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May 13, 2006
"I want to tell everyone how great he was"
On May 3, another hero fell. Captain Brian Letendre, deployed with 1/25 Marines, was killed on May 3 when a suicide car bomber attacked his observation post in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. A Potomac News story shares details of Cpt. Letendre's life:
"He's a hero. This young man is fighting the global war on terrorism for other people to give them a chance to have a better life," said Bill Bann, a friend of the Letendre family and a retired Marine Lt. Colonel. "He was over there, saw it, experienced it first hand and wanted to go back because he believed in what they are doing."Letendre, a Marine since he graduated from Milligan College in Tennessee, made his family's friends proud, they said.
"He was a fine young man, the best our country has to offer," said Bann, whose twin sons befriended Letendre in elementary school. "He was full of passion, a man of courage, conviction and integrity. He loved being a Marine."
Since they were teens, Letendre and friends David and Brian Bann dreamed of becoming officers in the Marine Corps.
They played G.I. Joe in the woods near their Woodbridge home, said David Bann.
Letendre's father, Milton Letendre, said his son was strong, high mannered and moral.
"He was looking forward to [his tour in Iraq]. He's a very motivated, very patriotic young man who believed in what his country is doing," said his father.
Letendre, a 1996 Potomac Senior High School graduate, won a posthumous Purple Heart Medal and an Iraq Campaign Medal this week, said Gunnery Sgt. Pete Walza, DoD spokesman.
Those medals add to Letendre's 14 other awards during his nearly six years of Marine Corps service.
He joined in May 2000 as a second lieutenant and nearly at the same time married his college sweetheart, Autumn. She and their 3-year-old son live in Indianapolis.
And last week, Autumn Letendre wrote a letter to the men of 1/25 who served with her husband.:
Dear Friends and Family,I write this letter with a pain I never imagined could exist. It was just last week that I was telling you our story and what a story we have. Although I feel cocooned with extreme sadness I could not be any prouder. Brian loved the Marine Corp and all that encompassed its purpose. He believed that being in Iraq was right and that no one should resist the chance to liberate another human being even if that meant putting his life on the line. He leaves our three year old son Dillon- a blessing and mirrored image of Brian. I can not find a word with enough meaning, enough passion to explain how great of a father Brian was. Dillon loves his daddy so much and has truly lost an American Hero.
I am smiling right now as I reminisce our first date, our first kiss, the day he told me he loved me, when he proposed etc. Wow, what happiness fills me with these thoughts and how I want to tell everyone how great he was.
(To those of you separated by deployment)
As our news shocks and terrifies you, please stay strong for your men. They need your strength as they must complete their mission. Do not let fear take away the great bond that deployment can create between you and your spouse. I encourage you to write them and write often. Tell them how you truly feel and live with extreme pride to be married to one of the few.
I have no regrets as I always told Brian how proud of him I was and still am. I may have lost the love of my life, but I have gained a life and story that few in this great country have.
Thank you for your prayers
Autumn Letendre
I am reminded of another example:
The night before last at dinner, I listened to General Mattis speak of another helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Desperate for a replacement, he contacted Washington and obtained one from the command back home. Later he learned that, that evening, the young widow of one of the men who died in the crash, seven-months pregnant, showed up with fresh-baked brownies to bid farewell to the outgoing crew as it headed out to Afghanistan.
Fallen Marines are often described as having given the ultimate sacrifice for a free country. That is certainly true. But their spouses give the penultimate sacrifice - the loss of the love of their life - as they assume the mantle of both parental roles. Think of the widows of those fallen heroes tomorrow on Mother's Day.
Posted by Deb at May 13, 2006 01:18 PM
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