Polk will be honored as a hero

2nd FIREFIGHTER KILLED IN IRAQ-WAS WITH Sgt KRAMER....
REST IN PEACE Sgt. ROGER ADAMS.

There was another Firefighter killed with Sgt 1st class Kramer. He is Sgt. Roger Adams of the Half Moon VFD. An improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee in Baghdad on Monday, killing the 2 of them, as a part of the four soldiers who were lost-assigned to the 120th Combined Arms Battalion in Wilmington.

2 of the lost were Firefighters, Sgt. Roger L. Adams Jr., 36, of Jacksonville and Sgt. 1st Class Edward C. Kramer, 39, a Firefighter of Wilmington. Kramer and Adams were former Marines as well.

Adams served as a Marine infantryman for 13 years before joining the National Guard in 2006. As a Marine he completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He leaves behind a wife and four sons.

“I lost the love of my life, the boys lost their dad,” said Teresa Adams, his wife. “We were his world. His sons were his passion. He was the most selfless person I ever knew or ever will know.”

His family describes Adams as selfless and family oriented.

Adams was EMT certified and worked with the Half Moon Volunteer Fire Department. His wife became a volunteer fire fighter and they answered his last call before deployment together.

We paid tribute to Sgt Kramer earlier this week.

Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Sgt Roger Adams.

By Carolyn Thompson
Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Flags flew at half-staff above fire stations Tuesday in honor of a firefighter and decorated Army reservist who was killed while training security forces in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Dill, 32, who was assigned to the Rochester-based 98th Division, was fatally shot Monday during an attack on his unit, a spokesman for the 98th said.

“Here’s Chris, who not only fought for his country as a soldier, but he fought for his community as a Buffalo firefighter,” said Fire Commissioner Michael D’Orazio, who ordered the flags lowered.

“Our family is pretty proud,” said Dill’s father, William Dill, himself an Air Force veteran and retired firefighter.

Dill joined the Reserves after serving in Desert Storm with the 24th Infantry. A drill sergeant, he was mobilized with the 98th Division in October.

“He was a kid that loved what he was doing,” William Dill said Tuesday from his Tonawanda home.

Christopher Dill received the Bronze Star for valor late last year following a mission in Fallujah with some of the Iraqi troops he had trained, his father said.

Of the 150 troops, only 50 had shown up for the mission, Dill had told his father. But since the Iraqi elections, he had noticed a change in the Iraqis, one he hoped would speed his return home.

“Our Iraqis are pretty much squared away. Much of the chaos is gone and they are running somewhat of a professional unit,” Dill wrote in an e-mail to his father March 25.

“His mission was to get them prepared. He saw some light at the end of the tunnel,” the father said.

Besides his father, Dill is survived by his wife of five years, Dawn, and his mother and two sisters.

Ed Hanzel, former Chester fire chief, killed in Iraq

Friday, January 04, 2008
Patrick O'Donnell
Plain Dealer Reporter
Former Chester Township Fire Chief Ed Hanzel has been killed in Iraq while working for a private contractor.

Details of his death were unavailable Thursday, but township fire officials expect his body to be brought back to Cleveland Saturday for services on Tuesday.

Hanzel served as chief in the Geauga County township from 1998 through 2002 and served as a part-time firefighter for 32 years before retiring in 2005. He also was a full-time firefighter in Beachwood for 25 years. He left Beachwood in 2002.

He joined the private security firm Wackenhut Services Inc. in 2006. According to the firm's Web site, it provides fire services to 20 Department of Defense locations in Iraq.

Family members could not be reached Thursday. But according to earlier posts by his wife, Denise, on a firefighting Web site, Han zel joined WSI to earn extra money in re tirement.

When he was first sent to Iraq in November 2006, Denise Hanzel said in the posts that she was nervous and worried for his safety.

Though she has since moved to Michigan, their son Jason lives in the family's Chester Township home.

Arrangements will be handled by Gattozzi & Son Funeral Home in Chester Township.

Current Fire Chief John Wargelin said Hanzel was always a friendly person with an infectious smile who preferred that his men just call him "Eddie."

"He was almost embarrassed sometimes if you called him chief," Wargelin said.

Though details are still pending, Wargelin said he expects his department, joined by a color guard from the Beachwood Fire Department, will escort his body back to Chester Township on Saturday.

After calling hours on Monday, a memorial service is tentatively set for 11:30 a.m. at St. Anselm Catholic Church, 12969 Chillicothe Road (Ohio 306), Chester Township. 

A Fort Bragg-based Special Forces soldier was killed in Afghanistan. Sgt. Timothy P. Padgett, 28, of DeFuniak Springs, Fla., died Tuesday in Tarin Kwot, Afghanistan. He suffered fatal wounds when his unit was attacked by enemy forces during combat patrol operations. Padgett was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg. Padgett was an Army Ranger Medic and a South Walton Fire District firefighter and paramedic.

It is with deep regret we inform you that Tristan Smith from the Bryn Athyn. Fire Company (PA) was Killed In Action in Iraq. We offer our sympathy to the family and have already offered Bryn Athyn Fire any assistance they need.

Michigan Firefighter Killed In Iraq

Funeral Information In Bold Below

BISI ONILE-ERE
Courtesy of WJRTY

 

Courtesy of Swartz Creek Area Fire Department Brandon Webb was both a firefighter and a Marine.

Courtesy of Swartz Creek Area Fire Department

SWARTZ CREEK - (06/20/06)-- A Mid-Michigan family is mourning the loss of a United States Marine killed in Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Brandon Webb, 20, of Swartz Creek, was killed early Tuesday morning. The vehicle he was riding in was struck by a roadside bomb just outside of Fallujah.

Tuesday night a mother was trying to come to grips with losing her youngest son.

"I wasn't expecting this. I don't think any parent does," said mother Ann Marie Christofferson.

Christofferson spoke to her son five days ago. It was the last time she would ever speak to him again alive.

"I always had the philosophy that as long as I didn't see the Marine Corps pull up in my driveway or get a call from Red Cross, I knew he was OK," she said.

The day she dreaded since her son became a Marine two years ago is here.

"(Tuesday) I sent him a huge package, and I came home to see the Marine Corps sitting in their truck, waiting for me," she said.

Webb and his unit were on road patrol in Fallujah when their vehicle was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device. The 20 year old died several hours after the blast.

Two others from his unit were also killed.

"That was my baby," Christofferson said. "He's always wanted to be a Marine -- ever since he was a kid for one, but then he wanted to fight for the country and make the country a better place."

Webb was to return home Aug. 2. His bedroom is just as he left it. He had plans to work alongside his mother as a firefighter at the Swartz Creek Fire Department like he had in the past.

"He was probably the best kid you would want to be around. He never met anybody that didn't think he was awesome," Christofferson said.

Now instead of preparing for his homecoming, this mother of two is mourning the loss of one son.

"You just hope that they come home safe," Christofferson said. "I think God wanted him more than he wanted him here."

Funeral arrangements have not yet been set. The Pentagon says it plans to send more troops into Iraq. Another 21,000 U.S. troops will apparently be deployed by the end of the year.

---

The Swartz Creek Area Fire Department's memorial website laments the following:

"Although you were with us only a short time, you touched us in a way that will not be forgotten.

"Thank you Brandon for being a part of the SCAFD and serving your country so honorably."

The following funeral information is posted on the Swartz Creek Area Fire Department's website:

Swartz Funeral Home, G1225 W. Hill Rd., Flint, MI 810-235-2345 Visitation will be Wednesday, June 28, 1700 to 2000 Thursday, June 29, 1400 to 1600 and 1800 to 2000 Friday, June 30, 1400 to 1600. Funeral services will start at 1600.

All emergency personnel and apparatus will muster at the Home Depot parking lot across the street from Swartz Funeral Home by 1500. At 1530, a procession will start that will circle the funeral home. A group of apparatus may be parked on the north side of Hill Rd. to block anticipated protestors. This aspect and the number of apparatus needed will be determined by the number of apparatus that show up for the funeral. Following the procession, uniform personnel will line up outside the funeral home entrance. A filing past the casket will commence just before the funeral, after which uniform personnel will be seated in a designated area. Communication will be held on the 800 MHZ radio system. The specific talk group will be announced by Genesee Central Dispatch just prior to the June 30, 1500 muster.

There is also a memorial for Jeremy at: www.estacadafire.org

June 9, 2006

- BORING, Ore. - A funeral was held Friday for U.S. Army field medic Jeremy Loveless, who was killed in Iraq, near Mosul, in late May.

The 25-year-old's funeral was held in Boring at the Good Shepherd Community Church at 1 p.m.

Loveless was training to become a paramedic in civilian life when he was killed.

Loveless leaves a wife, Melissa, and a 4-year-old daughter, Chloe.

Family members say Loveless had been in the Army for about two years.

According to Governor Kulongoski's office, Loveless was the 61st person from Oregon or with close ties to the state to die in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Loveless was reportedly shot by a sniper when he exited a

Baltimore firefighter dies in Iraq
Man was serving in National Guard

By Gina Davis
Sun Reporter
Originally published October 16, 2005

A Baltimore Fire Department lieutenant was killed in Iraq last
week while serving with the Maryland Army National Guard, city
Fire Department officials confirmed yesterday.

Fire Lt. Brian Conner, 32, of Baltimore was in Iraq with the
243rd Infantry Division when he was killed Thursday, said Fire
Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright. No further details
about Conner's death were available last night.

Conner, who joined the Fire Department in 1993, had been an
emergency vehicle driver before being promoted to lieutenant,
Cartwright said. His first assignment was as a firefighter recruit
with Truck Company 9.

Yesterday afternoon, outside the fire station in West Baltimore
where Conner worked, members of Engine Company 20 flew a
flag at half-staff in Conner's honor.

"He was an upbeat, jovial person. He liked to joke around,"
Cartwright said. "But when it came time to getting serious with
the job ... he kicked it into gear.

"He was tenacious," Cartwright said. "He would go in there and
confront the fire with no problem."

Late yesterday, Department of Defense officials had not
confirmed Conner's death, but Cartwright said Conner's family
had notified fire officials of the death Friday.

Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a spokesman with the Department of
Defense, said he could neither confirm the death nor provide
details about Conner's military service until the department
officially releases the information. He gave no date for when
that might happen.

Conner is survived by a daughter, Adrianna, 10, and his
mother, Cartwright said. He did not have the mother's name.
He said that a Fire Department commander had been
dispatched to assist the family.

Pickerington Marine Dustin Derga killed Sunday in
Iraq

May 12, 2005
By MACKENZIE FRY
ThisWeek Staff Writer

A Pickerington Marine who wrote recently in a Web
site posting that he was "so ready to come home"
was killed Sunday in Iraq. Cpl. Dustin A. Derga,
24, died in Ubaydi as the result of enemy fire,
the Department of Defense reported Monday. Derga,
a 1999 graduate of Pickerington High School, was
assigned to Marine Forces Reserves 3rd Battalion,
25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.

Arkansas firefighter killed in Iraq bombing

The Associated Press May 8, 2005

A Russellville firefighter working for a contractor in Iraq was among two Americans killed when a bomb exploded in Baghdad, killing 22 people in all.

The contractor, CTU Consulting of Fayetteville, N.C., said Todd James Venette was killed in the Saturday bombing. Venette moved to Arkansas a number of years ago from his native Colorado because his mother had moved to the state, near White Hall, according to people who knew him.

Also killed was Brandon Thomas, CTU said, declining to release the hometown of either victim.

The Russellville Fire Department said Sunday that Venette had worked as a firefighter and built a reputation as an eager member of the team. The Pope County Sheriff's Department said Venette also worked for a time as a reserve deputy. Spokesmen for both agencies said people who knew Venette were feeling the loss.

Fire Capt. Richard Setian remembered Venette as a "gung ho" firefighter who approached his job and service in Iraq with enthusiasm.

Venette had served in the Marines, and took a leave from the department in 2003 to go to Baghdad as a marine reserve. After that stint, he returned to Russellville only to leave in March 2004 and return to Iraq as a contractor, Setian said.

"He knew the risk," Setian said. "The excitement that was portrayed, he liked that. He always liked things that were exciting."

Setian said members of the department would watch Venette's belongings for him while he was away, including his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Venette's mother requested a firefighter's funeral in Russellville, Setian said. The protocol for the service calls for Venette's body to be carried by the fire engine from his station and for a procession of firefighters.

There was no word Sunday on when that service would be.

Survivors include Venette's father, Paul Venette of Brighton, Colo.; mother Debby Casida and stepfather Dennis Casida of White Hall, Ark. Venette also had a brother and a set of grandparents in Russellville.

Died: February 13, 2005

29, of San Antonio; assigned to the 7th Civil Engineering Squadron, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas; killed Feb. 13 while performing a canal rescue mission in Balad, Iraq.

Airman dies trying to rescue soldiers in Iraq

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO A 29-year-old San Antonio airman died in Iraq while trying to rescue soldiers from a military vehicle that rolled into a canal.

Staff Sgt. Ray Rangels mother, Cynthia Rangel, said that her son who has three sisters was both disciplined and tender.

I had to have surgery two years ago, and he took leave to be with me, Cynthia Rangel said. He was our only son, and hes been taken away.

Ray Rangel was a firefighter with the 7th Civil Engineer Squadron, based at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene. He was killed Sunday in Iraq.

The former defensive back at a San Antonio high school was known to teammates as Crazy Ray. He was deployed to Iraq in late September, spending Thanksgiving and Christmas apart from his family for the first time.

Family members are awaiting autopsy results to see if hypothermia played a role in the death of the 1994 high school graduate. He apparently drowned after disappearing in the water near Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.

According to Defense Department officials, three U.S. service members died in the rollover. Five military members of a rescue crew were treated at a military hospital and are expected to recover.

Rangel married and enlisted after high school and bought a house in Abilene just before deploying. He coached his oldest sons youth football team, while his wife, Selena, coached cheerleaders. Their three sons, ages 7 to 11, played football, and their daughter, 5, cheered on the sidelines.

He told me, If anything should happen to me, remember I was doing what I wanted to do, said his father, Federico Rangel.

He said, Dad, every night before I go to bed, I read a psalm, said the father, a Christian Pentecostal minister.