Honor your hero with thoughts, memories, images and stories.
..... At the rising of the sun and its going down, We remember
them....At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring,
We remember them......As long as we live, they too will live. They
are a part of us, We remember them." ~ Gates of Prayer
Love, Mom
Rita A Stokes, Proud Gold Star Mom of
Cpl Sean A Stokes, USMC
Born 02/06/1983 Fremont, CA
KIA 07/30/2007 Al Anbar, Iraq
stokesritaa@hotmail.com
Sean
2/6/83 - 7/30/07
What would Sean be doing today? How many times do we GS ask
ourselves this question. I uploaded some photos of Sean, one
taken while deep sea fishing, he might be there today....or he
might be in Afghanistan.
Sean was born on a rainy day in February 1983. Nothing unusual,
nothing out of the ordinary, a text book labor & delivery. He was
very alert at birth and very quiet, just looking all around...
Until the middle of that night, then Sean let loose in the
nursery. Started to cry, it progressed to loud howling and he woke
the entire nursery full of babies up.
Sean was the only baby boy in the nursery by the way, all the
other babies were girls, surrounded by girls who were now all
crying too.
All the nurses tried to settle him down, but nothing worked.
Finally my OB/Gyn nurse decided bring him to me in my room. I was
sound asleep but woke up as I heard him coming down the hallway.
All was quiet as he reached my arms.
Thank you Sgt Hurt, I borrow the following from you and I'm sure
you don't mind..
Sean's last moments on earth just prior to his last deployment, to
the arms in Heaven, where he came from.
11:45am, July 30, 2007, Iraq
"....Anatomy of a KIA
The details of the war are grim. When a Marine arrives in country, he is
issued an administrative number, which some refer to as a "kill number." He
is required to carry his kill number in a pocket on his left arm. In the
event the Marine becomes a casualty his number is pulled and passed over an
endless network of radio waves. No name is passed at any time until that
Marine's next of kin have been contacted.
The official process is simple and sterile. When a casualty occurs, a
situation report is passed to the Command Operations Center. A medevac
request goes up the chain of command and the wounded are evacuated. At this
point, spirits are high among Marines who believe in resiliency and modern
day miracles - which do happen, rarely - and our best nature knows the
Marine will pull through and everything will be okay.
The phone rings.
Marine: "... okay."
The Marine hangs up the phone.
"Time of death: eleven forty-five."
The office goes completely silent and eyes are fixed upon boots. Heads fall
into hands and somewhere above the bloody sand in a black-smoke sky an angel
ascends into heaven...."
Love, Mom
Sean my son served proudly with you. I remember your smile and your hugs. I miss you, and I know he does too.
As the years go by since your passing, the memories never fade. You are a true hero that will never be forgotten. Your family and friends miss you still today as they did the day the angels took you away. There is comfort in knowing you are looking down and protecting us still.
Sean, I remember the day my son introduced us to you, I thought you had such a wonderful smile. I close my eyes and still see that moment in time. You are missed by many more people that you could ever know. "When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be"