Somewhere between Memorial Day and 4th of July

Captain Russell Rippetoe was a member of the Alpha Company, Third Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003.  Previously, while serving in Afghanistan, Rippetoe saw men die for the first time; and it brought a renewal to his faith and a new passion from the Bible, which he carried in his backpack.  On the chain around his neck, he wore a "Shield of Strength," a one-by-two-inch emblem that displays a U.S. flag on one side and the words from Joshua 1:9 on the other.  In his combat diary dated  March 27, Rippetoe had written:  "Think about what Mom and I talked about:  all things happening for a reason, and God knows the reason."

On April 3, 2003, Alpha Company was manning a night-time checkpoint near the Hadithah Dam in western Iraq when a vehicle approached,  Suddenly, a woman jumped out and cried, "I'm hungry.  I need food and water!"  Protecting his Soldiers, Rippetoe gave the order to "hold back" as he moved toward the woman to see how he could help.  When she hesitated, the driver detonated a car bomb that killed Captain Rippetoe, Sergeant Nino Livaudais, and Specialist Ryan Long, and wounded others.

Rippetoe believed the ancient words given to Joshua: " . . . the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."  That he died trying to help someone else came as no surprise to those who knew him.  He became the first casualty of the Iraq conflict to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the hallowed ground that is memorial to more than 250,000 American Soldiers spanning back to the Revolutionary War.

TONIGHT, SATURDAY, 6 JUNE, IS THE VETERAN'S GUITAR PROJECT, 6:30 P.M., ST JOSEPH'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Somewhere between Memorial Day and 4th of July -- a time to remember and be thankful.

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