Captian Seth Mitchell Hero 5k

The second Annual 5k and road Dedication Ceremony in remembance of Seth Mitchell, will be held Saturday October 1st.
Please go to www.sethmitchell5k.org to register and veiw pictures from last year.

Tristate looses another soldier

Fort Drum, NY – A 10th Mountain Division Solider stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana, was injured, Friday, April 8, in Wardak province, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade.  He died of his wounds Sunday, April 10, in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany.Killed is Private First Class Class Brandon T. Pickering, age 21, of Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He was an infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. Pickering joined the U.S. Army in September 2009.  After completing training at Fort Benning, Georgia he was stationed at Fort Polk in April 2010.  He deployed with his unit in October 2010. Pickering’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Nato Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.Pickering is survived by his mother, father and stepfather.

PFC Brandon Pickering

Brown County Looses one of there own

SARDINIA, OH (FOX19) -

A soldier from Brown County has been killed in Afghanistan while serving with the U.S. Army.

Seth Blevins, of Sardinia, was a 2008 graduate of Eastern High School.

“He was a good musician, but he was a great kid,” school music director John Cooper said. “You become a family. A lot of my students refer to me as their second dad because we spend a lot of time together, which makes this even harder.”

“I think any classroom teacher, any administrator would look back and say ‘This is the reason why I’m in education,’” Principal Jennifer Grimes said.

Before becoming principal, Grimes taught Blevins as a sophomore in her English class.

“If you had 30 students in a class like Seth you would never have any troubles managing that class,” she said.

Eastern Local Schools superintendent Alan Simmons says Blevins was a good student who excelled at everything he did, including athletics and band.

A statement on Eastern Local Schools’ website reads, “Recently Eastern Local Schools lost one of its alumni. Seth Blevins was killed while serving his county overseas.  Please keep Seth’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.”

No other details on his death have been released.

According to school officials the family has not yet announced memorial service details.

Seth leaves behind parents Trish and Steve as well as a sister who is a junior at Eastern High School.

 

Seth Blevins (Source: Eastern High School yearbook 2008)

Seth Blevins (Source: Eastern Local Schools)

Gone But Not Forgotten* (Poem For Fallen Heroes)

Many heroes fall during battle
this fight for freedom often costs
these men and women we send to foreign shores
often it these lives that are lost

but they will not be forgotten
we honor those souls that slip away
and know that they’ve become angels
In heaven, on this day

The memory of them lives on
as we sleep we see their face
the dreams seem so very real
we often imagine their warm embrace

God has given them free reign
to whisper gently to the trees
to glide effortlessly among the clouds
and dry your tears with a breeze

So as long as we are alive
we will hold them in our hearts
and as long as we can breathe
our heroes will never be apart

So as we bury you with honor
we will grieve, then heal & pray
and even though we’ll miss you you
we’ll be reunited in heaven one day

by Linda Racaniello

*Poem is repoduced as written by the author.

Blue Ash, OH. looses a loved one

Specialist Donald Scott Morrison

Lance Cpl Adam D. Peak KIA Feb.21,2010

Governor Beshear has ordered flags at half-staff in honor of a Kentucky Marine killed in Afghanistan over the weekend.

25-year-old Lance Cpl. Adam Peak, of Florence, was killed Sunday by an improvised explosive device.

“He wouldn’t have it any other way,” Robin Peak, Adam Peak’s sister-in-law said. “He wants to be with his brother.”

Until the end, family members say the Peak brothers shared the closest of bonds.

“They joined the Marines the same week,” Robin Peak said. “They got out of boot camp within two weeks of each other, and went straight to Camp Lejeune, so they were always together. They were night and day when it comes to personalities, but they would do absolutely anything for each other.”Lance Cpl. Peak was a graduate of Boone County High School and Thomas More College.

He is survived by his parents, brother, and two sisters.

Governor Beshear ordered flags at state buildings to be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of Peak’s funeral.

Fallen Heroes Museum

We are busy working on the Fallen Heroes Museum : it is ready for donations or things on loan.This is a temporay location until we raise enough money to buy a piece of property. Location now is 700 Eastgate Blvd.S ste 450 Cincinnati, OH 45245..Call 513-752-4310 for information about placing your heroes things on loan. We are open for anyone who would like to stop by and visit.

WLWT Channel 5 Local Fallen Family Receives Gift From Son

MIDDLETOWN — The parents of a Tri-State Marine killed in Iraq are sharing memories of their son, through a series of home movies that they didn’t know existed until after he died. 

Billy Spencer joined the Marines when he was 19 years old. Within a year of joining the Marines, he was killed in action. But while he was deployed in Iraq, Billy documented his life for his parents.

 

The Marines had a pact that if anything ever happened to one of them, the others would download what was on their computer and give it to the Marine’s family before the government erased everything off the hard drive. Members of Billy’s squadron delivered the videos to his parents. The videos began with his departure to Iraq.  “It’s 6 o’clock in the morning. We’ve loaded the buses. On our way to March Air Force Base,” Billy said. He is then heard on the video bidding farewell to California. “Peace California. See you in seven months.”  The Spencers said Billy left America as a boy. Although he was at that point a Marine, they said he was still a teenager who depended on his family, as illustrated in some of his recordings. “You’ll be seeing this soon enough Mom. Getting ready to fly to Iraq. We’ll be alright. I’ll see you there. Love you,” Billy said. “It’s like he’s talking directly to us,” said Billy’s stepmother Dawn Spencer. “He wants us to know details.” Through his recordings, Billy gave his parents lots of details, including his tour of duty in Iraq. “We made it into Iraq last night. Soon enough we will be completely in harm’s way but uh, we’ll see you there, I’m out,” said Billy in one video. ”I’m also sitting up here with my .50 cal. I’ve been waiting for ages to get my hands on this. Now all I got to do is wait for somebody to shoot at me so I can employ it,” he said on another video while showing how the rounds were as long as his hand. 

Billy also managed to capture a side to the war most people don’t normally see, like how he helped the Iraqi children. I just gave 50 dinars to some little kid because he was crying, because his house blew up. So I gave him some money,” he said.  The Spencers said most of the moments make them proud of their son. Others make them laugh, like when Billy, clearly exhausted, recorded himself singing the song “I’ve seen better days.”seen in his face he needed to be babied and there was nobody going to baby him over there. He was eating peanuts and Mountain Dew,” said Dawn. One moment that really stands out is when Billy is sick with the flu and talking about coming home. ”I get to come home in like four and a half months, which is something to look forward to, always yes,” he said. About 48 hours later, Billy was hit by enemy fire while trying to save his squad leader. Back home in Middletown, the Spencers received that dreaded knock on the door on Dec. 28, 2006.The first thing I asked him, ‘Was he hurt or is he dead?’ He told me he was KIA,” said Billy’s father, David Spencer. “I couldn’t be there when he needed me. So that was the most hopeless moment of my life … It’s been almost three years in calendar time, but in Dad time, it’s been 24 hours.” Although the videos won’t bring their son home, and this father won’t get that fishing trip with his son, the Spencers said the video has allowed them to see the war through Billy’s eyes. And see how their baby grew into a man and an American hero. ”I could look at those videos, every one of them, and say ‘That’s my kid’ and be very proud,” said David. This past year, Lance Cpl. Billy Spencer was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his actions — the U.S. military’s third highest honor. The Spencers are now working with the family of fallen soldier, Matt Maupin, trying to get a heroes museum built in the Tri-State. They hope it will become a place to honor veterans, display military memorabilia and remember those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice, like their son. If you’d like to contribute to the fund to build a memorial to Tri-State military heroes, visit www.letusneverforget.org.