow, 35, of Holt St. died -------- in Iraq."

No words right now...so sad :cry:

God Bless his loved ones.

[Catherine Vincent]

14. This is so sad!

His poor family. :cry:

[Lex]

15. kick

:kick:

[peacebaby3]

17. To my knowledge, my husband never wrote his obit while serving in Iraq but

it was a very sobering experience when we had to handle all of the paperwork before he left. The power of attorney, the last will and testament, and a lot of other things. I think I have blocked some of it out because it was so traumatic.

He also stopped mailing me any letters because back then it took 6-8 weeks (or longer) for mail to go back and forth so he was very worried something would happen to him and then a few weeks later I would receive a letter in the mail from when he was still alive. I was very thankful that he made that decision because I'm not sure I could have handled it if something like that had happened.

Stories like this one about James Kinlow just break my heart. RIP.

On edit: It seems like he had to write a letter to me that would be delivered if he were killed. I think that might have been a required part of the paperwork, but I'm not sure. I really did try to block all of that out and it was February '03 (while he was still at Ft. Benning before leaving) so my memory is really bad now.

[Tim4319]

18. I had a distant cousin leave out of Fort Benning.

I live in Kennesaw, and when he flew back from Philly, my wife and I picked him up and we drove him to the base so he could report.

My cousin was due to ship out to Iraq, I believe it was last November. I have not heard anything about how he was doing. I can only hope all is well.

Apologies for my ignorance but, did your husband return home from duty? And is he okay?

[peacebaby3]

19. Yes, he did. He served in Iraq from March '03 to April '04. Thanks for

asking.

He has had some bad days since he returned and a strange problem with his feet (some kind of weird rash that nobody can figure out what it is - comes and goes) and a massive number of kidney stones - 9 in the past 2 and a half years (7 of those were during the year he was in Iraq),and he has a problem with frequent headaches now, but compared to many others who served and still serve in this "war", he is very blessed.

I think he has some anger issues as well. He already had some issues with this that I blame on joining the military at age 17 (boot camp was where he spent the summer between his junior and senior year in HS)but I think it has increased a great deal since he has returned from Iraq. When you are under that much stress 24 hrs. a day for over a year, I think it damages you.

[Tim4319]

25. Thank God!

I will pray for you and your husband. Tell him I thank him for all he has done. And, I hope he continues to improve everyday!

[grace0418]

20. I just get so FUCKING ANGRY. These men didn't have to die.

Yes, they were very, very brave. And they laid their lives on the line because it was their duty. But NONE OF THEM HAD TO DIE. There was no reason other than greed and lies and absolute malice on the part of BushCo. I FUCKING HATE EACH AND EVERY MEMBER OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION FOR MURDERING THESE MEN.

[Logiola]

22. has the obit been published in any paper yet?

[Tim4319]

26. Haven't seen anything as of yet.

[roguevalley]

27. This can never be assuaged. Nothing can ever make this even

bearable. I am so sorry for him and his family. May the ones responsible burn in hell when they finally die.