Ft. Hood, SGT. Amy Krueger

November 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under CSM (Retired) William H. Brushwood Memorial Wall

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Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis., joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist attacks and had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden, her mother, Jeri Krueger, said. She arrived at Fort Hood on Tuesday and was scheduled to be sent to Afghanistan in December. Kiel High School Principal Dario Talerico told The Associated Press that Krueger had spoken to local elementary school students about her career. “I just remember that Amy was a very good kid, who like most kids in a small town are just looking for what their next step in life was going to be and she chose the military,” Talerico said. “Once she got into the military, she really connected with that kind of lifestyle and was really proud to serve her country.”

Ft. Hood, SPC. Jason Dean Hunt

November 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under CSM (Retired) William H. Brushwood Memorial Wall

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Hunt, 22, of Frederick, Okla., went into the military after graduating from Tipton High School in 2005 and had served 3 1/2 years in the Army, including a stint in Iraq. He had gotten married just two months ago, his mother, Gale Hunt, said.

“He didn’t go in for hunting or sports,” Gale Hunt said of the young man she called family-oriented. “He was a very quiet boy who enjoyed video games.”

Hunt, known as J.D., was “just kind of a quiet boy and a good kid, very kind,” said Kathy Gray, an administrative assistant at Tipton Schools.

Ft. Hood, SPC. Frederick Greene

November 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under CSM (Retired) William H. Brushwood Memorial Wall

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Greene, 29, of Mountain City, Tenn., went by “Freddie” and was active at Baker’s Gap Baptist Church while he was growing up, said Glenn Arney, the church’s former superintendent and a former co-worker of Greene’s. “I went to church with him, knew him all of his life. He was one of the finest boys you ever saw,” Arney said.

His family released a statement Sunday calling him a loving son, husband and father, who often acted as the family’s protector. “Even before joining the Army, he exemplified the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage,” the family said.

Ft. Hood, CPT. John Gaffaney

November 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under CSM (Retired) William H. Brushwood Memorial Wall

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Gaffaney, 56, was a psychiatric nurse who worked for San Diego County, Calif., for more than 20 years and had arrived at Fort Hood the day before the shooting to prepare for a deployment to Iraq. Born in Williston, N.D., Gaffney had served in the Navy and later the California National Guard as a younger man, his family said. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he tried to sign up again for military service. Although the Army Reserves at first declined, he got the call about two years ago asking him to rejoin, said his close friend and co-worker Stephanie Powell.

“He wanted to help the boys in Iraq and Afghanistan deal with the trauma of what they were seeing,” Powell said. “He was an honorable man. He just wanted to serve in any way he can.”

Gaffaney supervised a team of six social workers, including Powell, at the county’s Adult Protective Services department. Ellen Schmeding, assistant deputy director for the county’s Health and Human Services Agency, said Gaffaney was a strong leader. He is survived by a wife and a son.

Ft.Hood, SSG. Justin M. DeCrow

November 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under CSM (Retired) William H. Brushwood Memorial Wall

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DeCrow, 32 (left, with his wife, Marikay), was helping train soldiers on how to help new veterans with paperwork and had felt safe on the Army post. “He was on a base,” his wife said in a telephone interview from the couple’s home at Fort Gordon, Ga., where she hoped to be reunited with her husband once he finished his work at Fort Hood. “They should be safe there. They should be safe.”

Marikay DeCrow said she wanted everyone to know what a loving man he was. The couple have a 13-year-old daughter, Kylah. “He was well loved by everyone,” his wife said through sobs. “He was a loving father and husband and he will be missed by all.”

Ft. Hood, MAJ. Major L. Eduardo Caraveo

November 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under CSM (Retired) William H. Brushwood Memorial Wall

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Caraveo, 52, arrived in the United States in his teens from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, knowing very little English said his son, also named Eduardo Caraveo. He earned his doctorate in psychology from the University of Arizona and worked with bilingual special-needs students at Tucson-area schools before entering private practice.

His son told the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson that Caraveo had arrived at Fort Hood on Wednesday and was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

His father’s Web site says he offered marriage seminars with a company based in Woodbridge, Va.

Ft. Hood, Mike Cahill

November 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under CSM (Retired) William H. Brushwood Memorial Wall

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Cahill, a 62-year-old physician assistant of Cameron, Texas, suffered a heart attack two weeks ago and returned to work at the base as a civilian employee after taking just one week off for recovery, said his daughter Keely Vanacker. “He survived that. He was getting back on track, and he gets killed by a gunman,” Vanacker said, her words bare with shock and disbelief.

Cahill (pictured, left, with his grandson Brody) helped treat soldiers returning from tours of duty or preparing for deployment. Often, Vanacker said, Cahill would walk young soldiers where they needed to go, just to make sure they got the right treatment. “He loved his patients, and his patients loved him,” said Vanacker, 33, the oldest of Cahill’s three adult children. “He just felt his job was important.”

Amy Downing

November 16, 2009 by admin
Filed under Onstage

AMY DOWNING

(Click On The Photo)

Amy has been singing for as long as she can remember. One of her first memories of performing to an audience was with her Great Grandma at church singing “Jesus Loves Me”. Growing up she was always involved in the choir and tried out for anything that had to do with singing.

Some of Amy’s accomplishments include: singing the National Anthem for the Kansas City Expos, making it to the top 10 on a Wayne Brady Show singing competition in 2003, and singing for many change of command ceremonies, dedications and other Army events.

In November of 2008 Amy represented Fort Carson in the top 12 of Operation Rising Star, the Army’s version of American Idol at Fort Belvoir, VA. She fulfilled a life long dream in Nashville in June of 2009 when she recorded her first album, “Amy Downing: Soldier’s Wife”.

The title track, “Soldier’s Wife” was born when Amy decided to start writing a song that would describe how it feels to be an Army wife. She had heard many songs on the radio that paid tribute to and supported our troops but had heard none that told the story of how it feels to be a “Soldier’s Wife”.

With the help of her husband Will, they wrote the touching song that is a tribute to all of the wives and spouses who are proud of who they are as they stand by their soldier.

During her husband’s last deployment Amy and her friend and fellow Army wife of a

deployed soldier, Stephanie, were moved to write more songs about being the spouse of a soldier. Her self-titled CD consists of 6 songs that will take you on a journey from meeting her wonderful husband to post deployment and everything in between.

Join the Amy Downing Fan Club, at www.facebook.com search Amy Downing Music.