Today we celebrate Veteran's Day.
A day where we remember those brave men and women who have served and are currently serving our country. [God Bless You].
It's daunting to think of the sacrifice so many men and woman make in our honor. For our lives. For our freedom. For our future.
Today I remember my dear friend Jeremy who joined the Marines just as we graduated high school.
I remember when he began basic training, I reassured his long-time girlfriend [and myself] that there was no way we were ever going to go to war. Jeremy would serve his four years, get the college education he desired to be a policeman here in Sandy, Utah [he served as an MP], and then he would be home. Safe and sound. The date was June 2001.
Fast forward to September 2001. America was quickly pulled into war.
Jeremy continued his training, and was set to serve a tour in Iraq late September 2002.
But God had different plans for him. On August 28, 2002, Pfc. Jeremy Purcell was killed during a routine training exercise at Camp Pendleton, California.
Shot in the chest 3 times with a semi-automatic rifle fired by a fellow Marine who had "accidentally" brought live fire ammo into a non-ammo exercise. Someone far beyond Jeremy's senior. Someone who damn well should have known better. You can read the story here [unfortunately it was written about the man who fired the shots, but it gives you a good idea of what happend. To my dismay, the stories written solely about Jeremy have long been deleted from searchable internet databases].
I still struggle to make sense of it all six years later. My anger has quelled, but my anguish has not. I like to think Jeremy was taken from us so early in order to protect him from perhaps a worse fate had he gone to Iraq. We will never know, but in my heart I know that God had a plan. As Jeremy's brother mentioned in his eulogy, God must have needed someone up there to protect the streets of heaven.
The funeral for Jeremy will forever stick in my mind. His platoon was flown in from California and stood guard over Jeremy's casket for the few days it took to get everything pulled together. Full on statue-style. A-m-a-z-i-n-g. Along with the honors paid to him from his military service, Jeremy was also given full fallen-cop honors since he was a Junior Police Officer through Sandy's Explorer program. I will never again see anything so breathtaking as a casket being marched to it's final resting place by a platoon of Marines followed by a brigade of silent police cars. All for an amazing and charasmatic 19 year old. Taken too soon.
I will forever miss you and all that you were promised to be.
I close this post with a pic of Jeremy [his senior yearbook pic]. I wish that all my stuff were not in storage because I don't feel this picture gives Jeremy justice. He was an extremely handsome man with an extremely beautiful heart. I hope to see you again my friend...someday on the streets of heaven.
UPDATE: Yay! Found another pic of him on my computer. This was during the good times...our senior trip to Vegas. Loved that kid.
November 11, 2008
[In Honor...With Honor]
Posted by Ashley Outnumbered
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 Comments:
Ashley, I am so sorry to hear about your friend. He sounds like an amazing man.
Wow, that was written really amazingly (is that a word?). I too am sorry for your loss.
what a beautiful tribute to your friend.
What a real man. We need more men like your friend Jeremy was.
His father, John Purcell, testified that he has come to terms with his son's death, but added: "I sure as heck can't reconcile how this happened in any way, shape or form."
That sums it right up!
Thanks for everyone's comments. I didn't write it for sympathy. Just to remember and tell his story. Very cool person. We could use more of them in this world.
Sam--John Purcell actually went to court against the Marines to try and get things changed so that this couldn't happen again. You'd be surprised how many military personnel die each year in training camps [drownings, shootings, etc]. I think the year Jeremy died, there was something like 250. Crazy. Jeremy's was just so senseless. No lawyer was willing to take the court case because there is something called Feres Doctrine that basically holds the military not liable for any wrong doing. It's just a global thing and basically blocks any case from really being held against the military. At first it seemed unfair that their card could be wiped clean, but if you think about it, if the military was held responsible for every 'accidental' death/injury/etc. Our government would be even more bankrupt than it already is.
John Purcell represented himself all the way up to the Supreme Court. Of course he lost, but he tried. I think that admitting to wrong doing and seeing that things were being changed to prevent it from happening again would have been enough. Hence John's quote. He's come to terms, but he can't reconicle how it happened.
Time heals wounds, but doesn't answer questions.
For me, I just feel peace in getting Jeremy's story out there. As long as I keep his story alive, I feel that I keep a piece of him alive too. Thanks to all of you for sharing this with me.
Gold star for me leaving the longest comment ever--on my own blog no less!
That was a beautifully written tribute, Ashley.
Wow, I teared up. How horrible of a way to die. I'm angry at that man who brought ammo-why? why why why would you do that? What is the purpose when it's training and your in the US?
Anyway, you wrote this beautifully and I am very impressed with the funeral for him. What a wonderful thing for the police force and Marine Platoon to do. Especially giving the circumstance, I think it was well called for and Jeremy deserved that.
I think this hits home so much because I have so many friends that served/are serving in the Marines. But... I agree with you, Heavenly Father had a plan for him and now it's continuing where he needs to be.
Post a Comment