By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

A final tribute to the U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The following eight service members died last week in the two war zones:

1. Marine Lance Cpl. Robert Johnson, 21, liked to jump off waterfalls and tear up his dad's car while growing up in Central Point, Ore. "He was the one who always stirred up trouble in our family," his mother told the Oregonian. He enlisted in 2005 out of high school and was on his second tour in Iraq when he died Dec. 20 in a non-hostile incident in Anbar province. Johnson, with the 1st Marine Logistics Group, leaves his widow, Elizabeth, whom he married in March.

2. Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas Reilly Jr., 19, of London, Ky., was so good at decorating cakes in high school that he considered entering culinary school after his military service. Serving in Iraq with the 3rd Marine Division, he was killed Dec. 21 when a rocket propelled grenade struck his Humvee in Anbar province. His mother was told of his death while at a hospital where her daughter had just given birth. "She is really struggling," a friend told the Times Tribune.

3. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Smith, 28, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was an outdoorsman who loved to golf and hunt and a family man who loved to grill briskets and ribs. "He really lived for his family," his wife, Bobbi Jo, told detnew.com. "He was that kind of guy." He was one of three members of the 4th Infantry Division who were killed Dec. 24 in a vehicle rollover in Baghdad. Smith was on his second tour in Iraq. He also leaves a 15-month-old son, Adler.

4. Army Spc. Stephen Okray, 21, of St. Clair Shores, Mich., was described as a happy-go-lucky kid who loved hunting, fishing, cars, and motorcycles. "He walked in the room and it glowed," his uncle told freep.com. Okray enlisted in 2005 and deployed to Iraq in September with the 4th Infantry Division. He was one of three soldiers killed Christmas Eve when their armored vehicle rolled over in Baghdad. "It was just a tragic ending to a good kid," his uncle said.

5. Army Spc. Stephen Zapasnik, 19, of Broken Arrow, Okla., was scheduled to come home on leave Jan. 15 but died Dec. 24 along with two other members of the 4th Infantry Division when their armored vehicle rolled over in Baghdad. "He said, 'Mom, if I ever don't come back, you know I will always be with you, and I will be with Jesus, and I will be fine,'" his mother told the World. "I know that he's perfectly safe and spending Christmas up there with Jesus."

6. Army Cpl. Charles Gaffney Jr., 42, of Phoenix, Ariz., enlisted in August 2006 and was an infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division. He was killed Dec. 24 when his combat outpost in Patkia, Afghanistan, came under enemy rocket attack. Gaffney leaves his widow, Latticia, and their daughters, Cara and Mia, of Caldwell, Idaho. He was an M4-rifle expert whose awards and decorations included the Overseas Service Ribbon and the Combat Infantry Badge.

7. Army Maj. John Pryor, 42, of Moorestown, N.J., was certified in CPR at age 14, joined an ambulance corps at 17, and became an emergency medical technician at 18. He was a surgeon with a forward surgical team in Mosul, Iraq, when he was killed Dec. 25 by a mortar. "John wanted to be on the front lines where he could make a difference," a friend told the Saratogian. Pryor leaves his widow, Carmela Calvo, a pediatrician, and their three children, ages 4, 8, and 10.

8. Navy Master-at-Arms Seaman Apprentice Joshua Seitz, 19, of Sinking Springs, Pa., died Dec. 25 when his patrol boat collided with a barge moored in the harbor of Mina Salman in Bahrain. Two other sailors aboard the 25-foot boat suffered non-life threatening injuries. Seitz's body was given an official farewell by members of the Harbor Patrol unit as it left Dec. 29 for the states. Hundreds of service members attended a Dec. 30 memorial service in Bahrain for Seitz.

Click here to view tributes to the 469 service members killed in the Middle East in 2008.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

Army PFC Derek Derose, who was wounded Oct. 17 by a roadside bomb while on patrol near Beni Zaid, Iraq, has a mixed assessment of the situation in Iraq.

"As far as conflict-wise, it's pretty much over, mainly encountering IEDs," Derose, 20, of Stafford, Va., said last Friday after receiving a Purple Heart at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "We are putting a really big dent in their [al Qaeda's] caches. We quickly became cache killers because we were finding some large caches.

"But as far as this country stabilizing, I don't see it happening any time soon, because they [the Iraqis] are lazy, and they just love to take handouts. So until they get the initiative to take it on their own and do stuff to get their country up and running, we're going to be over there for a while."

Derose (right) deployed to Iraq a year ago with the 25th Infantry Division. He was the only soldier at this month's ceremony to receive a Purple Heart, the lowest number in months.

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At the same time, the military is reporting a dramatic drop in casualties in both war zones. The last U.S. combat death in Iraq was on Dec. 4; in Afghanistan on Dec. 1.

"This shouldn't suggest that things will be easier in Afghanistan," MSNBC military analyst Col. Jack Jacobs told me. "Indeed, the opposite is true, and we are in for a hell of a ride next year."

Jacobs said the fighting and dying are down in Afghanistan because of the weather.

"It's winter," he said. "Particularly in the mountains, the enemy holes up until the spring thaw. It's cold and snowy and miserable. Come springtime, it won't be so quiet."

In Iraq, he said, the Iraqi army is now carrying out many of the operations previously conducted by Americans.

"A larger number of our forces are now engaged as mobile training teams to train Iraqis, rather than chasing bad guys all over the country," Jacobs said.

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Army Sgt. Peter Neesley, 28, of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., died in his sleep in Baghdad of an undetermined cause on Christmas Day of last year. After his death, his family began a successful effort to bring home to Michigan two stray dogs that Neesley had adopted off the streets of Baghdad (click here to read the earlier story).

This is a recent photo of the two dogs, Boris and Mama, much healthier and a lot chunkier than they were a year ago.

"They are doing really well," Peter's sister Carey wrote. "This last couple weeks have been hard for us as we approach the one year anniversary of Peter's death. We miss him so much. But we also have paused to remember all those that provided us with great comfort in those dark days.

"The dogs have brought a lot of comfort and some necessary comic relief at times. They are definitely Peter's children."

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One final note. I am retiring from NBC News at the end of this month and will no longer be writing the "Fallen but not forgotten" blog. I want to thank everyone who has read and commented on the blog over the past year and a half. I especially appreciated the thoughtful comments of Anna, Stephanie-Umbro and Jackie Rawlings. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and all the best.

WRC-TV photo of Army PFC Derek Derose, and Neesley family photo of Boris and Mama.

Click here to view tributes to the 461 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following three casualties from last week:

1. Army Pvt. Colman Meadows III, 19, of Senoia, Ga.

2. Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan Dean, 25, of Henagar, Ala.

3. Army Pfc. Coleman Hinkefent, 19, of Coweta, Okla.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

Army Capt. Warren Orr Jr. hated injustice, whether it was in his hometown of Kewanee, Ill., or in the villages of Vietnam.

"One time he was coming home from school and he saw this man whipping his dog, and he told the man, 'I'm going to go home and tell my dad, and my dad's going to come down here and whip you like you whipped your dog,'" his father, Warren Orr Sr., recalled recently.

"The next thing I know there's two policemen at my door with a restraining order," his father said with a chuckle. "I didn't know that guy or anything about him, but my son just hated to see anybody abused."

Capt. Orr's sense of compassion continued in the Army, which he joined in 1960 and which sent him to Vietnam as a civil affairs officer, taking care of refugees.

"His main job was making sure they got food and medicine and housing, and he loved doing that," his father said.

On May 12, 1968, Capt. Orr was helping evacuate several hundred Vietnamese women and children from the besieged Kham Duc Special Forces Camp, near Da Nang, before it was overrun by North Vietnamese forces. Their C-130 transport plane was hit by enemy fire on takeoff, exploded in midair and crashed into the jungle. Everyone on board perished.

But was Capt. Orr actually on the plane?

No American saw him get on board, and a 1969 investigation concluded, "Fate remains unknown." He was initially listed as missing in action, while the C-130's five crew members were listed as killed in action.

"It was many, many years later that they finally found him," his father said.

Nearly 40 years later, in fact. On Sept. 19, 2007, a Pentagon official knocked on his father's door in Santa Ana, Calif., and told him his son's remains had been recovered from near the crash site and positively identified through DNA testing.

"It meant a great deal to me," his 87-year-old father said. "It relieved all doubts about whether he was on that plane or whether he was captured or who knows what?"

On Thursday morning, Capt. Warren R. Orr Jr. was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, along with the five airmen aboard the C-130: Maj. Bernard L. Bucher of Eureka, Ill.; Staff Sgt. Frank M. Hepler of Glenside, Pa.; Airman 1st Class George W. Long of Medicine, Kan.; Maj. John L. McElroy of Eminence, Ky., and 1st Lt. Stephen C. Moreland of Los Angeles, Calif.

Capt. Orr's father and three sisters were among the mourners at the group burial. As an Air Force band played the haunting folk tune "Coming Home," his casket was laid beside one containing the comingled remains of all six service members.

"I get to lay him to rest in his own country now," Capt. Orr's father said. "I'm very proud of him. He was quite a man."

He was 25 years old when he died.

Photo of Warren Orr Sr. holding a picture of his son, Army Capt. Warren Orr Jr., courtesy of Rod Veal, The Orange County Register.

 

Click here to view tributes to the 458 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were no casualties reported last week by the Pentagon.

 

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

The saying "only the good die young" was never truer than over the past week at Arlington National Cemetery, where three of the military's finest were laid to rest with full military honors.

All three were killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A flyover of four F-18s in a missing man formation preceded the burial last Friday of Marine Capt. Garrett Lawton, who died Aug. 4 of wounds suffered in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan.

Lawton, 31, graduated from West Virginia University in 1999 with dual degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering. He served a combat tour in Iraq as a Marine aviator before his deployment to Afghanistan.

"It seems like everyone always has wonderful things to say about people when they die, even if they're not all true, but it is true for Garrett," his sister Kenna said at his memorial service, according to the Beaufort (S.C.) Gazette. "He was a wonderful man, father, husband, son, brother and Marine."

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife Deborah comforted Lawton's widow Trisha and their sons, Ryan, 6, and Caden, 4, at the end of his graveside service.

On Tuesday, Army Master Sgt. Anthony Davis of Triangle, Va., was buried at Arlington. Davis, who loved the Army so much his relatives called him "G.I. Joe," and Marine Capt. Warren Frank were shot and killed Nov. 25 while distributing food to civilians in Baaj, Iraq.

Davis, 43, had earlier arranged for his 18-year-old daughter Diana to send him old soccer balls to distribute to Iraqi children.

"When my dad told me there were kids over there playing soccer with balls that were low quality and some even had holes in them, I knew I had to do something," Diana told insidenova.com.

She made two shipments of about 40 balls each to her father before he died. She hopes to continue the project in his memory.

Diana was among hundreds of mourners - black and white, young and old, military and civilian - who turned out on a bitterly cold morning to bury Davis.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust ... " intoned the Rev. Dr. Luke Torian as people were still arriving at the gravesite. Secretary of the Army Pete Geren consoled Davis' widow and five children at the conclusion of the brief ceremony.

Then on Thursday Army 1st Lt. Thomas Brown, called a "natural born leader" by the men in his infantry platoon, was interred at Arlington.

A horse-drawn caisson carried his casket down York Drive to Arlington's Section 60, where he was buried in grave 8744. A firing party fired off three rounds, a bugler played taps and an Army band played "America the Beautiful" on a cold and rainy morning.

Brown's mother Carol accepted a folded American flag from Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe, commanding general of the Military District of Washington.

Brown's only goal as a child in Shelton, Conn., was to become a soldier, and his only goal as a soldier was to lead his men in battle.

"He insisted he go out on every mission with his men," his mother told the Connecticut Post. "He believed in leading from the front, and I always scolded him about it."

Her fears were realized on Sept. 23 when he was killed by small arms fire while leading a foot patrol north of Baghdad. Brown was 26 years old.

Lawton, Davis and Brown are among 531 casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

AP photo of Army Master Sgt. Anthony Davis' widow and son at his Dec. 9 burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Click here to view tributes to the 458 service members who have died this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following three casualties from last week:

1. Army Capt. Robert Yllescas, 31, of Lincoln, Neb.

2. Army Staff Sgt. Solomon Sam, 31, of Majuro, Marshall Islands.

3. Army Sgt. John Savage, 26, of Weatherford, Texas.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

 

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

When the New York Giants thumped the Washington Redskins Sunday, 23-7, the Giants' honorary co-captain, Army Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, was on the sidelines, cheering the Super Bowl champs on to victory.

"They're playing with great confidence, and you can't underscore how well they're playing as a team," the 42-year-old Gadson said after the game.

That wasn't the case a year ago. Gadson, who lost both legs to a roadside bomb in Baghdad, was asked to give the winless Giants a pep talk before last year's game in Washington.

"I talked to them about their obligation as professionals to do their best," he said.

The Giants responded by beating the Redskins, 24-17, turning their season around, and going on to win the Super Bowl. In April, they brought Gadson along with them to meet President Bush at the White House.

"Greg has just been an unbelievable inspiration to this team," Giants quarterback Eli Manning said at the time.

Gadson is modest about any role he's played in the Giants' success.

"I guess that would assume there was some direct linkage between me and their success," he said. "I would be the last to attribute their success to me."

Still, Gadson and the Giants remain in close contact.

"I spent some time with them during training camp this summer, and the last game I was at was up in New York for the Dallas game [a 35-14 Giants win]," Gadson said. "I actually spent Saturday night with the team at their hotel and had dinner with them and just kind of hung out with them for the weekend. I'm kind of, I guess, a quasi-teammate."

New York's success on the field (an 11-1 record) mirrors Gadson's steady improvement off the field.

"I'm continuing to get better, and my recovery is still going pretty well," said Gadson, who gets around on prosthetic legs.

Gadson plans to stay in the Army and is taking graduate courses in policy management at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

"I don't have a master plan for what I ultimately want to do with it," he said. "The Army, I'm sure, will put it to good use."

In the meantime, Gadson continues to inspire the Giants, much to the chagrin of their NFL opponents.

AP photo of Greg Gadson in Giants' locker room after their 2007 victory over the Redskins. Getty Images photo of Gadson and his son Galen with Giants quarterback Eli Manning after New York's Super Bowl win.

Click here to view an earlier story on Greg Gadson and the Giants.

Click here to view tributes to the 455 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following three casualties from last week:

1. Army 1st Lt. William Jernigan, 35, of Doraville, Ga.

2. Marine Capt. Warren Frank, 26, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

3. Army Master Sgt. Anthony Davis, 43, of Triangle, Va.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

This is a story about one soldier's service and sacrifice for his country.

Army Sgt. Kelly Keck, 34, of West Liberty, Ky., was a combat medic in Afghanistan. On Sept. 13 he came to the aid of several soldiers whose truck was blown up by a roadside bomb.

"I stepped off the road to try to get to the side of the truck, and the next thing I know I hear a loud boom, and I'm laying on the ground," he said recently.

Keck had stepped on a land mine. Seriously wounded, he was still alert enough to tell those assisting him that he needed a morphine injection for his pain. They hesitated.

"I said, 'I don't want pain. If I tell you to give it to me, you know, I'm your doc, so give it to me,'" he said.

Keck got his injection and was quickly medevaced to a field hospital in Jalalabad, but he ended up losing three fingers on his left hand and his right leg below the knee.

"It was quite an ordeal," the soft-spoken soldier said.

Keck was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he's been recuperating for about two months.

"The care's been really good, at least for me," he said. "I've had no problems, really. The biggest thing is if I have pain, say in my leg, and it's the phantom pain, as a lot of it is, it hurts really bad. Getting the right medication sometimes takes awhile because they start from the bottom and go up to see how bad it is."

Keck is one of 10,000 troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who've been treated at Walter Reed for their wounds. I met him after he received a Purple Heart last week from Army Secretary Pete Geren.

We talked about what's next for him, his wife Oxana and their 3-year-old daughter Zoya.

"I'm trying to finish healing so they can put a prosthetic [leg] on me and train me to get used to walking on it and also fix my hand as much as they can," Keck said. "I've been healing pretty fast, they say, so that's a good sign."

He expects to be at Walter Reed for at least several more months but isn't sure what's going to happen after that.

"I don't know if I'll be able to stay in the Army, of if I'll have to get out and go back home to Kentucky and start over," he said.

Since high school, Keck's been a Marine, a college student, a social worker and a soldier. He joined the Army three years ago after social services funds were cut and he lost his job as a social worker.

"I have a degree in social work [from Morehead State University], and I'd probably like to get my master's so that I can open my own office and go from there," he said.

But first Keck, who's always been there for others, either as a social worker or as a combat medic, needs a lot of help himself to get back on his feet and to get on with his life.

Photo by Bernard Little, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, of Army Sgt. Kelly Keck receiving a Purple Heart from Army Secretary Pete Geren.

Click here to view tributes to the 452 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following three casualties from last week:

1. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Marcelo Velasco, 40, of Miami, Fla.

2. Army Pvt. Charles Yi Barnett, 19, of Bel Air, Md.

3. Army Sgt. 1st Class Miguel Wilson, 36, of Bonham, Texas.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

Army Sgt. Cornelius Charlton, one of the last of the all-black Buffalo Soldiers and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his heroics during the Korean War, has finally been laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

"I wish we didn't have to wait so long for this to happen, but he is now in his rightful resting place," said his niece, Zenobia Penn, of New London, Conn.

"Connie" Charlton served with the 24th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the Buffalo Soldiers by American Indians after its creation by Congress in 1866. The regiment, the last of the all-black Army units, was disbanded in 1951, shortly after Charlton was fatally wounded leading an assault on Communist forces northeast of Seoul, South Korea.

"The wounds received during his daring exploits resulted in his death, but his indomitable courage, superb leadership and gallant self-sacrifice reflect the highest credit upon himself, the infantry and the military service," his Medal of Honor citation reads.

His late brother Arthur said Charlton was initially denied burial at Arlington National Cemetery because he was black. The cemetery insisted that was not true.

"We have never denied burial to an eligible service member or veteran based on race or color," Arlington's superintendent, John Metzler, said.

Whoever's right, Charlton's mother had him buried in a family plot in Pocahontas, Va. When the cemetery fell into disrepair, his body was disinterred and reburied in 1990 in the American Legion Cemetery in Beckley, W.Va.

There it remained until his niece decided she wanted Charlton buried instead at Arlington National Cemetery.

"I became quite diligent in my efforts to find something that would acknowledge my Uncle Connie even more so as a hero," said Zenobia, who was born one month after her uncle died.

She sent in documentation of his Medal of Honor, and his burial at Arlington was quickly approved.

"Yeah, boy, it did move pretty quickly," she said. "I just got moving on it, and the rest all fell into place."

Zenobia was one of about 150 friends and family members who gathered on a chill November morning at Arlington National Cemetery for last week's re-interment ceremonies. Tears flowed freely during the brief graveside service.

"He was a good guy, according to everybody," Zenobia said.

Charlton was born 79 years ago, in 1929, in the coal-mining town of Eastgulf, W.Va. He was one of 17 children of Clara and Van Charlton.

The family moved to New York City in 1944, and he enlisted in the Army after attending James Monroe High School in the Bronx. He was shipped to Korea in 1950 and volunteered for combat.

"At last I am getting what I have been waiting for," he wrote home to one of his sisters.

His commanding officer didn't share his enthusiasm.

"Why'd they send him here?" the commander said, according to one account. "Is he a troublemaker?"

Hardly.

On June 2, 1951, Charlton assumed command of his platoon during an attack on Hill 543 near Chipo-Ri, South Korea. His Medal of Honor citation explains what happened next.

"... Personally eliminating two hostile positions and killing six of the enemy with his rifle fire and grenades, he continued up the slope until the unit suffered heavy casualties and became pinned down. Regrouping the men, he led them forward only to be again hurled back by a shower of grenades.

"Despite a severe chest wound, Sergeant Charlton refused medical attention and led a third daring charge which carried to the crest of the ridge. Observing that the remaining emplacement which had retarded the advance was situated on the reverse slope, he charged it alone, was again hit by a grenade, but raked the position with a devastating fire which eliminated it and routed the defenders ..."

Charlton died of his wounds at the age of 21. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously on March 19, 1952.

"We gave him the Medal of Honor," the Saturday Evening Post wrote in 1953. "He gave us his life."

Army photo of Sgt. Cornelius Charlton and AP photos of his burial ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and of Zenobia Penn wiping tears from her eyes at the ceremony.

Click here to view tributes to the 449 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following nine casualties from last week:

1. Army Spc. William McClellan, 22, of Indianapolis, Ind.

2. Army Sgt. Jose Regalado, 23, of Los Angeles, Calif.

3. Army Spc. Corey Shea, 21, of Mansfield, Mass.

4. Army Spc. Armando De La Paz, 21, of Riverside, Calif.

5. Army Spc. James Clay, 25, of Mountain Home, Ark.

6. Army Spc. Jonnie Stiles, 38, of Highland Ranch, Colo.

7. Marine Cpl. Aaron Allen, 24, of Buellton, Calif.

8. Army Chief Warrant Officer Donald Clark, 37, of Memphis, Tenn.

9. Army Chief Warrant Officer Christian Humphreys, 28, of Fallon, Nev.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

Len and Mary Ann Cowherd noticed a big white pickup truck pulling into the driveway of their Culpeper, Va., home about 8:30 in the evening of May 16, 2004.

"When a couple of guys in Army uniforms got out, we pretty much knew what had happened," Len said recently. "They came in, and we talked to them, and we tried to help them out because it's a pretty rough business for them, too."

The soldiers were there to inform the Cowherds that their son, Army 2nd Lt. Leonard Cowherd III, 22, West Point class of '03, had been killed earlier that day by sniper fire and rocket-propelled grenades in Karbala, Iraq.

"When it first happens, you're in shock, and that helps lessen some of the pain," Len said. "Then after awhile you have this empty space, and that empty space is what you have for the rest of your life."

Len and Mary Ann tried to fill that empty space by talking constantly about their son and by sharing his letters home with others.

"The most intense letter was the one to my wife, her Mother's Day card, which arrived a week after he died," Len said. "It was an extremely powerful one."

Lt. Cowherd had dated the Mother's Day card May 8, 2004, eight days before his death.

"I send my heartfelt love to you from across the ocean," he wrote. "I think of Mother's Days from years past - going to St. Stephen's, going with the family to China Jade, where they hand out roses to the mothers - all these wonderful memories of you, the family, home, come rushing into my head and fill me with emotion. So many wonderful experiences, so many things to be thankful for."

The Mother's Day card and other letters from Lt. Cowherd eventually found their way onto the op-ed page of the New York Times and into an HBO documentary and several books of letters home from soldiers.

"It keeps his memory alive," Len said.

"There's nothing, nothing, nothing that can ever bring him back, but it is a little bit of solace," Mary Ann said. "It's a little connection to him."

Len and Mary Ann are driving up to New York this weekend to hear their son's letters quoted once again, this time in Griffin Theatre Company's production of "Letters Home," featuring actors giving dramatic presentations of letters home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Some of these guys out here Sarah - they are just kids," Lt. Cowherd wrote in a letter to his wife that is part of the production. "I'm not an old codger myself - but I couldn't imagine going through the experiences that these guys are going through at age of 18, 19, 20.

"If you saw them walking down the street you would think that they belong in the arcade or at a movie theater hanging out with their friends, getting in trouble, doing stuff kids do - not putting their lives on the line every second of every day."

Artistic director Bill Massolia said his intent in creating "Letters Home" was to show the human face of war.

"All the greatest ideals of this country in terms of patriotism, brotherhood, sense of community, bravery, faith and compassion for fellow human beings are reflected in the letters," he said.

Len said "Letters Home" also helps remind America that it's still at war.

"Here in Culpeper, or wherever, there's very few people that are directly affected by these wars," he said. "The general public in Culpeper is to a great degree clueless. People need to know."

"Letters Home" is on a 12-city tour that concludes May 21, 2009, in Concord, N.H. For more information on "Letters Home," go to www.GriffinTheatre.com.

Photos: Army 2nd Lt. Leonard Cowherd III (AP Photo) and "Letters Home" (courtesy of Griffin Theatre Company).

Click here to view tributes to the 440 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following three casualties from last week:

1. Army Spc. Adam Wenger, 27, of Mount Pleasant, S.C.

2. Army Pfc. Theron Hobbs, 22, of Albany, Ga.

3. Army Staff Sgt. Timothy Walker, 38, of Franklin, Tenn.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

While America was choosing a new president, the following 17 Americans were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the three weeks leading up to the election:

1. Army Sgt. Daniel Wallace, 27, of Dry Ridge, Ky., deployed to Afghanistan in May with the Kentucky National Guard. He was very religious and helped his unit's chaplain. He had asked his mother to write letters to soldiers who had not received letters of their own. "Danny had a lot, a lot of sympathy for people," his mother told the Herald-Dispatch. Wallace was killed Oct. 31 by small arms fire in Badin Kheyl. He is survived by his 6-year-old son.

2. Army Pfc. Bradley Coleman, 24, of Martinsville, Va., deployed to Iraq in June with the 51st Transportation Company. He died Oct. 29 at Qayyarah Airfield from a gunshot wound. His death was under investigation. "He really liked the Army itself, but once he got to Iraq ... it was hard on him," his stepmother told the Bulletin. Coleman leaves his widow, Heather, and children, Edward, 2, and Shyanna, 1. "He was a sweet, loving person," his stepmother said.

3. Army Sgt. Scott Metcalf, 36, of Framingham, Mass., enlisted in 1990 and was a supply sergeant with the 101st Airborne Division. He was the recipient of seven Army Achievement Medals. Metcalf served in Korea and deployed at least three times to Iraq, where he died Oct. 29 in Balad of injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident that was under investigation. He leaves his widow, Betty, and daughter, Korrine. His family had no comment on his death.

4. Marine 1st Lt. Trevor Yurista, 32, of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., rode a motorcycle through the halls of his high school as a senior prank. He graduated from Officer Candidate School in 2005 and served two tours in Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan with the 1st Marine Division. His father recalled him teaching Iraqi kids how to play soccer with hundreds of donated soccer balls. Yurista was killed Oct. 27 by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

5. Army Sgt. Kevin Grieco, 35, of Bartlett, Ill., was a third-generation soldier who loved the military. "He wanted our son to go into the military as well," his wife, Rashmi, told the Tribune. "And I always said, 'No, because my hair is turning gray already.'" Grieco, with the Illinois National Guard, and another soldier were killed Oct. 27 in Baghlan, Afghanistan, by a suicide bomber. Besides Rashmi, Grieco is survived by their children, Joshua, 4, and Angeli, 2.

6. Army Sgt. Nicholas Casey, 22, of Canton, Ohio, joined the Air Force and married his high school sweetheart in 2004. He then switched to the Army for more of a challenge. "He was a gung-ho kind of boy," his father-in-law told cantonrep.com. "A neat kid." Casey, with the 7th Special Forces Group, and another soldier were killed Oct. 27 by a suicide bomber in Baghlan, Afghanistan. Casey leaves his widow, Rachelle, and their sons, Nicholas II, 3, and Curtis, 2.

7. Air Force Staff Sgt. Brian Hause, 29, of Stoystown, Pa., enlisted in 2001. He was an Air Force mechanic who enjoyed photography and motorcycles. Hause was found unconscious in his room at Balad Air Base in Iraq and rushed to the base hospital, where he died Oct. 23. His death was under investigation. "We can't understand it," his father told the Tribune-Review. "Everything seemed fine." Hause, who was divorced, leaves two children, Lexie, 7, and Cody, 4.

8. Marine Lance Cpl. San Sim, 23, was born in the Philippines, the youngest of 11 children. His family escaped from Cambodia and the Kymer Rouge and eventually settled in Santa Ana, Calif., where Sim wrestled in high school. He was on his third overseas tour when he and another member of the 1st Marine Division were shot and killed Oct. 22 during a routine patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Sim, who was due home this month, leaves his widow, Karia.

9. Marine Cpl. Adrian Robles, 21, of Scottsbluff, Neb., had barely played soccer before going out for the team his senior year in high school to get in shape for the Marines. "We had to help him learn some of the skills, and he became one of our goalkeepers," his coach told the Journal Star. "He was always willing to learn, and very enthusiastic." Robles and another member of the 1st Marine Division were killed Oct. 22 in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

10. Army Spc. Dean Taylor, 30, of Bronx, N.Y., was an undercover New York City cop who deployed to Afghanistan in January with the New York National Guard. One of 258 New York police officers on leave for military service, he was killed Oct. 22 by a roadside bomb in Bela Beuk. "He was really close with his mother," a neighbor told Newsday. "She's taking it really bad." Taylor, who was engaged to be married next summer, is also survived by his 8-year-old son.

11. Marine Lance Cpl. Stacy Dryden, 22, of North Canton, Ohio, graduated from high school in 2004, worked at a fast-food restaurant and a few other jobs, and joined the Marines in 2007. "She thought the Marines were the most challenging of all the services," her cousin told the Beacon Journal. "She always wanted to try new things." Dryden, with the 1st Marines Logistics Group, died Oct. 19 from injuries suffered in a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, Iraq.

12. Army Capt. Robert Lindenau, 39, of Camano Island, Wash., received a bachelor's degree in music in 1992 and a master's of music in classical guitar performance in 1996 from the University of Idaho at Moscow. He joined the Army in 1996 and was serving in Afghanistan with the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade when he was killed Oct. 20 in Charbagh by a rocket-propelled grenade. He leaves his widow, Tonya, and their children, Rachel, Gabe, Sarah, and Hannah.

13. Army Pfc. Heath Pickard, 21, of Palestine, Texas, loved baseball, football, hunting, and fishing. He also matured after he enlisted. "He knew what was important in life," his high school principal told the AP. "There's a lot of folks who don't figure that out their entire lives." Pickard was in Iraq with the 25th Infantry Division when he died Oct. 16 of wounds suffered from indirect fire in Baquaba. He leaves his widow, Sara, and son, Ethan, 4 months.

14. Army Pfc. Cody Eggleston, 21, of Eugene, Ore., enlisted after graduating from North Eugene Alternative High School in 2007. He deployed to Iraq in September with the 25th Infantry Division and died Oct. 24 of wounds suffered Oct. 16 from indirect fire in Baquabah. Eggleston is survived by his widow, Karie, whom he married in June, and her daughter, Raegan, 6. "They were very much looking forward to taking a honeymoon," a family friend said in a statement.

15. Army Spc. Justin Saint, 22, of Albertville, Ala., looked forward to coming home this month from Iraq, where he was serving with the 18th Airborne Corps and had recently learned he was being promoted to sergeant. He was also excited about a new assignment that entailed traveling around the world working in security communications. "He was just sitting around chilling," his father told the Times. Saint died Oct. 15 in Baghdad in a non-combat related incident.

16. Army Sgt. Federico Borjas, 33, of San Diego, Calif., was a Florida native who served in the Marines, as a San Diego police officer, and in the Army reserves. He was called to active duty in August and was killed Oct. 16 in Bermel District Center, Afghanistan, by a gunman. Borjas, with the 351st Civil Affairs Command, was one of 18 San Diego police officers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and the first one to die. He leaves a daughter, Yvette.

17. Army Sgt. John Penich, 25, of Beach Park, Ill., played French Horn in his high school band and also enjoyed mountain biking, four-wheelers, and paintball. He and his brother went on a hunting trip to Canada in 2003. "He loved hunting and loved riding Harleys," his brother told the News Sun. Penich, on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan with the 1st Infantry Division, was killed Oct. 16 in Karangol Village by indirect fire. The incident was under investigation.

A total of 4,193 Americans have been killed in Iraq since 2003 and 555 have died in Afghanistan since 2001, according to the Pentagon.

Click here to view tributes to the 437 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following six casualties from last week:

1. Army Sgt. Nicholas Casey, 22, of Canton, Ohio.

2. Army Sgt. Kevin Grieco, 35, of Bartlett, Ill.

3. Marine 1st Lt. Trevor Yurista, 32, of Pleasant Valley, N.Y.

4. Army Sgt. Scott Metcalf, 36, of Framingham, Mass.

5. Army Pfc. Bradley Coleman, 24, of Martinsville, Va.

6. Army Sgt. Daniel Wallace, 27, of Dry Ridge, Ky.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

"Medal of Honor," a 90-minute documentary airing Nov. 5 on public television stations around the country, pays tribute to the 3,473 recipients of the nation's highest military award since its creation during the Civil War.

Among those recipients was Army Pfc. James Monroe, a college classmate of mine who was killed in South Vietnam in 1967 when he threw himself on a live grenade.

"Through his valorous actions, performed in a flash of inspired selflessness, Pfc. Monroe saved the lives of two of his comrades and prevented the probable injury of several others," his Medal of Honor citation reads in part.

Rick Olson, Monroe's best friend, was not surprised by Monroe's heroics.

"He was a medic, and I don't think he would have had a second thought about, you know, throwing himself on the grenade," Olson said recently.

Monroe and Olson grew up together in Wheaton, Ill., and went off to college together at Washington & Lee University.

"He was very fun loving and kind of irreverent at times," Olson remembers. "He loved to laugh and have a good time."

Monroe studied political science in college but dropped out before graduating and was drafted into the Army. Olson last saw Monroe when his friend was home on leave in August 1966.

"He was gung ho," Olson said. "He was into the war and especially the camaraderie and the brotherhood of soldiers kind of thing. He was very upbeat, and at that time the war wasn't as unpopular as it became, and he was doing okay with that."

Olson pulled out an old newspaper clipping in which Monroe was quoted as saying of the men he served with, "It gives me great pride to see these young guys take a hard job they don't understand and do it - and do it damn well."

Monroe entered the Army in June 1966, shipped off to Vietnam in November and died on Feb. 16, 1967.

"The time was so short," his mother later said.

Olson was in the Army himself, stationed in Panama, when he received word from his parents that Monroe had been killed.

"Good friend," Olson said. "Old friend. Childhood friend. Just a nice guy to have around."

Monroe's parents received his posthumous Medal of Honor from then Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor at a White House ceremony on Oct. 17, 1968, which, by coincidence, would have been Monroe's 24th birthday.

A junior high school was named in Monroe's honor in his hometown of Wheaton, and a room at the Wheaton hospital also carries his name. A memorial plaque in his name was unveiled at Washington & Lee in 1986.

Monroe is buried in his family's plot at the Wheaton Cemetery, along with his parents and his older brother.

He was 22 when he died. He would be 64 today.

Family photo of James Monroe.

Click here to view tributes to the 431 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following nine casualties from last week:

1. Army Spc. Justin Saint, 22, of Albertville, Ala.

2. Army Pfc. Heath Pickard, 21, of Palestine, Texas.

3. Army Capt. Robert Lindenau, 39, of Camano Island, Wash.

4. Marine Lance Cpl. Stacy Dryden, 22, of North Canton, Ohio.

5. Army Spc. Deon Taylor, 30, of Bronx, N.Y.

6. Marine Cpl. Adrian Robles, 21, of Scottsbluff, Neb.

7. Marine Lance Cpl. San Sim, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif.

8. Air Force Staff Sgt. Brian Hause, 29, of Stoystown, Pa.

9. Army Pfc. Cody Eggleston, 21, of Eugene, Ore.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

A memorial service was held last Friday at Arlington National Cemetery for a soldier who died in Iraq after his discharge from the Army was blocked and his enlistment was extended.

Sgt. Timothy M. Smith, 25, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., was one of more than 12,000 soldiers currently subjected to stop-loss orders, which force them to remain in the Army involuntarily.

"He should have been out," his father told the Tahoe Daily Tribune. "He had done his duty."

Smith had joined the Army in 2004 and had served a nine-month tour in Afghanistan in 2006.

"He was pretty gung-ho going to Afghanistan," his brother told the Daily Tribune.

But Smith's attitude changed after he returned home. He married Shayna Richards on July 4, 2007, and began the formal process of adopting her infant son Riley.

"He had a family to come back to, a wife and a son to come home to," his brother said.

Smith decided to leave the Army, but he was prevented from doing so by stop-loss. He was shipped instead to Iraq in November 2007 to clear roadside bombs and was killed by one of them on April 7, 2008.

"As much as you think that you prepare yourself, you can never, ever prepare yourself for something like this," Shayna told the Daily Tribune.

Smith's memorial service contained no casket or urn because his ashes had been scattered earlier by his family. His tombstone, inscribed "In Memory of Timothy M Smith Sgt US Army," was placed on a sloping hill of Arlington National Cemetery's Memorial Section K, not in Section 60, where most of the casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

"I am very proud to be Timmy's mom," his mother said afterward. "He is a Hero, and always has been, and I miss him so much, but know I will see him again one day."

Family photo of Sgt. Timothy M. Smith, wife, Shayna, and son, Riley.

Click here to view tributes to the 422 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following nine casualties from last week:

1. Army Sgt. Michael Clark, 24, of Sacramento, Calif.

2. Army Sgt. Geoffrey Johnson, 28, of Lubbock, Texas.

3. Army Pfc. Scott Dimond, 39, of Franklin, N.H.

4. Army Pfc. Christopher McCraw, 23, of Columbia, Miss.

5. Army Spc. Cory Bertrand, 18, of Center, Texas.

6. Army Spc. Stephen Fortunato, 25, of Danvers, Mass.

7. Army Sgt. Preston Medley, 23, of Baker, Fla.

8. Army Sgt. John Penich, 25, of Beach Park, Ill.

9. Army Sgt. Federico Borjas, 33, of San Diego, Calif.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

Some families endure tremendous sacrifices for this country that most Americans are unaware of.

Sharon Rusch was three days shy of her sixth birthday when her father was shot down over Laos in 1972 and disappeared.

"He wasn't suppose to fly that day," Sharon said recently. "Actually, his friend was, but his friend's wife had called and said, 'I had a bad dream. You can't fly today.' So my dad took the mission and of course got shot down."

Air Force Capt. Stephen Rusch, 28, left behind his wife Judy and daughters Sharon and Rebecca.

"We had nothing," Sharon said. "My mom had no money. She would work all day at minimum wage jobs and then put us to sleep and make doll clothes for us for Christmas. It all worked out in the end, but I don't know how she did it."

Sharon joined the Air Force herself in 1992 and rose to the rank of colonel in the Dental Corps. She married a fellow Air Force officer, Kevin Bannister, and had two daughters of her own, Kira and Haley.

But her father's disappearance continued to prey on her, especially when she began receiving phone calls from a man who insisted her father was still alive and living overseas.

"He never asked for money, but that's where I think he was going," Sharon said. "I was very quick to tell him I didn't buy any of it and I thought it was awful of him to call families. He contacted me a couple of times and then sort of disappeared."

She said families of the missing are often targets of such scams.

"It's more common than you would think," she said. "It makes me a little sick to my stomach to know people are out there doing that to families."

About 10 years ago, her father's crash site was located, and a bone fragment was later recovered. A DNA sample was needed from his mother to identify his remains.

"My father had been adopted, and after a lot of work, we contacted the adoption agency, and after I explained the whole situation, the adoption agency grudgingly agreed to help me find the birth mom," Sharon said.

"The agency found her. I wasn't allowed to talk to her, but I was allowed to give her a letter. The birth mom refused to give a swab from the inside of her mouth, which is all it took to be able to identify my dad."

Sharon was never given a reason for the woman's refusal.

"I mean, what would it hurt to help somebody?" she asked. "I just can't imagine not doing that."

Two years later, however, her father's remains were identified through the fillings and leftover enamel in two tiny pieces of teeth recovered from the crash site.

"It's just amazing that they were able to find something so small in an overgrown jungle that was enough to identify him and bring him back to us, bring him back to his family," she said.

Sharon flew out to Hawaii and brought his remains home for burial at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 30, 2007.

"I didn't think I'd be as emotional as I was," she said. "It was the first time in a long time that I cried. It was like he was finally home, and I finally knew he was being buried in the most honored place you could possibly be buried."

Even today, 36 years after his death and nearly a year after his burial, Sharon still thinks every day about her father.

"There's not a day that goes by that I don't miss him," she said. "My dad's still my hero, and he always will be."

Photos: Air Force Capt. Stephen Rusch (Pentagon photo); Air Force Col. Sharon Bannister and her family receive American flag at burial of her father at Arlington National Cemetery, Nov. 30, 2007 (AP Photo).

Click here to view tributes to the 413 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following four casualties from last week:

1. Army Sgt. William Rudd, 27, of Madisonville, Ky.

2. Marine Col. Michael Stahlman, 45, of Chevy Chase, Md.

3. Marine Cpl. Jason Karella, 20, of Anchorage, Alaska.

4. Army Cpl. Ruben Fernandez III, 22, of Abilene, Texas.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/.