Editor's Note

I come from a long line of warriors. My great-grandfather, a full-blooded Oneida Indian, fought in the Civil War. My grandfather was a World War I hero, and when he died much later at age 73, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, not far from the gravesite of John F. Kennedy.  My father, an Air Force major, fought bravely in the Korean and Vietnam wars, earning 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses.  Soldiering, you could say, was the family business.
As a teenager, I remember saying goodbye to my father as he went off to war in this place I kept hearing about on TV called Vietnam, never once thinking that he might not come home. He always did. Now, many years – and wars – later, I realize how very lucky our family was.

Too many others haven’t been so fortunate. The Iraq War alone has claimed more than 4,000 of our nation’s young men and women – each one a son or daughter, brother or sister, husband or wife to somebody, some family, whose lives have been forever altered.

Last month, this faraway war hit close to home, the horror of that struggle all too real now. Ruth Erives of Corona, an account executive for Inland Empire Family Magazine, lost her 21-year-old nephew, Josh Young, to a roadside bomb in Iraq.  He was 1 of 5 soldiers killed in that explosion and ensuing gun battle – brothers, in spirit, from the same infantry unit out of Fort Carson, Colo. One of the other soldiers was a local boy, Army Pfc. Brandon Abbott Meyer, 20, of Orange.

Josh’s death affected me deeply. I didn’t know him, but I have 2 nephews in their 20s, and when I imagined how I’d feel if one of them had been killed, well, I ached for Ruth. We should all be heartbroken, really, because Josh represents every young American who is fighting for our freedom in Iraq.

“Being a soldier was all he ever wanted to do,” says his stepmom Mary Young of Whittier, Ruth’s sister. Last year, Josh, who was also a gifted artist and loved computer games, enlisted in the Army, “out of the blue.” Ruth says his family tried to talk him out of it, but there was no stopping this brave heart. “He said he knew he could do some good out there.”

Josh was deployed to Baghdad in December. He kept in constant communication with his family from his laptop. The Sunday before he died, he and his sister, who called him “Rambo,” joked and laughed via email. It was the last time they would hear from him.

On a somber Tuesday in February, Anthony Young brought his fearless son home to Oregon, where he had lived with his mother. The next day, after a 70-mile procession that included an army of escorts from local police and fire departments, and flag-waving from townspeople standing alongside the route, Josh was laid to rest with full military honors at Roseburg National Cemetery. More than 200 people attended the memorial service, including the governor of Oregon. For his valor, Josh was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge and a Good Conduct Medal. It was a fitting tribute to a courageous soldier who served his country well.

“Josh was a wonderful, loving son. He was very compassionate, always thinking of other people first,” Mary reflects. “He will always be remembered as a brave hero to us. We will miss him.”

– By Lynn Armitage, Editor