Remembering Gunnar

I wanted to take a moment today to remember Pfc. Gunnar Becker.

Gunnar was from Forestburg, South Dakota. He joined the army after high school, and soon found himself headed off to war.

Two weeks before he was supposed to go home, January 13, 2005, he was killed in Mosul, Iraq. He was just 19 years old.

If you have a moment, please go visit his online memorial page In Memory of PFC Gunnar Becker. There, you can learn Gunnar's story and see what he meant to his family and friends.

Walter M. Schirr, Sr. said "You don't raise heroes, you raise sons." Some people raise sons who become heroes. Gunnar's mom was one of those people. Go visit her blog, leave her a message, and let her know that you remember her son.

Even though he is gone, Gunnar is still touching lives. He is a major influence my decision to pursue my current career path.

God bless the Becker and Senska families on this, and every day. You are in my prayers.

I remember.

We are soldiers.
We are soldiers in the United States Army.
We are trained to be all we can be.

We fight for the freedom of many citizens of the United States.
We are all ready to meet our fates.

We all volunteer to defend the red, white and blue.
Not only the flag, but for the citizens of our great country too.

Since our country's birth for all these years,
we have been trained to be the best on Earth.

Many times we have went to war.
We will be involved in many more.

Generation by generation soldiers continue to enlist.
Some of us will got to war and definitely be missed.

Some soldiers will return and some won't.
Those who do not, we won't forget and we hope you don't.

Many of us are going to Iraq.
Some of us won't be coming back.

We have loved ones we are leaving behind.
They will always be in our prayers, hearts and mind.

If we don't make it home safely at the end of the war,
just remember we died defending the beliefs of those of many more.

Gunnar Becker , 23 Nov. 2003