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Hero
Posted by Raven on May 30th, 2005
It’s not hard to find articles about heroes on Memorial Day. I wish everyone would think about those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, everyday.
Knocked on his back by a burst of gunfire that hammered the body armor covering his chest in November in Fallujah, Marine Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel gave his corporal the thumbs-up and continued to cover the room where his attacker lay waiting.
Within minutes, the 29-year-old Gavriel would be dead, killed by more bullets and a grenade tossed by the Iraqi insurgent who would also draw his last breath that day.
A fiercely loyal and patriotic first-generation Greek-American, he gave up a lucrative career on Wall Street to join the Marines after losing five friends on Sept. 11. Gavriel didn’t have to be in Fallujah when he died Nov. 19. But his letters and e-mails now clearly show that the Haverhill man was determined to serve his country despite the pleadings of his family and friends to stay out of harm’s way.
“He was tormented over trying to please us and living up to the promise he had made to himself on 9/11,” said Gavriel’s father, Chris. “He didn’t want to upset us but he knew if he didn’t do this he would regret it years from now.”
On their first Memorial Day since losing their son to the harrowing battle of Fallujah, Chris and Penelope Gavriel have learned much more about why their son rejected the riches of Wall Street to carry an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and about how he was killed in a small house by a man who also chose to give his life for his country.
Poring over words penned by their son, a 1997 Brown University graduate, the Gavriels concluded there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent him from joining the Marines, where most recruits were 10 years his junior.
“He bore deep into his heart, knowing this torment, which stood as the ultimate barrier to so many, was really the threshold to promises he had made to himself during a time that had long passed,” Gavriel had written about his agonizing decision to join the Marines.
From the emails:
“So how, after all this, did a guy like me end up in Iraq? The answer is pretty simple when I look to the young Marines at my right and left. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to do something, no, give something, to deserve all the good things we, as Americans, enjoy and sometimes take for granted as we move through the years of the good lives we lead under the safety and freedom of our flag.”
“Everyone lost something on that terrible day of 9/11. I lost my close friends, brothers you might say. Guys I grew up with, teammates, pals, mentors and confidants. I watched the towers fall, helpless, from a block away in the streets of New York and made a promise before God that I would do all I could to keep something like this from happening again. No man can know just exactly how much his effort has changed the world out here, but together we have chased much evil away from power and have shown those who, for one reason or another, hate our way of life, that we are a nation of people who refuse to live under the threat of terror.”
“Had to sprint over a 200-yard pontoon bridge after an eight-hour patrol to clear a section of an island in the Euphrates where we took mortar fire. By the time I reached the far side I couldn’t feel my legs”.
“I was tripping over (expletive) goats, chickens, rolling ankles and watching other Marines just plain faint. Fun stuff. This is the kind of stuff that makes for good memories, better stories – but sucks to live through.”
May 30th, 2005 at 9:38 am
Raven, I came here via flight pundit. You have a great site and the sentiments you expressed in this post are OUTSTANDING. I’m adding you to my blogroll. Thanks for the excellent support for this United States of America and all it stands for.
May 30th, 2005 at 10:17 am
Just amazing. So many brave Americans over and over and over sacrifice for us. It is people like Lance Corporal Gavriel that give me hope that this country will not lose this war and that we can preserve this republic. God Bless the United States Armed Forces, and God Bless America.
May 30th, 2005 at 3:23 pm
That’s what it’s all about, babe. ;)
Simply wonderful!
May 30th, 2005 at 7:36 pm
Happy Memorial Day!
Today’s dose of NIF – News, Interesting & Funny … Happy Memorial Day!
May 30th, 2005 at 8:07 pm
Fallen Marine ‘wanted to make a difference’
May 30th, 2005 at 9:22 pm
Thank you GM Roper…I will add you as well to my rockin and rollin blogroll.
May 30th, 2005 at 9:23 pm
It’s amazing how many stories I found today about individual soldiers who have given it all. Like I said, I wish they would publish this stuff everyday. So we don’t forget.
May 30th, 2005 at 9:26 pm
Beth I am looking forward to the BALL.
:twisted::twisted: