Steel Hearts

https://lnkd.in/g5gYgNJz Today we remember SGT Christopher C. Simpson who was taken from us on this day in 2008. Be thou at peace. Proceeds from the SGT Christopher C. Simpson memorial bracelet will be donated to Legacies Alive. ___________________________________________________ A private funeral service was held for an upstate New York soldier killed in Iraq earlier this month in a roadside bombing. Hundreds of people turned out March 25 at St. Joseph’s Church to pay their last respects to Army Spc. Christopher Simpson. The 23-year-old was killed March 17. The viewing included a video tribute to Simpson’s life. Simpson had returned to Iraq in December for his second combat tour in three years. He was based at Fort Carson, Colo., with the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Simpson grew up in upstate New York before he moved to Hampton, Va., with his mother. He was buried March 26 at Onondaga County Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

https://lnkd.in/gekuztPG Today we remember our brother, 1LT Michael R. Adams, who was lost on this day in 2004. Be thou at peace, Michael. Proceeds from the 1LT Michael R. Adams memorial bracelet will be donated to Indian River State College Foundation in his memory. ___________________________________________________ In an e-mail to his family, Michael R. Adams talked of how much he loved his job and of the responsibility he felt toward the 15 soldiers he led. He remained with his platoon longer than he had to because he wanted to return with them to Fort Carson, Colo., on the unit's last boat home. "I always tell people that I have the best job in the world, and I can't believe they pay me for this!" he wrote. Adams, 24, of Seattle, died March 16 riding in a tank west of Baghdad. A passing vehicle collided with the tank, causing a .50-caliber machine gun on a swivel to whip around, striking Adams. "He died doing what he wanted to do," Adams' father, Don, said.

https://lnkd.in/gVgWSCDu Today we remember the life of Capt Mark K. Weber, who was taken from us on this day in 2018. Here's a toast! Proceeds from every Capt Mark K. Weber memorial bracelet sale will go to Legacies Alive. __________________________________________________ Captain Mark K. Weber, 29, a Combat Rescue Officer with the 38th Rescue Squadron (RQS), was killed in a helicopter crash in Anbar Province, Iraq, March 15, 2018. “It’s apparent to everyone that you cannot replace someone of the caliber of Mark Weber,” said Maj. Jason Egger, 38th RQS commander “Instead, it is now left to us to carry his memory forward and pay tribute to him and live up to his truly exceptional example.” As a Combat Rescue Officer, Mark was trained to direct Combat Search and Rescue operations and to plan, manage and execute Combat Search and Rescue tasks. Mark was known in the Combat Rescue community as one who would always put the care and well-being of his men before his own. In turn, his team would follow him with unwavering confidence. A member of Mark’s Squadron once said “In the pool, he would help the last team member across before surfacing for his own breath. On a ruck, I watched him carry a teammate whose body had quit.

https://lnkd.in/gSka5-aC Today we remember LT Caleb N. King, who was taken from us on this day in 2018. Fair winds and following seas. Proceeds from the LT Caleb N. King bracelet will be donated to Legacies Alive. _________________________________________________ Port Orange native and former Central Florida high-school football standout Caleb King was one of the two crew members killed Wednesday [March 14, 2018] when a U.S. Navy fighter jet crashed off the coast of Key West, according to multiple sources. King was the weapons officer on a F/A-18 Super Hornet that was on approach to land at a naval air station around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday when it crashed into shallow water about a mile east of the runway. Both crew members ejected and were rescued, but U.S. Naval Air Forces reported late Wednesday night that both had died. The crew was based out of Naval Air Station Oceana, in Virginia Beach.

https://lnkd.in/ggh4Ntqh Today we remember Capt Frederick D. Dellecker who was lost on this day in 2017. Here's a toast! Proceeds from every Capt Frederick Dellecker memorial bracelet sale will go to Pilots N Paws. _________________________________________________ Capt Frederick Drew Dellecker, 26, served as a Pilot within the Special Operations Command of the U.S. Air Force. On March 14, 2017 he lost his life along with two other experienced officers in an aircraft accident during a training exercise near Cannon Air Force Base. Drew was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, grew up in Ormond Beach and graduated from Seabreeze High School in 2009. He then attended the United States Air Force Academy as a part of Cadet Squadron 13, where he learned to soar gliders and earned his jump wings. Drew graduated from the Air Force Academy with a pilot assignment in 2013. Following the culmination of a year-long, dedicated effort to earn his flight wings at Laughlin Air Force Base, Drew joined the Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field near Destin, Florida. His most recent assignment took him to Cannon AFB in New Mexico, as a proud member of the 318th Special Operations Squadron. Drew’s sense of humor was legendary. He loved the art of the pract

https://lnkd.in/gUNM-4ek Today we remember LCDR J. Brice "Drama" Johnson, who was lost on this day in 2018. Here's a toast! Proceeds from each bracelet sold will be donated to Brice’s favorite charity, Camp Wapiyapi, which provides free summer camp for patients and siblings ages 6-17 years old who are facing pediatric cancer. __________________________________________________ Lieutenant Commander James Brice 'Drama' Johnson passed away in a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet accident on March 14, 2018. He was born in Columbus, Mississippi, on August 21, 1984 to Air Force Officers Wade and Kathy Johnson. His sister, Kallyn, followed 18 months later. The Air Force family moved together to Holloman AFB NM, Keflavik Iceland, Langley AFB VA, Ft. Leavenworth KS, Luke AFB AZ, Maxwell AFB AL, and Randolph AFB TX as Brice was growing up. He attended high school at Brophy College Preparatory in AZ, Saint James School in AL, and Randolph High School in TX in preparation for his appointment to the United States Air Force Academy in 2003. Brice began courting his future bride, Mary Asher 'Mash' Vendt, following their first year at the Air Force Academy after connecting at Airmanship 490, Basic Freefall Parachuting. They graduated together in the cla

https://lnkd.in/gPf4WFq3 Today we remember our brother, CPT John F. Kurth, who was killed in Iraq on this day in 2004. Be thou at peace, John. Proceeds from the CPT John F. Kurth bracelet will be donated to the American Fallen Warrior Memorial Foundation in his memory. ________________________________________________ CPT John Kurth died in Tikrit, Iraq, on 13 March 2004 when his patrol encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, based in Schweinfurt, Germany. Kurth, 31, a Columbus native, was killed by a bomb March 13 while on patrol in Tikrit, north of Baghdad. Kurth, who was serving in the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, had been in Iraq less than a month when his convoy was ambushed.

https://lnkd.in/gwG_WTGm Today we remember our brother, CPT Andrew M. Pederson-Keel, who was taken from us on this day in 2013. Be thou at peace, Andrew. Proceeds from the CPT Andrew M. Pedersen-Keel memorial bracelet will be donated to APK Charities in his memory. __________________________________________________ CPT Pedersen-Keel was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C. On March 11, 2013, Andrew was killed by small arms fire when a Afghan policeman opened fire on US and Afghan forces inside a police headquarters in eastern Afghanistan. He was reportedly one of two U.S. special operations forces and two Afghan policemen killed in Wardak province. He graduated from Avon Old Farms in 2002 and then graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2006. In 2008, he deployed to Afghanistan for 12 months with the 3rd BCT where he served as a company executive officer and platoon leader. Following that deployment, he completed the Special Forces Qualification Course and language training, he was assigned to the 1st Bn., 3rd SFG (A) as a detachment commander in August 2012, and deployed with the unit to Afghanistan.

https://lnkd.in/gD6TctVN Today we remember LTJG William B. McIlvaine III who was taken from us on this day in 2013. Fair winds and following seas. ___________________________________________________ Naval flight officer. LTJG McIlvaine, 24, along with two other crew members, perished when the EA-6B Navy Prowler they were flying in crashed during a training exercise in eastern Washington state Monday, March 11, 2013. All three were based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. His lifelong dream was to fly. The United States Naval Academy was his first and only choice to achieve his dream. McIlvaine was commissioned from the academy with merit in May 2010, earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry. McIlvaine shared his love of music through his involvement with the Pipes and Drums during all four years at Annapolis, the Protestant Choir during plebe summer and the Mens Glee Club during his plebe year. He led the Pipes and Drums which toured the U.S. Immediately after graduation from the Academy he was temporarily assigned duty at the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I. where he was awarded the Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal for excellence in leadership. Although his eyesight kept him from being a pilot, McIlva

https://lnkd.in/gr-6j_d9 Today we remember LT Valerie C. Delaney, who was taken from us on this day in 2013. Fair winds and following seas. For every LT Valerie Delaney bracelet sold, proceeds will be donated to the Wings for Val Foundation. _________________________________________________ Navy Lieutenant Valerie Cappelaere Delaney, 26, of Anacortes, WA, and Ellicott City, MD, perished on March 11, 2013, when the Navy jet she was piloting crashed in Eastern Washington State during a training mission. She served as an EA-6B Prowler pilot in Electronic Attack Squadron 129 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. Her military achievements include the National Defense and Global War on Terrorism Service Medals, and she was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant. Born Valerie Alice Cappelaere on May 14, 1986, she was the second of three daughters of Doreen and Patrice Cappelaere of Ellicott City, MD. Valerie attended public schools in Howard County, graduating from Centennial High School with high honors in 2004, and lettering in soccer and lacrosse. Proudly nominated by Congressman Elijah Cummings, Valerie earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy’s Class of 2009, arriving at Annapolis as a member of 17th Company, and taking on