A Father's Duty

Images courtesy: Sara Beth Bedgood

Sara Beth Bedgood was only 13 years old on Sept. 11, 2001. As the Twin Towers collapsed, she felt anguish for the victims and a deep sense of concern for her father, Col. Thomas Felts Sr., who had been serving in the U.S. Army since before she was born.

"I remember thinking that my dad's going to have to go to war," Sara Beth said. "He's going to go fight people."

To this day, Sara Beth vividly recalls a conversation she had with her dad just as the U.S.-led war on terrorism got underway.

"Yeah, that's my job ... that's my duty," she quoted her father as saying. "That's what I train to do every single day."

As the oldest of four children, Sara Beth had the clearest understanding of a soldier's sacrifices. Ever since she was a little girl, she had been moving around the world with her parents and siblings, while also observing her father's shared commitment to family and country.

"Even when he was away, he knew what we were doing in school," Sara Beth said. "He and my mom talked constantly and he was very much a part of our lives, no matter what."

Sara Beth recalls going to work with her father one day when she was young.

"I remember another soldier saluting my dad and saying 'yes, sir,'" she said. "And I remember thinking that my dad was very important."

Indeed, by the time Col. Felts and his family moved to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, he was a deeply respected military officer who was known for genuinely caring about the soldiers under his command.

"He shared with me how much he admired the men around him," Sara Beth said.

While the Felts family had started preparing for a combat deployment on 9/11, it took almost five years for the colonel to deploy overseas. For such a dedicated leader, watching younger troops go to Iraq and Afghanistan while he stayed on the home front "really tore him up inside," according to the soldier's oldest child.

"These men had been away from their families so many times, and he wanted to share that load," Sara Beth said.

As Sara Beth finished her senior year of high school and prepared to leave for college, her dad deployed to Iraq in the winter of 2006.

"The father of a friend of mine was supposed to go, and my dad actually volunteered in his place," she said, adding that her friend's father had already served multiple tours.

The deployment was relatively smooth until November 2006, when a group of Sara Beth's relatives unexpectedly showed up at her dorm room. She will never forget the moment her uncle delivered the most shocking news any teenager can experience.

"God has decided to take your dad home," Sara Beth's uncle said.

On Nov. 14, 2006, Col. Thomas Felts Sr., 45, and Spc. Justin Garcia, 26, were killed by an improvised explosive device that blew up near their vehicle in Baghdad, according to the Pentagon. Suddenly, Sara Beth, who was attending Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C., was heading back to Kansas for her father's funeral.

"It was very surreal," she said. "I remember clearly thinking I was in a dream."

Her dad's memorial service was attended by military leaders like Gen. David Petraeus, as well as countless relatives, friends, supporters and even a stranger who brought her little boy.

"I needed to show my son what a hero looks like," the supporter told the Felts family.

Col. Thomas Felts Sr. is remembered for his faith in God and the people around him, including his wife, four children, fellow soldiers, and even the Iraqi troops and civilians with whom he shared a close bond.

Sara Beth, 26, is now married and lives near Raleigh, N.C. Her husband is a soldier, and the couple has already endured one overseas deployment.

While Sara Beth Bedgood will always miss her father, his spirit lives on inside her heart.

"My family and I love talking about my dad and sharing his memories," she said. "We really try to keep him alive in that way. We know we're going to see him again."

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Note: Sara Beth appears in center of photo

Tom Sileo is a nationally syndicated columnist and co-author of BROTHERS FOREVER: The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice. Written with Col. Tom Manion (Ret.) and published by Da Capo Press, BROTHERS FOREVER will be released in May. To find out more about Tom Sileo, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website.

Brothers Forever: 'Loon-Dog'

Images courtesy: Da Capo Press

The following is an excerpt from "Brothers Forever," which I co-authored with retired U.S. Marine Col. Tom Manion. The book will be released on May 13.

In this scene, U.S. Navy LT (SEAL) Brendan Looney is serving in Afghanistan three years after his friend and Naval Academy roommate, Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion, was killed in Iraq.

"With the Taliban launching its annual spring offensive, Brendan and his platoon started to see more action in May [2010], just as he had predicted in his email to Tom and Janet [Manion]. Surrounded by jagged cliffs, extreme poverty, and acute desolation, which many of the younger SEALs had never experienced, it was Brendan's responsibility to keep them optimistic, focused, and sharp. But considering that the SEALs were sleeping on a [base] 'in the middle of nowhere,' thousands of miles from home, setting a positive tone was never an easy task.

"Rather than barking out orders to the SEALs under his command, Brendan was 'Loon-Dog.' The enlisted SEALs, or 'E-Dogs,' as they were nicknamed, loved working for the 29-year-old lieutenant, because even though Brendan was an officer, he still thought of himself as just one of the guys.

"During his deployment, Brendan spent roughly the equivalent of two full weeks on 'over watch' missions above three districts in northern Zabul province, where the lieutenant and SEALs under his command would look down from the cliffs to make sure their brothers in arms operating below were safe from lurking Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. But after only a day or two on the high ground, Brendan was concerned that his primary responsibilities as an officer and squad commander weren't enough of a contribution to his platoon. Upon returning to base, he started training on a .50 caliber sniper rifle so he could directly help his teammates blunt the enemy threat.

"After only limited training, Brendan was a consistent shot from a thousand yards. Over the next few months he made some of the most accurate shots his teammates had ever seen to protect Americans and Afghans in the villages below.

"Wearing a half-shell helmet and carrying heavy gear and the .50 cal sniper rifle in his huge backpack, the bearded warrior patrolled, exercised, ate and hung out with his entire platoon.

"When there was extra gear to carry, the officer threw it on his back instead of ordering enlisted SEALs to carry it. Regardless of the command structure or rank, Loon-Dog treated everyone with the same respect.

"When things got dicey on the battlefield, however, there was no mistaking who was in charge, like one day when gunfire rang out beneath the over watch position Brendan's SEAL team had established above a small, Taliban-controlled Afghan village.

"'Incoming!' Brendan yelled.

"As bullets pounded the mountain rocks that were shielding his team, who took cover as soon as they heard their leader's unmistakable voice, Brendan's commanding officer (CO) asked for a status report over the radio.

"'We've got enemy fire coming from just outside the village,' Brendan said. 'Nobody's been hit, and we're prepping the counterattack.'

"'Lieutenant?' the CO asked.

"'Sir?' Brendan repeated what he had said a few times before realizing the signal was dropping in and out, as it had been for most of the day.

"'Lieutenant,' the CO repeated. 'If you copy, call me on the SAT [satellite] phone.'

"As soon as Brendan heard the order, he broke his crouch and stood up. The SAT phone was a few yards in front of the boulder that was protecting him.

"'Whoa, Loon-Dog,' exclaimed a surprised fellow SEAL. 'Be careful, sir.'

"Brendan knew his CO wouldn't ask him to call unless it was extremely important, and for all he knew, retrieving the satellite phone could be a matter of life and death. Without blinking, Brendan hustled toward the phone, picked it up, and returned to his position as bullets whizzed by.

"'Loon-Dog ... you all right?' [Brendan's teammate] said.

"'I'm OK,' said Brendan, acting more like he was taking an afternoon stroll than engaging in an intense firefight.

"Brendan then told his CO that his men were ready to strike back at the enemy. Moments later he aimed his sniper rifle at the enemy position. When the day was over, the Navy SEALs had once again disrupted the Taliban's plans."

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

"Brothers Forever" will be released on May 13 and is available now for pre-order at brothersforeverbook.com

Always There

Images courtesy: Paula Boyer

When Saddam Hussein was captured by American forces, U.S. Army Master Sgt. Michael McNulty was there.

"He was just so proud and humble," Paula Boyer, then-wife of Master Sgt. McNulty, said. "But at the same time, he wasn't gloating ... it was not a time for gloating."

Like his fellow Delta Force warriors, Mike's chief concern was accomplishing a mission, rather than worrying about who got the credit.

"He would never tell us what he was doing," Paula said. "He would just say 'I have a job and I'll be out of the loop for [a certain] amount of time.'"

Growing up in northwest Chicago, Paula and Mike were high school sweethearts who would sneak around to see each other. Mike had already joined the Army when the couple got married on Jan. 3, 1987.

"Our love was bigger than any love anyone could ever imagine," Paula said.

Before she knew it, Paula was a military wife during the closing chapters of the Cold War. Even as they travelled around the world, the couple still welcomed four children in five years.

"He was a part of me and I was a part of him," Paula said about Mike. "He couldn't do his job without being whole, so we made each other whole."

Mike, Paula and their children were at Louisiana's Fort Polk when hijacked airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. They soon moved to North Carolina's Fort Bragg, where Mike quickly deployed to Afghanistan. With her husband in Special Operations during wartime, Paula knew the pattern would continue.

"He wasn't [at home] much, but when he was there, he was 100 percent there," Paula said.

Hours before the world learned that U.S. troops had pulled ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein out of a spider hole near his hometown of Tikrit, Mike called Paula with a simple message: "I'm OK." It wasn't until he came home that Mike's wife fully understood how the day's momentous events had impacted him.

"He was glowing because it was such a historical moment and he was there," Paula said. "He was just so proud to do something that he knows really affected the world and made the world a better place."

Less than two years later, on Apr. 8, 2005, Paula and one of the couple's two daughters dropped Mike off at his post for another Iraq deployment.

"I was used to dropping him off and never really got emotional, but that ride home ... my daughter and I just bawled and bawled," Paula said.

For the soldier's wife of 18 years, the hardest part of Mike's deployment wasn't caring for four kids. It was waiting to hear from her husband.

"Until another phone call, time just stood still," Paula said.

In the early morning hours of June 17, 2005, Paula was about to go see her youngest son, Eric, graduate from Junior ROTC when six soldiers arrived at her home.

"I will never, ever, ever forget that day," she said.

According to the Pentagon, Master Sgt. Michael McNulty, 36, and Master Sgt. Robert Horrigan, 40, had been killed by enemy fire while conducting combat operations in al-Qaim, Iraq.

"He was brought to the field hospital," Paula said about her husband. "The unit doc did surgery, and Mike didn't make it."

For Paula and her four children, the world as they knew it had been shattered. The only thing they could count on was each other, as well as the compassion of those around them.

"I received so many letters and cards from people ... so much support from the community," Paula said. "It was just overwhelming."

In more than eight years since the soldier's death, his four children have made the difficult adjustment of growing up without their dad's physical presence. But as Eric demonstrated by deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq, Mike's spirit endures.

"He has a huge impact on us," Paula said.

Paula Boyer has since remarried, but like her children, she will never forget an American hero who — to this day — is always there.

"I wouldn't be who I am today without every part of Mike," she said. "I will continue to live with him, for him and about him."

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Tom Sileo is a nationally syndicated columnist and co-author of BROTHERS FOREVER: The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice. Written with Col. Tom Manion (Ret.) and published by Da Capo Press, BROTHERS FOREVER will be released in May. To find out more about Tom Sileo, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website.

The Day After Memorial Day

Image courtesy: U.S. Army

This year, the United States will observe its 13th Memorial Day since 9/11. Thousands of Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice since our country was attacked, yet many mark this occasion with barbeques and ballgames, while forgetting to honor our nation's fallen.

The holiday's significance will never be lost on Rachaelle Langmack. The day after Memorial Day 2005, Rachaelle was worried about her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Steven Langmack, who was deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force. Things were never the same for the military wife and the couple's two children when Steven was in harm's way.

"That's when they came and knocked on my door," Rachaelle said.

At first, Rachaelle thought the soldiers standing outside her Raeford, N.C. home were two of Steven's friends. That hope ended when the Army wife heard five terrible words: "We regret to inform you ... "

"I just lost it," Rachaelle said. "But my first thought was for my kids."

Rachaelle met Steven near Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., shortly after he returned from serving in Operation Desert Storm.

"I definitely wanted no part of a military guy," she admitted with a chuckle. "But a lot of [why Rachaelle was drawn to Steven] was his confidence ... he was very self-assured and funny."

Images courtesy: Rachaelle Langmack

By the late 1990s, the couple was married and raising two sons. Even before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, raising a military family was a challenge.

"Before 9/11 and everything, guys were still going places and still jumping out of airplanes ... there were a lot of training accidents," Rachaelle said. "It was still a dangerous job."

After America was attacked, the danger Steven was already facing crystallized into an even more serious threat.

"My husband used to always equate a lot of things to practice for a big football game," the soldier's wife said. "All that training ... they were preparing to fight. Once 9/11 happened and we were going to war, that was the game."

Steven quickly deployed to Afghanistan, and was back and forth from the country numerous times in nearly four years.

"It was horrible," Rachaelle said. "There was one deployment when [a fellow soldier] was killed. That was really hard ... that was the first time I've seen him break down."

In 2005, Steven and Rachaelle were busy fixing up a 100-year-old farmhouse that their family would soon call home. Even though a deployment to Iraq was on the horizon, Steven fully devoted himself to his wife and two boys.

"He kept his work life very separate from his family life," Steven's wife said. "He never wore a uniform at home."

The soldier's work and family lives tragically merged in the violent Iraqi town of Al Qaim, where U.S. troops fought many fierce battles with insurgents and terrorists.

"Steven was shot while breaching a house," his wife said. "They were going after some bad guys."

The death of Sgt. 1st Class Steven Langmack, 33, was a devastating blow to the entire community, which immediately wrapped its collective arms around the fallen hero's children.

"How was I going to tell them?" Rachaelle said. "They loved their dad a lot ... they were very close."

In order to compose herself, Rachaelle waited a few hours after the receiving the dreadful news before having her kids picked up from school.

"I thought I had to be really strong for them, because if I broke down, they would break down," she said.

More than eight years after the brave soldier, devoted husband and loving father was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, his towering legacy gives daily strength to his widow and two sons.

"I've always admired him, and I try to raise my kids the same way that we tried to raise them together," Rachaelle Langmack said. "It's hard doing this by yourself, but I feel like when you bring them into this world — the military world — you kind of have to sacrifice part of yourself."

More than 12 years after 9/11, there is no doubt that our military's sacrifices continue. The only question is whether this Memorial Day — and the day after — the rest of the country will once again take notice.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Tom Sileo is a nationally syndicated columnist and co-author of BROTHERS FOREVER: The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice. Written with Col. Tom Manion (Ret.) and published by Da Capo Press, BROTHERS FOREVER will be released in May. To find out more about Tom Sileo, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website.

Never Complain

Images courtesy: Kantor family

Navy SEALs are known for their bravery, toughness and physical prowess. But as I've met, interviewed and written about these American heroes, the trait that's impressed me most is the one Mary Jane Kantor emphasized about her son during our recent phone interview.

"He never complained," she said repeatedly.

Long before U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Kantor became one of our nation's elite warriors, he was thinking about serving his country while growing up about 30 miles from Manhattan in Gillette, N.J.

"He always wanted to go into the military ... since the day he was born, really," Mary Jane said.

When Matt was in high school, military recruiters started calling the Kantor home. His mother would usually hang up on them, fearing that the horror her community had felt on 9/11 — when Matt was 11 years old — would someday put her son's life at risk. But no matter how much she tried to dissuade him, Matt was on a mission.

"He was training for something," Matt's mom said. "He wasn't joining the swim team for fun ... he would be swimming lap after lap."

Following high school, Matt received a full scholarship to the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He returned home to his parents after four days.

"Your dream is college," Matt said to his mom. "My dream is to become a Navy SEAL."

Each year, hundreds of the nation's strongest and bravest try to become SEALs. Most fail. Matt, who trained in New York with former SEALs before heading to Coronado, Calif., was unwavering in his quest to graduate from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training.

"He was determined," Mary Jane said. "Things were going pretty well ... he never complained about it."

In May 2010, after making it through "Hell Week" and more than five additional months of one of the world's most rigorous training programs, Matt completed BUD/S. He wasn't old enough to buy a beer, but Matt had earned his Navy SEAL trident.

Soon after he was stationed near Virginia Beach, Matt called his mom with big news: He would soon deploy to Afghanistan with SEAL Team Four.

"To him, and to all those guys, I think, that's where they want to go," the SEAL's mom said. "You train for it for three years."

Matt had been in Afghanistan for about six weeks when Superstorm Sandy began ravaging his home state. On Nov. 1, 2012, Matt's parents had just returned home from their daughter's college, Rutgers University, where they took their first hot showers in days after losing electricity.

Then, at about 11 p.m., their doorbell rang. When Matt's father, Kenneth, answered, he saw something just as terrible as the surrounding aftermath of a deadly hurricane. Outside in the dark were two Navy sailors tasked with sharing dreadful news about their son.

"I really did not believe it," Matt's mom said of the harrowing moments that followed.

A few days later, the devastated Kantors received a letter from SEAL Team Four in Afghanistan.

"While on patrol, several insurgents mounted a complex machine gun attack on Matt and his team," it read in part. "Without fear or hesitation, Matt moved to protect his teammates and was mortally wounded by the heavy machine gun fire.

"He was the first line of defense for his team and his actions were directly responsible for saving the lives of his element and protecting the main body of the patrol," the letter continued. "Matt was true to form in his last moments, a gallant and noble warrior who put his team above himself."

Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Kantor, 22, would posthumously receive the Bronze Star with Valor. When Kenneth eulogized his son in a packed church operating on generator power, he captured the feelings of the fallen warrior's loved ones, friends and teammates.

"I am so, so proud of you," Matt's dad said. "You died a hero."

Even after losing their oldest son, Kenneth and Mary Jane Kantor exemplify the trait that Matt shared with his fellow Navy SEALs. They never complain, and are also grateful to everyone who continues to surround their family with love and support.

"As hard as it is, it's nice that people aren't forgetting him," Matt's mom said.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Tom Sileo is a nationally syndicated columnist and co-author of BROTHERS FOREVER: The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice. Written with Col. Tom Manion (Ret.) and published by Da Capo Press, BROTHERS FOREVER will be released in May. To find out more about Tom Sileo, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website.

The Tattoo

Images courtesy: Sgt. Steven J. DeLuzio Memorial Fund

Shortly after returning from six tense months on the violent streets of Iraq's Al Anbar Province, U.S. Army Sgt. Steven DeLuzio sat down with his parents.

"Steven came home from Iraq and said 'you have 30 minutes to ask me anything you want, and then I'll never talk about it again,'" the soldier's father, Mark DeLuzio, said.

Steven's dad quickly noticed a tattoo on one of his son's arms that appeared to depict the shrouded face of an Iraqi woman. When Mark asked Steven what the tattoo signified, the soldier explained that the female civilian had warned his patrol about a roadside bomb buried not far from their Humvee.

"The lady saved his life," Mark said.

Eventually, the grateful American soldiers went back to the Ramadi neighborhood to thank the woman for her words of warning. What they found inside her home was shocking and horrific.

"Steven found the woman, her husband and their kids all beheaded," the soldier's father said. "It really weighed on him."

Nobody forced Steven to serve in western Iraq, where countless insurgents have terrorized innocent men, women and children. While growing up in suburban Connecticut, Steven and his older brother, Scott, developed a deep respect for our nation's flag and those who defend it.

"They were very patriotic kids, and when 9/11 happened, they both felt a call and felt they wanted to do something," Mark said.

"It's a volunteer Army and they both volunteered to go," Steven and Scott's mother, Diane DeLuzio, added. "That's what they wanted to do."

In 2006, Steven was attending college in Vermont when he deployed to Iraq with the state's National Guard. While fearing for their youngest son's safety, Mark and Diane already knew of his bravery. At age 3, Steven had jumped on a bike without training wheels, and from that day forward, never backed down from a challenge.

"He wasn't a perfect kid — we knew he had his flaws — but he was always mature for his age," Diane said.

Much happened between Steven's 2006 return from Iraq and another 2010 combat deployment to Afghanistan. He graduated from college with an accounting degree, became an uncle and learned that his brother, Scott, would also deploy to Afghanistan around the same time.

Steven also asked his high school sweetheart, Leeza, to marry him. Their wedding date was set for Sept. 17, 2011, but before anyone could celebrate, Steven and Scott would have to survive Afghanistan.

"You worry, of course," their dad said. "We knew how dangerous Ramadi was, we knew how dangerous Afghanistan was, and now we had two there at the same time."

When Steven arrived in mountainous eastern Afghanistan, communication with his parents became scant, unlike Iraq. But whenever they did hear his voice, like in one particular August 2010 voicemail, Mark and Diane would smile.

"He was so excited that Leeza's sister was going to have a baby ... he was so excited to be an uncle again," Steven's mom said. "That was the last time we heard his voice."

On Aug. 22, 2010, Sgt. Steven DeLuzio, 25, and a fellow soldier, Sgt. Tristan Southworth, 21, were killed during a fierce clash with enemy fighters. Before anyone could blink, Sgt. Scott DeLuzio was escorting his brother's flag-draped casket out of Afghanistan.

"Steven was the first one killed in the battle," the fallen hero's dad said. "(U.S. forces) ended up prevailing, believe it or not."

When thousands lined Connecticut highways and South Glastonbury streets to honor their hometown hero, the DeLuzios knew their youngest son — like his big brother — had truly made a difference.

"It was very comforting to me at the time to know that so many people missed him," Steven's mom said. "In 25 years, he did so much."

One of the things Steven did was permanently memorialize the Iraqi woman who gave him the opportunity to live four more years.

"That's why he had the tattoo — to remember her," Mark said.

While we may not all have tattoos honoring the thousands of brave men and women to make the ultimate sacrifice since 9/11, the names, faces, words and deeds of heroes like Sgt. Steven DeLuzio should be emblazoned inside our hearts.

"Steven was a real leader," his father said.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Tom Sileo is a nationally syndicated columnist and co-author of BROTHERS FOREVER: The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice. Written with Col. Tom Manion (Ret.) and published by Da Capo Press, BROTHERS FOREVER will be released in May. To find out more about Tom Sileo, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website.

Brothers Forever: 'If Not Me, Then Who...'

Image courtesy: Travis Manion Foundation

Every week, I write a column about America's heroes and their families that your newspaper is kind enough to publish. I am eternally grateful for the support of readers like you, who are eager to read the personal stories of our nation's brave men and women in uniform.

On Feb. 6, 2011, my first column — "Closer to You" — marked the beginning of this series, which was aimed at increasing awareness about the sacrifices still being made by our military community. It told the story of U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion, 26, who was killed in Iraq on Apr. 29, 2007, and U.S. Navy LT (SEAL) Brendan Looney, 29, who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan on Sept. 21, 2010. These close friends and U.S. Naval Academy roommates are buried side-by-side at Arlington National Cemetery.

Nine months later, I started writing a book with 1st Lt. Manion's father, U.S. Marine Col. Tom Manion (Ret.). "Brothers Forever," which will be published by Da Capo Press in May, chronicles not only the enduring bond of Travis and Brendan, who met just before 9/11, but salutes their courageous families and all the heroes who have stepped forward since our country was attacked.

The following excerpt is adapted from the fourth chapter of "Brothers Forever." In December 2006, Travis was attending a Monday Night Football game with his brother-in-law while preparing for his second deployment to Fallujah, Iraq. The five words Travis uttered that night — "if not me, then who ... " — deeply inspired his friend and former roommate, Brendan, as he subsequently trained to become a U.S. Navy SEAL. It also sparked a national movement and motivated people outside the military community, like me, to help tell this powerful story.

"Even so close to going back to Iraq, Travis's demeanor was calm. He was doing exactly what he wanted with his life, and instead of complaining about spending the next 12 months in a war-ravaged city that could justifiably be labeled a hell hole, he felt fortunate for the chance to put all the hard work of the last eight years to good use.

As [Travis and his brother-in-law, Dave] listened to one of Travis's favorite iPod playlists, which consisted of everything from Johnny Cash and Elton John to Ben Harper and The Roots, Dave took a sip of his beer and leaned against his car in silence as his visible breath blended with smoke from a small grill to fill the chilly air near the two-man tailgate. Dave knew young Americans were dying in Iraq almost every day, including a soldier named Pfc. Ross McGinnis, who had died the previous weekend in Baghdad. The 19-year-old Knox, Pa., native, who dove on top of a grenade to save the lives of fellow Army soldiers, would later become the fourth U.S. service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism displayed in Iraq.

Dave was an avid reader, particularly of military-themed books and magazines, and was following the war closely. He knew Travis faced severe risks in Fallujah, particularly in a unit that guided Iraqi soldiers around the city's hostile streets. Though he never mentioned the full scope of his fears to [Travis's sister] Ryan, or for that matter Travis, he was worried about whether he would see his brother-in-law again. In fact, part of him wished he could talk Travis out of leaving, even though he knew it would be an exercise in futility.

'Hey, Trav, if I tripped you right now and you fell and broke your ankle, do you think they'd let you sit this deployment out?' he asked.

Travis chuckled at Dave's joke, but didn't say much in response. A brief moment of slightly awkward silence followed. Suddenly Travis spoke up.

'You know what though, Dave?' Travis said with an unmistakably serious look on his face. 'If I don't go, they're going to send another Marine in my place who doesn't have my training.'

'If not me, then who ... you know what I mean?' he continued. 'It's either me or that other guy who isn't ready, so I'm the one who has to get the job done.'"

"Brothers Forever" will be released on May 13 and is available now for pre-order at brothersforeverbook.com.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

The Young and the Brave

Images courtesy: Tahler Hostetter

U.S. Army Pfc. Jonathon Hostetter was 8 years old on Sept. 11, 2001. He was 20 when he deployed to Afghanistan in March 2013.

"It was very, very hard when he left," the soldier's wife, Tahler Hostetter, said.

Jon met Tahler through a mutual friend in their home state of Missouri. They were married on Jan. 26, 2013, about two months before the soldier went to war.

"For me, it's hard to pick out one thing that I loved most about Jon when I loved absolutely everything about him," Tahler wrote in an email following our phone interview. "He was everything I could of ever dreamed of in a man and so much more."

Immediately after their wedding, the young couple moved to New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range, where Jon and his fellow soldiers were making final preparations for Afghanistan.

"I'm only 20 years old, and it was pretty crazy for me to go from being in school to moving halfway across the country to become a military wife," Tahler said. "It gave me so much more appreciation for military wives and military members."

When Jon deployed, Tahler found herself in the conundrum thousands of military spouses still experience during America's longest war. All of a sudden, she was alone.

"The Internet out there in Afghanistan isn't great, but I was very thankful that I was able to talk to him because that helped me get through it," she said.

Even after dangerous missions in the southeastern province of Ghazni, the soldier would always make sure to call his wife.

"Jon was always in good spirits," Tahler said.

At 4 a.m. New Mexico time on Aug. 23, 2013, Tahler exchanged text messages with Jon, who was leaving for a combat mission.

"I love you so much," the husband wrote.

"I love you more," his wife replied. "Please be so careful."

Jon's missions usually lasted a few hours, but on that hot summer morning, it took longer than usual to hear from him. Before heading home from lunch, the soldier's wife told a friend she was worried.

"I wasn't home 20 minutes and I remember seeing someone pull up outside," Tahler said. "I could hear gravel moving and people walking up to the door and thinking 'oh, my gosh, this isn't happening.'"

According to the Pentagon, Pfc. Jonathon Hostetter and Spc. Kenneth Alvarez, 23, of Santa Maria, Calif., were killed when terrorists attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. In the moments after receiving the dreadful news, "no" was Tahler's best defense against the unthinkable.

"I said it couldn't have been my husband because I just talked to him this morning," Tahler painfully recalled.

Just months after moving from Missouri to New Mexico, Tahler was in Delaware to meet her husband's flag-draped casket. While in Dover, Tahler also spoke with the wife and parents of Spc. Alvarez, an opportunity for which she remains grateful.

After landing in Kansas City, Jon and his loved ones were escorted to their small town of Milan, Mo., by the Patriot Guard Riders.

"Every town we went through, there were people lining the bridges and highways with huge signs saying 'thank you for your service' and waving flags," Tahler said. "Jon touched a lot of lives and it's amazing to see the impact he had."

After the funeral, Tahler moved back to Missouri to live with Jon's parents, who Tahler called "the best in-laws in the world." While grateful for the support she's received, thinking about what's next is a daily struggle for the 20-year-old Afghanistan war widow.

"It's kind of hard for me to picture my future, because it's hard for me to picture my future without Jon," she said.

In January, Tahler Hostetter enrolled at North Central Missouri College with a goal of honoring her husband, who always wanted her to finish school.

"I still think about Jon every single day and it distracts me," said Tahler, speaking through tears. "I just wish he was here with me."

Even in her most challenging moments, Tahler still hears the voice of Pfc. Jonathon Hostetter.

"I can hear Jon in the back of my head telling me to keep going," she said.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Tom Sileo is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of BROTHERS FOREVER: The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice. Written with Col. Tom Manion (Ret.) and published by Da Capo Press, BROTHERS FOREVER will be released in May. To find out more about Tom Sileo, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website.

Go Get 'Em

Images courtesy: Marcie Robertson

Moments after being shot while charging toward the enemy, Sgt. 1st Class Forrest Robertson had a message for his U.S. Army teammates.

"Go get 'em, boys," Sgt. 1st Class Robertson uttered just before his final breath.

It was Nov. 3, 2013, and in about three weeks, Forrest, 35, was supposed to return from his fifth combat deployment to his wife and three daughters. Instead, Marcie Robertson heard her doorbell ring shortly after the fierce battle in Pul-i-Alam, Afghanistan, was over.

"I couldn't speak," the soldier's wife said about the moment she knew her husband had been killed. "I couldn't form words."

Though under vastly different circumstances, the last time Marcie's ability to speak failed her was in high school, when she and Forrest, who had grown up together in Kansas, first realized how attracted they were to one another.

"I could tell by the way he looked at me that he loved me," Marcie said.

Just before finishing high school in 1996, Forrest joined the Army. Even though it was peacetime, a teenage Marcie, who was terrified by the idea of becoming a military wife, told Forrest it was time to break up.

"I didn't think I could handle it," she said.

By 2000, just as Forrest was returning from a deployment to Bosnia, the couple got back together and quickly decided to get married.

"We were planning our wedding for October 2001," Marcie said. "(Then) September 11th happened, and he was hearing rumors that he could get deployed."

After speeding up their wedding in case Forrest had to leave, the couple was hastily thrust into the rigors of military life during wartime. With every family milestone, it seemed, there was a parallel to history.

"My daughter was born the day the war started in Iraq," Marcie said. "She was three weeks old when he left."

Forrest served two combat deployments in Iraq as his wife adjusted to being, in essence, a single mom while he was away. Whenever she became stressed by caring for the kids alone, however, Marcie would lean on her husband's strength.

"It always amazed me how good he was at being a dad," she said. "I think I adapted the same way he did."

Marcie vividly remembers a phone call from her husband's subsequent first deployment to Afghanistan. It came after the platoon sergeant led his men through a chaotic firefight.

"He said that all his guys did exactly what they were supposed to do," said Marcie, whose husband received a Bronze Star with Valor following the battle. "That's what I remember ... him being so proud of his guys."

Forrest left for Afghanistan a second time in February 2013. The soldier was promoted during the deployment, which shifted his job from the battlefield to sitting behind a desk. But by Nov. 1 — the day he called his wife for the last time — Forrest was once again leading a platoon in combat.

"He was so happy," Marcie, her voice cracking from emotion, said. "I'm so, so glad that I got to hear him that happy."

For months, Forrest's fellow soldiers have been describing their leader's final acts of courage — including "go get 'em boys" — to his grieving wife.

"You see movies, and you hear people talk about things like this, but he was a hero," Marcie said. "(The soldiers) all say they'll never forget what he did."

Almost 2,000 American flags lined the streets when Forrest's flag-draped casket arrived in frigid Wamego, Kan. At the soldier's funeral, hundreds of shivering mourners listened to the service on a loudspeaker outside the overflowing church.

"I just felt like I wasn't alone," Marcie said. "I know that he was loved ... the time he was with us wasn't wasted."

Twelve years after 9/11, Marcie Robertson, 34, is raising three girls who desperately miss their dad.

"I have to sit and cry with them ... that's my job," she said. "I just tell them that someday, we're going to be OK."

Every day, the last words spoken by Sgt. 1st Class Forrest Robertson inspire his brothers in arms. Perhaps, as his wife and daughters try to overcome an incomprehensible loss, they will hear a similar battle cry: "Go get 'em, girls."

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Tom Sileo is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of BROTHERS FOREVER: The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice. Written with Col. Tom Manion (Ret.) and published by Da Capo Press, BROTHERS FOREVER will be released in May. To find out more about Tom Sileo, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website.

Two Families

Images courtesy: Chambers family

When U.S. Army Sgt. David Chambers left for his first Afghanistan deployment, he told his mother how he felt about his fellow soldiers.

"I leave one family to go to the other," Sgt. Chambers said.

During his combat tour, which lasted from June 2010 to May 2011, Dave and his Stryker Brigade teammates were struck by an enemy improvised explosive device.

"They were in a transport vehicle when they hit (the IED), so it got blown over," Dave's mom, Julie Chambers, told The Unknown Soldiers. "(Dave) had injuries to his ear and shoulder, but nobody was severely hurt."

The incident was a harrowing reminder of Julie and her husband Mike's initial fears about their youngest son's 2009 decision to enlist.

"We didn't want him to join the Army," Julie, who noted that Dave chose a dangerous infantry assignment, said. "But we knew there was nothing we could do ... Dave wanted to be in the Army. We just had to love and support him."

As a young boy growing up in Hampton, Va. — where his family still lives — Dave and his older brother, Steve, always seemed to be playing baseball and exploring the neighborhood.

"He liked to be active, even at that age," Dave's mom said. "He liked to work out and run."

The only quality Dave lacked as a youngster, according to his mother, was consistent focus. That all changed once he chose to serve his country.

"The Army was made for Dave, and I would never thought it before I saw him (after boot camp)," Julie explained. "He just loved it."

Even after a difficult year in Afghanistan, Dave showed no trepidation when he found out that his Fort Lewis-based unit would deploy a second time.

"He enjoyed his first tour, which scared me to death since his ear was already torn up," his mother said. "I was scared about what Dave was doing."

Almost immediately upon Dave's November 2012 arrival in Afghanistan, the team leader noticed stark differences between his respective deployments.

"It was stressful there ... there was a lot of fighting every day," Julie explained. "He said 'it's just constant, not like the first time.'"

Dave was appalled by the enemy's brutal treatment of civilians.

"The Taliban doesn't care about these people," said Julie, paraphrasing her son's words. "They'll kill them."

On Jan. 15, 2013, Dave sent a Facebook message to his mother before heading out on a mission.

"I'm OK, mom," he wrote. "Don't worry."

The next day, Julie received a knock on her front door and received the news she had been dreading since her son originally joined the Army. Sergeant David Chambers, 25, had been killed while serving in Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar Province.

The details of the tragedy were excruciating, but also crystallized the dedication of the fallen hero and his unit. While leading a combat patrol, Dave stepped on an IED that resulted in devastating injuries to his arms and legs. The soldier walking behind him, who was also hit, rushed to care for his team leader before worrying about his own injuries.

For two hours, Dave's teammates did everything they could to keep their wounded brother alive. After a courageous struggle, Dave succumbed to his massive wounds.

"I know that was hard on them," Julie said of her son's fellow warriors. "But they all said they would have given their lives for Dave."

Speaking the day after the one-year anniversary of Dave's death, Julie recalled her son's funeral procession. Braving a snowstorm, hundreds of supporters came together to warm a grieving family's heart.

"Sidewalks were just lined with people," the fallen hero's mom said. "It just made me understand that people appreciated his sacrifices."

The day before we spoke, Julie received a call from the soldier who survived the Jan. 16, 2013, IED attack that took her son's life.

"He's just missing Dave," Julie said. "He said (Dave) was the best team leader he ever had."

While the void left by the passing of Sgt. David Chambers will never be filled, his loved ones will always be grateful to the fallen hero's second family.

"The Army was so good to us," Julie said.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Tom Sileo is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of BROTHERS FOREVER: The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice. Written with Col. Tom Manion (Ret.) and published by Da Capo Press, BROTHERS FOREVER will be released in May. To find out more about Tom Sileo, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website.