The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Home From War.

    By kgb999 on Sat, 07/16/2011 - 5:22pm |

    Two of Couer d'Alene's finest came home from war. And will be laid to rest (video of memorial service).

     

    Spc. Nicholas W. Newby

    Spc. Nicholas W. Newby, 20, died Thursday, July 7, 2011, from injuries after insurgents attacked his convoy with an explosive in Baghdad.

    Newby’s mother and father released a statement, noting their son could play a variety of musical instruments, including guitar, bass guitar, saxophone and drums. They also said he was intellectually curious and an avid reader.

    “Nick would do anything for anybody who needed his help,” they said. “He’d stick by his friends and never gave up on anybody. He had a great sense of humor, ever since he was a kid. For instance, once when he saw his pregnant mom drinking orange juice, he said, ‘Mom, you’re getting orange juice all over the baby!’“

     

     

    Spc. Nathan R. Beyers
    Spc. Nathan R. Beyers, 24, died Thursday, July 7, 2011, from injuries after insurgents attacked his convoy with an explosive in Baghdad.

    Beyers has been an Idaho resident for a number of years and that his wife, Vanessa Beyers, and daughter, born in November last year, live in the Coeur d’Alene area.

    “Nathan was proud of his job and serving our country,” Vanessa Beyers said in a statement. “He died doing something he loved and was such a brave person. We just had our first child, and Nathan had a chance to visit us when he was home on leave in January. I told him I knew he was going to be a wonderful father. We are going to miss him.”

     

    Remember them as their friends do, full of life and love. Raise a libation in memory and send thoughts and prayers to another group of friends and family suffering a tragic loss.

    And for those on tour or soon to be deployed: America doesn't need any more dead heroes ... just get back safe. Today we need our best and brightest at home more than ever before.

    The 116th Cavalry Heavy Brigade Combat Team is on a yearlong mobilization and deployment to Iraq as part of Operation New Dawn. It has 2,700 soldiers from Idaho, Montana and Oregon. The soldiers are scheduled to return to the U.S. in September.

     

    Comments

    Soon to be home, under happier circumstance:

    Staff Sgt. Jason Rzepa (pronounced zeppa), also from the Coeur d'Alene area, who sustained serious leg injuries during the same attack, continues to recover and is back in the United States.

    Both of his legs were amputated below the knees. He received a Purple Heart medal on Friday while in the military hospital in Iraq.

    As of Wednesday, he was on his way to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, for additional medical attention. His family will join him soon to assist him through recovery, prosthesis and extensive physical therapy.

    "Despite having had both of his legs amputated below the knees, Jason's spirits are extremely high and we are very optimistic for a speedy recovery," according to a prepared statement from the family. "Jason has asked us to extend a huge message of thanks for the overwhelming amount of support, prayers and positive energy our friends, family and the community have displayed during this trying time.


    by kgb999 on Sat, 07/16/2011 - 5:23pm

    Heartbreaking waste.


    by anna am on Sat, 07/16/2011 - 9:14pm

    It breaks my heart to see these young people dying for no good reason.  It is such an obscene waste of their lives, their potential, their brave conduct and their willingness to put everything on the line for others even if for a cause that isn't worth a single life. 

    They should not be over there.  They should be home.  It is criminal that our leaders both political and military get away with causing the deaths of so many in unwinnable and untenable wars of imperial occupation without the slightest consequences.  My heart goes out to the families of the fallen.  The only way to prevent further pointless deaths is to make it clear to our leaders that their endless war policy is unacceptable. 


    by oleeb on Sun, 07/17/2011 - 1:46am

    So fucking young...

    Damn Obama to hell.


    by jollyroger on Sun, 07/17/2011 - 1:55am

    Give credit where it is due. George W. Bush.  Saddam Getter and the man responsible for starting, surging, and not finishing two wars, in which Obama found his country 'still engaged' when he took office.  Conflicts that catapulted George W. Bush to easy re-election. Bush, architect of what the AEI termed The New American Century and the remaking of the 'democratic' Middle East. Bush, praised in books for strengthening America with his 'no regulation' style economic policies, an Owenership Society,  lauded by leading Wall Street conservatives. Bush's own warmly received words on war, before a convention of GOP supporting Veterans of Foreign Wars in the summer of 2007:

    "The ideals and interests that led America to help the Japanese turn defeat into democracy are the same that lead us to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq...The defense strategy that refused to hand the South Koreans over to a totalitarian neighbor helped raise up an Asian Tiger that is a model for developing countries across the world, including the Middle East," Bush said Wednesday in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

     


    by NCD on Mon, 07/18/2011 - 8:37pm

    Hail to the (current Commander In) Chief


    by jollyroger on Mon, 07/18/2011 - 10:06pm

    Iraq and the U.S. have a status of forces agreement that sets a firm date for all troops to leave. It's binding unless the Iraqis request an extension. Despite the lives and the treasure that could be saved, Defense Secretary Panetta is actually pressuring the Maliki government to do so. Insanity, sheer insanity!


    by acanuck on Sun, 07/17/2011 - 2:56am