Fallen Heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom

"http://my.vic.edu/ics/My_Pages/Essay_Writing.jnz|essay writing"
Essay

"To the family of:Hector Ramos
I am so sorry for the loss of your love one. My heart cries out for you in your grief and you have my thoughts and prayers. He died a hero defending freedom. May you have the peace and understanding that only comes from God. Prayerfully we will all meet in Heaven one day where we will rest in the arms of Jesus. If you need prayer or need someone to talk to, please call or write my pastor: Rev. John Pearrell 11677 Brown Bridge Rd., Covington, GA 30016. (770)787-1015.
Your friend in Jesus Christ, Polly Ballew Covington,Ga""

"Hey bro, ima write your mom a letter today. i got to meet her before i came to Afgahnistan. my little brother and sister go to the school she works at. hopefully she gets cheared up when she gets it. shes a very nice woman. Well take care and watch over the rest of us who are still deployed, i got about 3 weeks left here in Afgahn, be home soon."
Corporal Joseph Salgado of Aurora IL

"Hector I will never forget you and I miss you horribly. You will always be remembered and have a special place in my heart. I remember holding you when you were just born; you were so precious. We shared the same birthday, December 9th -- what a Great Birthday present you were for me. We were going to celebrate your 21st together and never got the opportunity. I watched you grow up and you were like a brother to Aliana. I miss you and I am proud of you for what you did for our country. You died for our country. Hector, I will never forget you or your smile. I will see you in Heaven one day. Love you, Aunt Tawney"
Tawney of Yorkville, IL

"January 18, 2009
To the family of Lance Cpl. Hector Ramos:
Hector gave the ultimate sacrifice and will be held in the hearts of Americans forever. I cannot and will not let our fallen heroes be forgotten. My deepest sympathy to you. "Some gave all."
Peggy Childers
"Don't Let The Memory Of Them Drift Away"
www.IraqWarHeroes.org"
Peggy Childers of Carson City, NV

"forever in my heart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Ernie Jimenez of San Diego, CA

"hector was a great friend and marine funny as hell and a sarcastic lil sucka. no matter what he was the one to cheer everyone he was around up. i have him and arron on my back for life. rest in peace brother! "only the good die young""
paul of simi valley

"hector was the one and only he was the nicest person funniest person best artist we grew up as next door neighbors always over each others houses ordering pizza playing nintendo or video games once at romero's fun fair we didnt have a line for the bozo buckets so he layed down and said ill be the human line even though we werent as close when they moved to another house but we still said hi and stopped to say hi how are you and your family we miss you hector and you will always be in our hearts from me and my family we love you"
mellisa (rangel) ramirez of aurora illinois

"BANANA MILK! BBQ SAUSE! RIP BRO SEMPER FI"
Will Jeans of Westfield NJ

"there are things that have happened here too and we know that we have to move on and yet it is so hard to. i lost a frien and without that person i would have never lived what i have lived. i thank everything there is to thank."
carlos camarillo of los angeles california

"i feel you and your pain we have suffered of a great loss too."
jazmin nunez of los angeles

"I don't think that I will ever meet another person like Hector in my life. I met Hector in high school. Hector and I had drama together. He had to be one of the best actors I had encountered. He always had a way of spicing up his performace. I have so many good memories of him. He loved life and so many people admired him for that. He was such a great person...friendly, funny, talented in so many ways. It is hard to think that a person that great is gone. He touched so many peoples lives!! Everyone of us that had the pleasure of knowing Hector has truly been blessed. I pray for Hector's family and friends. God bless you!!!"
Jackie Weaver of Aurora IL

"My name is Cameron Schilling and I have started “Portrait of a Soldier” which donates a portrait sketch of every Illinois soldier who has fallen in Iraq or Afghanistan. All 122 sketches will be on display for a Memorial Day Presentation in Chicago, Illinois on May 26-31 at the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago. After the ceremony the sketches will be given to the immediate families of the Illinois soldiers. I would invite any friends or family members to come and honor these men and women from Illinois who have given their lives to our country. For more information please contact OperationHomeFront.org at 866-417-8889 which is an organization headed by the Lt. Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois who is in charge of the Memorial Day Presentation. Thank You.

Please check out www.portraitofasoldier.org
To contact Cameron email cameronschilling84@hotmail.com
To contact Operation Home Front call 866-417-8889"
Cameron Schilling of Charleston, Illinois

"hey people im one of hector's cus. today has been a year since hector had past away i love u w/ all my heart. i remeber back then when u came to visit use u will always make us laugh and u will play video games w/ us we always use to have fun when u came to visit us.we will never 4 get about u , U will alway be in are heart and in are prayers I LOVE U HECTOR R.I.P LOVE UR CUS. BRISA RAMOS"
brisa ramos of Aurora

"Hector Ramos the one and only. The one that played jokes, played xbox with us,fought for our country,like to try new things in life,wanted to be an actor,loved everyone.Theres lots to say about my cuzin Hector. He was meant to be. I Love him so much. I Lorena Bucio would love to follow and walk hectors footsteps into acting. Thats the only reason i took drama. Hector I love u and you will always be in my prayers. I also want to thank everyone to family,friends,everyone for there love and support! Hector will always be remembered. Hector we love u and Always be in our thoughts and prayers. Love u.
R.I.P Hector Ramos the Bucio/Ramos Family"
Lorena Bucio of Aurora,Ill

"Hi my name is Mercedes Ramos I'm one of Hectors many cousins on his dads side of the family. hector was a big role model in our family. he was also the "funny guy"i just want to let everyone know how much he was loved and ALWAYS will be loved by the Ramos family we love and miss him very very much and we have him in our prayers every night and day I love my cousin Hector and im very proud of him for being brave and trying to accomplish his dream to have world peace I LOVE HIM AND MISS HIM! AND SO DOES MY FAMILY thanks to every one for caring for and supporting my cousin we love you to."
Mercedes Ramos of Aurora IL.

"man....what can ya say....it's been about a year since Hector passed and still it seems like yesterday we was all at high school. I never really kicked it with Hector but we had our side convos that one couldn't help but laugh walkin away from him. He's a for real hero in my book. RIP Bro"
Kimberly Delles of Aurora, IL

"""As a veteren of K Co 3/3 and a very short stint (2 Months with G Co)(1986-1990)MCAS K-Bay it saddens me to hear of the loss of my brother Marine but I know he left us bravley fighting to keep my family safe from the evils of the world keeping with the highest traditions of the Corps. I'm now to old to reenlist but if I could I would."""
Lcpl. Robert Blaylock of Lakeside CA, USA

"When I first met Hector I didn't know what to think. I thought to myself a person cant be this happy all the time. He always made me laugh and cared about everybody. We graduated from East Aurora High School and I knew he was one of the few people that I would always remember. I will always remember him because he was just one of those persons that you cant forget his humor, his laugh, and his love for the world. He will always be missed and loved."
Fabiola Tovar of Aurora, Illinois

"My name is Cameron Schilling. I am a college student from central Illinois. I am the first generation of my family not to serve his country. I am extremely grateful for the sacrifice you and your loved one has given for the United States. I am disappointed by the way the news media has covered this war and the deaths of our youth. The media as stopped listing the names of the soldiers killed in Iraq and people only talk about the soldiers when we reach a specific milestone in deaths. If you just started watching the news today you would not even know there is a war going on. Partisan politics have replaced coverage of our young generation who have traveled to a foreign land in the name of the United States. Whether you believe the war in Iraq is wrong, right, justified or not everyone should pay even just a little more attention to what these young men and women are sacrificing. This is what I would like to do. I want to do my part in honoring these soldiers and their memories. Along with being a college student I am also a budding artist. I draw pencil portraits of local people in my community. I want to offer a pencil portrait sketch to the immediate family of every Illinois soldier killed in Iraq. Please contact me at cameronschilling84@hotmail.com."
Cameron Schilling of Illinois

"To the Family of LCpl. Hector Ramos:

My friends and I have constructed a memorial to the service men and women from Wisconsin and Illinois who have died in Iraq which includes, as of 7/12/05, 112 crosses and Stars of David. We would like your permission to put Hector's name on one of them.
We have called our display "Arlington Midwest" and it is located in Wisconsin Dells, WI.
It is our expression of mourning for the indescribable loss you have suffered for our country.

If you would like us to do this, please email me at ArlingtonMidwest@yahoo.com.

We invite you to visit Arlington Midwest. I can send you directions and some pictures by email.

"As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us,
as we remember them."
Marty Preston of Wisconsin Dells, WI

"Hector and I met in the 3rd grade at Archbishop Romero Catholic School in Aurora,since day one, he was known as "Moe", because his hair looked like Moe from the Three Stooges. Of course Hector didnt mind it, instead when people asked him what his name was, he would say "Moe". It was hilarious! As we grew up and went through junior high together, he eventually cut his hair, but that still didnt take from the name, nor from who Hector was. When we had lunch, he would make up the weirdest things! He would mix anything and everything he could get his hands on, and eat/drink it! As gross as we thought it to be then, now all we can do is laugh..Hector also had a tendency to make a fist, cup it under his chin and say "Daaaah!" That would ALWAYS get us going because we didnt know where in the world he got that from, it was just him. In junior high, Hector LOVED Mankind from WWF, he would carry a sock with him and call it "Mr. Socko" just like in wrestling. Monday night was Hector's favorite at that time because the whole class would come to my house and watch WWF. You knew the show had started once you saw Hector jumping off the couches or making himself fall. It was too funny (although at the time, my mom didnt think so ;) )!People thought he was clumsy, but WE knew he wasnt, he just was out to make everyone laugh, and 99% of the time he achieved that. Come 8th grade graduation, we were all closer than ever! Once highschool came around, a lot of us went our seperate ways, however myself and a couple of others, including Hector, went to East Aurora H.S. He and I still talked and hung out, more so our senior year. We had Driver's Ed. together along with Teresita, an old friend of ours, good times in there. We were also in DECA together, and some days when we had half day, we would pick up food and go to his house w/ Jessica, his girlfriend, and Jenny. Good Times!Many of us who went to Romero together kind of grew apart, until now.Hector was always the peacemaker of the class, and who wouldve known he would STILL be going at it, getting people to "reunite" and become friends once again.We love you Hector Ramos, and we will always miss you!
Love you "Hec-Dork" A.K.A "Moe"
-"Jaz-fus"-"
Jazmin Nunez and ALL your friends from Romero of Aurora, IL /U.S.

"Thank You Hector for standing up for what you knew was right you will FOREVER be remembered and loved. We miss you alot and wiil never let you leave our hearts. Thanks for being so brave through all of this. Love you rest in peace"
Alyssa Warren of Aurora

"I am so sorry for your loss for I am feeling it also. I am the father of Lcpl Brian Hopper, who was on the helicopter with Hector. May our memories never fade."
Rob Hopper, rob.hopper@pbsgc.com of Wynne, AR

"Hector and I go way back our parents first met at Marywood Towers Condos In Aurora, IL where they were neighbors us kids were not even thought of yet. After we were born our parents moved just a few blocks from each other where we then attended Oak Park Elementary. Hector would wear shorts to school in the winter just to be different. we went to different junior highs. we both attended a East Aurora High. we were both in ROTC and drama and DECA Hector was president and I was secretary. Hectorwould make fun of me because i joined the IL National Guard when I was 17, he always said that I was a weekend warrior and that if i should have become a Marine but he would give me props and tell me that i was doing a great thing and he respected that. Hectors drawings were AWESOME!!! He would never let anyone see them till he was done with them. If anyone would like to hear more stories or just talk about Hector please email me @ erika.cervantes@us.army.mil.
Much Luv 2 U HECTOR
and everyone Serving our country.
God Bless All"
Spc. Erika Nicole Cervantes of Aurora, IL

"On behalf of the entire family, I want to thank everyone for all the kind words about my nephew Hector. We will never forget what he has done for our country."
Uncle Joe of Aurora,ILL USA

"My son Sgt. Michael Finke was on board the helicopter with Hector. My condolences to his family, as I share in the pain of losing one so loved. We are forever united through the sacrifices that our young men made. Thank you and God Bless"
Sally Rapp of Westlake, Ohio

"Our sons served together and then died together. They will forever be brothers in arms. My son, Richard Gilbert, Jr., talked about Hector often. He told me about how great an artist your son was. Richard asked me to send Hector some art supplies. I received a letter from Hector thanking me for this the Monday after they died. I will forever hold that letter dear to me. May God comfort and bless you in our time of need."
Helen Gilbert (hrg715@aol.com) of Dayton, Ohio

"My brother Cpl. Richard Gilbert,Jr. was with Hector that tragic day, my prayers are with his family. They are together and are my HEROES. GOD BLESS...."
Melissa Rader of Dayton,Ohio

"YOUR SON

©Gene E. Blanton

“Not as lean. Not as mean. Still a Marine.”

To the Mothers and the Fathers
Of United States Marines
Who have fought and bled and died
So that freedom’s bell still rings

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
From the alleys of Fallujah
To the frozen Yudam-ni

From the sands of Iwo Jima
To the hills around Khe Sanh
From the smoky hell of Belleau Woods
Your Son fought and won

Your Son battled dictatorships
Communism and tyranny
God’s Son died to make men holy
Your Son died to make men free

There is a debt we owe Your Son
That we can never repay
We owe Your Son more than platitudes
Heard on Veterans or Memorial Day

Your Son is a son of America
One of the Proud and the Few
Your Son volunteered to do the things
Other men would not or could not do

Your Son was Semper Fidelis
Always Faithful to the end was he
Your Son was a shining example
Of what a man is supposed to be

Now Your Son has been reassigned
To stand guard on Heaven’s streets
And when my tour of duty is over
I know that we will meet

I’ll thank Your Son for my freedom
For keeping terror on a distant shore
I’ll thank Your Son for our way of life
And the sacrifice he bore

So tonight when you cry out to God
While praying on your knees
Know that He’s a loving God
Who will listen to your pleas

To lose Your Son for freedom’s cause
God truly understands
God sent His Son to die for us
So you can see Your Son again

I did not write the above I copied it from a web site. http://www.bobbywarns.com/"
Andrew Oleck of Aurora, IL

"i just wanted to say i'm sorry to the family and friends that lost hector. i'm really sorry and i'm sad by the news. my name is brittany and i knew hector. we called him nick though and he was the coolest kid i knew. my boyfriend was he's bestfriend and thats how i met my boyfriend was through him. hector will always be missed. he was the funnest kid i knew, we used to joke around all the time and he would make me laugh. he always told this one joke about who's nochas are those brittany and than i would say who's nick and he would say not chas hahahaha... gosh funny times. but i'm proud of our marines out their and i'm prayin for all of you. much love. if anyone would like to email me it is littlebritt808@excite.com you can email me anytime, we love and miss you hector.
Love brittany"
Brittany of hawaii

"May You Rest In Pease Bro. Now you are in heaven with your Grandfather knew as my uncle Manuel Becker now watching down on us, It's hard watching the family go threw something like this again but all we can do is pray to God and understand , You Died with Pride as a U.S. Marine, You Have Our Respect, You are willing to die for our country, Damn bro. thats a Marine i would want to look up to, Your my Hero in my book, You will be in our thoughts and in our Hearts, May God Bless Our family & You Rest In Pease, With Much Love Brotha. "Good Bye""
Ramon Beckett of Charlotte,NC,USA

"Thank you Marine, Hector Rest in Peace"
M.R. of New Jersey

"To the family and friends of Lance Corporal Hector Ramos,

Those we hold most dear, never truly leave us. May you find comfort in love's everlasting connection.

In the Support section of this web site you will find links to many groups that support you at this crucial time. The Marine Comfort Quilt group would be honored to send a quilt to the next of kin. There are many, loving and caring Americans from all over the United States that will never forget the sacrifice that your loved one has made for our Freedom. Please use our link and register so we can send you our "Love Stitched Together"
Sandra Moudy of Placentia, Ca USA

"There are no words to express the sorrow we feel for your loss. May God bless you and help you through this time."
Dan and Meg Manninen of San Antonio, Texas

"We Will NEVER FORGET !"
Please KNOW so many people share your sadness, and we are remembering your family in your loss and your deep grief. Your HERO, Hector , will be remembered by name. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. God Bless you ALWAYS. Pat & Sandi Breckenridge from Montana "

"Your son has given the ultimate sacrifice for his country, as have many marines before him. Just know he is in a good place, and with great friends and comrades. My deepest sympathy.
Sam Veer
Vice Pres.
Freeport,Chptr. VietNow"
of Freepor, Il.

"Thank you Hector Ramos, you will not be forgotten. Your bravery goes beyond words. I want to express my deepest gratitude for your sacrifice. To the family and friends, my prayers and deep condolences in your loss. May God strengthen you from knowing that fellow Americans and people around the world care about you and grieve with you in your loss. God bless you all. A very appreciative fellow American,"
Leo Titus of Grayslake, Illinios

"To the family and friends of Lance Cpl. Hector Ramos:
May God's grace be with you during your time of grief. Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and we feel your loss and share in your sorrow. Bless Hector for the sacrifice he has made to make a better life for the rest of us."
The Ford Family of Wells, Nevada

"To the family and friends of Lance Cpl. Hector Ramos:
I am saddened by the loss of your loved one. He will always be remembered as a hero for fighting for freedom. I hope that this website will be a source of comfort and encouragement for you during this difficult time, and in the future as you recall the memories of Hector, who continues to live on in your heart."
Tim Rivera of Powder Springs, Georgia