Our Wall, Our Recognition,Part III, May 2005Two years later, the passing of yet another Memorial day. While most of America will undoubtedly celebrate with road trips and family gatherings, our sisters and brothers in the Armed Services continue to serve and fall in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is not enough to say that they are heros anymore, they have gone beyond that level of recognition. As time passes, their sacrifices for us will pass into history and this war will become another footnote in man’s endless struggle to conquer and destroy one another. But we, mothers, fathers, daughters and sons have a responsibility to ensure that they do not go silent into the night. We have to remember them and let our future generations realize that their contributions to this nation went beyond the sports and entertainment realms. That on any given day their lives ended in an instant in foreign lands without the comfort of family, but with their brothers and sisters in arms, of all faiths and all colors. Before death, they were special only to the people who knew them, but now they have a chance to be special to all of us. So let us take a quiet moment to view and reflect on the lives of these very special people.

May their Souls rest in peace

Clyde Dowell II

For omissions or submissions email me at Donqdow2@hotmail.com

Sgt. Pamela Osbourne 38 Hollywood fl

Sgt. Major Barbaralien Banks 41 Harvey, LA

Spc. Katrina Bell-Johnson 32 Orangeburg SC

By request, below are reprints of our fallen women from previous presntations

Pfc. Leslie Jackson 18 Richmond VA (my original inspiration)

Capt. Gussie Jones 41 Shreveport LA

Sgt. Keicia M. Hines, 27, Citrus Heights, CA

Spc. Tyanna S. Felder, 22, Bridgeport, CN

Pfc Andrew Ward 25, Kirtland WA

SSGT Jerome Lemon 42, North Charleston SC

SSgt James Pettaway Jr. 37, Baltimore MD

Pfc Torey Dantzler 22, Columbia LA

Pfc. Lionel Ayro 22, Jeanerette LA

Spc. Rodney Jones 21, Philadelphia, PA

Cpl Steven Rintamaki 21 Lynwood WA

2nd Lt. Clifford Gadsden 25, Ft Walton Beach FL

Spc. Bryan Freeman 31 Lumberton NJ

Sgt. Pablo Calderon 26 Brooklyn NY

Sgt. Michael Smith 24 Camden AR

Sgt. Maurice Fortune 25 Forestville MD

Sgt. Jonathan Shields 25 Atlanta GA

Sgt Nathaniel Swindell 24 Bronx NY

Lance Cpl. Demarkus Brown 22 Martinsville Va

P.O.3rd class Julian Woods 22 Jacksonville Fl

Sgt. Isiah Sinclair, 31 Natchitoches, LA

Sgt. Maurice Fortune 25 Forestville, MD

Sgt. Tromaine Toy Sr. 24 Eastville, va

Spc. Bernard Sembly 25, Bossier City, LA

Ssgt Dexter Kimble 30 Houston TX

Ssgt Samuel Castle, 26 Naples, TX

Ssgt. William Brooks, 30 Birmingham AL

Sgt. Rene Knox Jr. 22 New Orleans LA

Sgt. James Sherrill 27, Ekron Kentucky

Sgt. Lee Godbolt 23, New Orleans, LA

PFC Chassan Henry 20, West Palm Beach, FL

Sgt. Bennie Washington 25, Atlanta Ga

2nd Lt. Andre Dyson 33, Riverside CA

Lance Cpl. Marcus Mahdee, 20 Fort Walton Beach, FL

Sgt Timothy Osbey 34, Magnolia MS

Pfc Lee Lewis Jr. 28, Norfolk , VA

The families that grieve their loss…

Lance Cpl Jonathan Gadsden 21 Charleston, SC

Warrant Officer Charles Wells Jr. 32 Montgomery Al

Spc. Darryl Dent 21 Washington DC

And let us not forget to pray for those who are still there …

Let us never forget these faces, lest their sacrifices be for naught. Make their deaths mean something by aspiring to live your lives to the fullest. For we are not promised tomorrow, but everyday we breathe is a chance to love, laugh, and celebrate the preciousness of life. For a moment of each day, do not pass judgement on your neighbor, tell a family member that you love them, open a door for an elderly person, be kind to a stranger because sometimes we are strangers ourselves. It’s the little things in life that we take for granted , do not wait for death to occur before you realize it.

May God bless the men and women of the armed services in this time of peril

1,651 Americans have fallen, 175 of them are of African descent.