Hero Stories for August 2008

Petty Officer 1st Class Joshua Har

Dale Goldstein is a friend and licensed psychotherapist. Since 1981 he has managed Heartwork. It's a series of workshops and retreats that genuinely transform people. I've seen how powerful his workshops are through many close friends who have been through them. He's also just written a book called Heartwork: How to get what you really, REALLY want. Because so many who've written to HeroBracelets.org are dealing with grief, either from the loss of a loved one or dealing with their long abs...

SPC Irving E. Medina, Army, Operation Iraqi Freedom "It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." General Norman H. Schwarkopf, Retired. Irving Medina was born in Mexico City, Mexico on July 14,1981, a few minutes before his twin brother Ivan. Irving Medina, an army specialist, died in Iraq on November 14, 2003, at the age of 22. When the boys were four years old, their father left for the United States in the hope of improving...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Army Sgt. William Fleming can still see the nine paratroopers hovering over him after the anti-tank mine blew out his eardrums and ripped him with shrapnel last November. "When I got blown up, every one of them came and checked on me," Fleming says, his voice quivering as his hands move to cover his face. Now, every one of them is gone. On Monday, two suicide truck bombers attacked his reconnaissance scout unit's outpost in Iraq. The explosion killed nine soldiers from t...

SSgt Christopher Frost worked on the Public Affairs Office staff as a combat cameraman and editor for Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq. His missions involved a lot of Travel around Iraq, reporting on the significant progress of Iraq's Security Forces and documenting and reporting their capability improving. He was Killed In Action doing exactly what he loved to do; Reporting on the progress of Iraq's Security Forces. On a return mission to Baghdad from an outlying area, inst...

Pfc. Jonathon L. Lusc

My hero is my baby brother, Jonathan Stehle. He died in training in Grafenwohr, Germany when his tank fell into a sink hole and he drown. He was loved by his brother soldiers and deeply loved by his family. He is a hero because as a result of his accident the Army is making it safe for all tankers when they train at gunnery. Stacie Stor

Dear HeroBracelets, We ordered a pair of your memorial bracelets last week and they arrived yesterday. I have to say, we were both genuinely moved when we took them out of the package and put them on. We don't know anyone who has fought in the war, but we felt we wanted to show how much we support and care for those who are fighting. We've made several donations to military family support organizations and while researching them, we came across your memorial bracelet web site. The bracelets a...

In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, when you look up the words "courage", "strength", and "determination" you will find the following: COURAGE : mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty STRENGTH 1: the quality or state of being strong : capacity for exertion or endurance DETERMINATION 3 a: the act of deciding definitely and firmly; also : the result of such an act of decision b: firm or fixed intention to achieve a desired end <a woman of gre...

I received my Hero Bracelets in the mail this afternoon and was totally unprepared for the impact they were going to have on me. I spent the next two hours on the computer reading first about the soldiers on my bracelets, and then about so many others that have been lost. It has been an incredibly humbling evening for me, and one that has reinforced my undying gratitude to our service men and women. Thank you for doing your part to help ease the heart ache of the families that have paid a mu...