RSS
|
Mobile
|
Daily Emails
|
We Twitter
| Make us your home page
By BRANDON FORMBY
The Dallas Morning News
TERRELL -- As the sobering news spread this week that one of their own died at war, residents of Terrell knew immediately that they would soon gather along flag-lined downtown streets for a procession.
Just as they have done four times before.
Army Spc. Joseph "Joe" Michael Lewis, 26, whose wife and young daughter live in Terrell, became the fifth service member from the city of about 15,500 to die in Afghanistan or Iraq since 2004. He is the second to die since October.
"Having a second one so soon, it's kind of a little bit of a shock," said Terrell Fire Chief Jim Harper. "I guess you see and hear about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq every day on the news, but this puts so much more of a personal spin on it for those of us here."
Army Sgt. Gerardo Moreno, 23, was killed April 6, 2004, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack near Ashula. Sgt. Sean Brady Berry died in October 2005 in Iraq. Spc. Jonathan David Arthur "J.D." Emard, 20, died of combat wounds in Tikrit, Iraq, in June 2008. Sgt. Shawn McNabb, a 24-year-old combat medic, was killed last month in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
The town isn't so small that everyone knows everyone else. But the connections between residents and the servicemen or their surviving relatives aren't far removed. So news of another fallen soldier moved fast this week.
"You're never more than one or two steps away from knowing the people involved," said Mayor Hal Richards, who attends Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd with the Lewis family.
David Emard, whose son, J.D., was killed in Iraq last year, and Lewis' dad, Mike Lewis, have worked together at Oldcastle Glass for years. The mother of Moreno, the first Terrell serviceman to die, works for the same company.
After J.D. Emard died, Mike Lewis often comforted his grieving co-worker. On Wednesday, David Emard and his wife, Debbie, went to the Lewis home to offer condolences.
David Emard said words were hard to find. So he just hugged Lewis.
"That's all that was needed," Emard said. "He knows where I've been and I know what he's feeling."
Debbie Emard said that when they arrived at the Lewises, the mother of Berry, who died in 2005, was already there. She and Joe Lewis' mother have been friends since childhood, Debbie Emard said.
While the relationships can bring understanding, the repeated grief can also conjure private pain.
"We want to be there for those families, but it's hard because you kind of relive it all," Debbie Emard said.
Defense officials have not released information about Lewis' death in Afghanistan, which was confirmed by family members and Terrell residents. Relatives, who could not be reached for comment, said in a written statement that Lewis was fun-loving and would do anything to help people.
They called him "G.I. Joe."
"We are heartbroken but are proud of Joe's dedication and service to our country," relatives said in the statement. "He loved his job, country, family and friends. Joe wanted to be a soldier since he was a child."
Lewis' body arrived from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for a funeral scheduled for Saturday. He'll be buried in Terrell with full military honors.
