The Forgotten Part Of The War In Iraq

Our youngest son Brian Cramer is back in Iraq serving his next 7th month tour that has just begun. Brian called us for the first time on Monday at 3:00 am in the morning. He is in city of Al Qiam, which is located on the Syria border. The area is called the Wild, Wild West and is also known as "The forgotten part of the war in Iraq".

This past Friday September 3rd, 2004 Brian and 17 other men from the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, Weapons Co. were on their very 1st mission or patrol. There were 5 Humvees and 18 Marines that pulled over to check a bridge to see if it was safe enough to take heavy equipment over. It only took about 10 minutes for 2 engineers, along with the other 16 men, to check the bridge out and then they returned to their vehicles. Many of them were already in their Humvees when someone detonated an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) that had been planted in the road close to the Humvees. Our son was only 50 feet away and watched his best friend die. His name was Nicholas Wilt from Tampa, Florida. He was 23 and married for only a little over a year. He and his wife attended the same nursery school. You will not hear anything about this on the news, since there are no news reporters where they are and as I said before, they are fighting in "The forgotten part of Iraq". The names of the fallen marines are:

Lance Corporal Nicholas Perez age 19 from Austin, Texas (He was with the 3rd Battalion/7th Marines) (His 7 month tour was almost over and he was going home soon).

Captain Alan Rowe (Brian's captain) age 35 from Hagerman, Idaho (Married with 3 children)

1st Lieutenant Ronald Winchester (Brian's Lieutenant) age 25 from Rockville, N

Lance Corporal Nicholas Wilt (Brian's best friend) age 23 from Tampa, Florida (His wife's name is Mercedes)

I do not want these Marines to be forgotten. They have paid the ultimate price for freedom and please keep their family and friends in your prayers.

There were two other friends of Brain's that were injured and I regret to say I only know one of them by his first name and the other by his last name. Matt was one of the young men that was injured the worst. When we had our last visit with Brian a few weeks ago, we had dinner with Matt, his wife & his father the night before coming home. Matt's wife, Heather had just found out she was pregnant. His leg was badly injured and he should recover. His injury will allow him to come home. The other young man I only know by his last name. His last name is Patterson, he received minor wounds to his face and will be fine.

Since they lost both their officers, a Capt. and 1st Lieutenant, Brian is now in charge of his platoon, since he now the highest ranking in his unit. He will need are prayers and I ask God to help him through this. It doesn't quite seem fair that at 20 years of age you have so much responsibility, but I am sure he is very capable. When he was in 29 Palms, California (his duty station), he told me he never slept well due to the fact that he had so many things racing through his mind with so much responsibility as a Corporal. Well, the bars been raised even higher for him.

Thank you so much for listening. Thanks for your prayers and for praying for our lost marines, soldiers and their families! They won't be forgotten!

Jeanie