Meanwhile, the war goes on...

[Blue_In_AK]

From today's Anchorage Daily News -- the second local boy to die this week. :cry:

"WASILLA -- He dreamed of becoming a teacher and that dream took him into the military, onto a path he expected would lead to a college education.

The dream ended when Sgt. Kurtis Dean Kama-O-Apelila Arcala, 22, died Sunday in Iraq, the first casualty of the war from Palmer and the second from this state to die there in a week.

Arcala, assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, lost his life to a roadside bomb alongside a convoy in Balad, Iraq, according to his family and friends. His mother said she was told he died in a hospital of his wounds.

Another soldier of the 3rd Infantry Division, Matthew Bohling, also 22, of Eagle River, was to be buried this week at Fort Richardson National Cemetery. Bohling died Sept. 5, also the victim of a roadside bomb in Iraq.

<snip>

Arcala enlisted on Sept. 1, 2001, for the job training, the education benefits and "to do something with his life," his sister said Monday by phone. "And then 9/11 broke out."

<snip>

Angela Berberich remembers the day her son told her he'd re-enlisted. He called, just before the state fair, and she was outside on a ladder painting the house. She climbed down to take the call. It was the last time they talked.

He called again about five days ago, but no one was home and he left a message:

"It's Kurtis calling to say hi. I love you all."

His mother saved the recording."




I'd post a link, but you have to be a subscriber. This has just GOT to stop.