Family reflects on Hospers soldier killed in Iraq

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1638&u_sid=2232739

Published Tuesday
August 29, 2006

Family reflects on Hospers soldier killed in Iraq

BY ELIZABETH AHLIN

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

HOSPERS, Iowa - Corey Thorne had never been a girl who believed in love at first sight.

But just a year after graduating from high school, she met a man in the parking lot of the Sioux Center shopping mall.

"Immediately, I knew he was the one," Thorne said. When she got home that night, she woke up her mother and told her about meeting William E. Thorne.

"I said, 'Mom, I met the man I'm going to marry.'"

That marriage was cut short last week, after nearly five years. U.S. Army Pfc. William E. Thorne died Thursday in Iraq. He was 26.

Corey Thorne, who also serves in Iraq, was home on leave when she learned that her husband had been killed.

He died near Baghdad after an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle, said Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, public information officer with the Iowa Army National Guard.


Corey Thorne, left, and William E. Thorne


Corey's mother, Deb Jasper, said that William was a "quiet man, until he got to know you." When Corey did get to know "Willy," his sense of humor was just one of the things that won her over.

"He's just the best man that anybody could ever dream of. He was the guy every girl would want," Corey said.

Corey and William married Nov. 10, 2001, in her hometown of Hospers, Iowa. William Thorne graduated from high school in nearby Rock Valley, Iowa.

After 31/2 years, Corey and William decided to join the Army, largely to save money for a family.

"We had a lot of dreams," Corey said. "Our biggest dream was to become parents, and we wanted to save enough money to be able to adopt children."

The last time Corey saw her husband was Jan. 25 - the day that she left Fort Hood, Texas, for Iraq. William shipped out less than three weeks later.

Corey does not yet know if she will return to Iraq.

During the seven months they were in Iraq, Corey and William had different duties. She is a food specialist; he was a cavalry scout. They also served in different areas of the country, and they were not able to see each other.

But she said they stayed close through letters and e-mail, supporting each other when things became difficult.

"We are two very strong people, and we leaned on each other very much," said Corey Thorne. "We trusted that God would take care of each other. Being a soldier, I was trained to prepare myself for this."

Corey said that she already misses the way he made her smile. They "spent every moment" they could together, she said - camping, hiking, watching movies and following his favorite football team, the Detroit Lions.

In their five years together, there wasn't much that was left unsaid between the two.

"I think anything I could've told him, he would already know."

William Thorne's funeral will be at the First Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa, at 10 a.m. Saturday. Visitation will be at the same church from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

1. Someone should send this to Dumbyass...

except there are too many people who would make sure he never saw it.