Damon

I don't even know where to start.

     Damon was born to very close family friends, Pat and Wink.  He was 4.5 years behind me age-wise, and always felt more like a little brother than a friend.  The family was (and is) military, through-and-through.  Wink is still serving as a Sgt. Major in the Army, and has been deployed countless times, including 2 tours to Iraq in the last few years.  He also served in Desert Storm.  Jason, their oldest son, served in the Army for a number of years, including time spent in Gtmo and Panama.  He served in Gtmo with his dad.  Nathan, the middle son, is active and has served one deployment in Iraq recently.  He was in Iraq when we all got the news. 

     Damon had a passion for life, had a passion for people.  Before I tell you about his military service, let me tell you more about him.  Damon was goofy.  He was a big goofball with a HUGE heart.  One minute giving you a noogie, the next a hug that made you feel so safe and warm.  He had a laugh that was incredibly contagious, and I can hear it in my head every time I think about it.  One of my fondest recent memories was of Damon and the rest of the family coming to our home for Christmas - in 2008.  Winston loved Damon and was drooling all over him - Damon loved him back and Winston could sense it.  They wrestled and the boys swapped guns stories in the basement.  It was so nice to have this part of my "family" in our home.  To make a memory of them here.  Little did I know it would be one of the only ones I would ever have of Damon at my place.  He helped us move in, too.  We always called these boys when we needed help moving - they were strong and always so willing to help.  True brothers.

     Damon enlisted in the Army and soon found his passion for people in his military service - he wanted to be a medic.  And as his brother, Jason, once said, "he didn't just want to be in the army.  He wanted to be a medic.  He didn't just want to be a medic, he wanted to be a combat medic.  He didn't just want to be a combat medic, he wanted to be an airborne combat medic." And he was.  Damon was deployed late summer of 2009 to Afghanistan.  He was in a unit that was in high danger situations often.  Damon was saving lives every day, including putting in a chest tube for a civilian and saving his life - in the field.  No hospital.  Just Damon.

     The day we got the news was the day we were celebrating Jason's graduation from ITT Tech - he got his degree in Criminal Justice.  (WAY TO GO, brother!!!!!)  I had sat and talked with Pat about Damon and how she hadn't heard from him in days, but that even though it worried her, it was somewhat to be expected.  Damon wasn't on a regular base like many units.  They were sleeping in abandoned vehicles, ditches, etc.  He wouldn't have access to communication regularly.

      Matt and I had left to go home and had made it back to North Canton.  We were at the gas station, had pumped gas and were going to take advantage of the free car wash promotion.  Sitting in line, I got the horrific phone call from my mom.  "It's Damon", she said.  "He's gone."  We knew what we had to do.  We talked with our neighbors about watching out for Winston and we turned around and drove back.

    Damon was in a convoy of 5 trucks heading toward a conflict - going in to help.  Damon, no doubt, was thinking about the lives he would be sent in to help heal and save.  He was in the lead truck.  Their convoy came under fire.  Speeding up to avoid the attack, Damon's humvee flipped.  Damon and Corey, another man in the truck, were killed.  The 2 others in the truck were severely injured.  This stopped the convoy.  Upon investigation of the area around, they found it was wired.  The plan was to attack/bomb the whole convoy - killing them all.  Jason said it best at Damon's funeral, "it was 2 instead of 20."  Even in his death, Damon was saving lives.

    I loved him so much and love him still to this day.  He is my little brother I always wanted Mom to have, but she said she was too old :).  I am so proud to have known him and called him my brother and friend.