Genoa man found dead in Ogle County committed suicide - soldier

[seemslikeadream]

DEKALB -- A Kingston man who disappeared Sept. 5 and was discovered in rural Ogle County on Friday died of an apparent puncture wound to the heart, authorities said Monday.

Foul play is not being considered in 23-year-old Michael E. Torok's death. Torok was last seen at about 12:45 p.m. Sept. 5 at the Cherry Valley Menards on Perryville Road.

He had left his parents' home in Kingston that day at 11:30 a.m. to visit a friend in Shabbona. Torok had just returned home from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, after serving in Afghanistan last year.

Torok's body was discovered inside his Chevy Silverado truck about 500 feet north of Illinois 72 on a farm road in between two cornfields. A DeKalb County deputy found him shortly after noon on Friday, near Monroe Center.

DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott said a knife was discovered in Torok's truck. Cell phone records led deputies to the area.
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http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040927/NEWS0106/40927005

[Southpaw Bookworm]

1. Horrible

That this won't be counted as a combat death. This war killed him just as certainly as if he'd gotten blown up in a tank in the Afghan desert.

[0007]

3. Exactaly!

[jukes]

2. unlikely

that he pulled the knife out of his own heart.

[0007]

4. Stranger things have happened!

[seemslikeadream]

5. 11-year-old Matt Goodwin, knew right away when he saw military members

His son, 11-year-old Matt Goodwin, knew right away when he saw military members at the door of his Fairbanks home Monday that they were there to tell him his father had been killed, said Christa Bartlett, Matt's mother and Goodwin's former wife.

"Matthew is his next of kin. He's his only child," Bartlett said. "His dad had told him, 'You won't hear about anything on the news if it happens. They'll tell you first.'"
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2423791,00.html

STAFF SGT. ROBERT S. GOODWIN, 35, died from enemy fire in Afghanistan Monday. He was a member of the 3rd Special Forces Group from Fort Bragg, N.C., and had earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart through previous military actions.


Decatur County lost its first soldier Monday since the United States launched its war against terrorism.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert S. Goodwin, 35, known as Stacey by his family, was a Green Beret who died Monday while serving his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. He and another soldier, Staff Sgt. Tony B. Olaes, 30, of Walhalla, S.C., were killed by mortar fire during an ambush while patrolling near Shikin in the Paktika province. The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Three members of Goodwin’s family sat in his grandma Dora Merkeson Goodwin’s kitchen off of Highway 310 near Spring Creek Road Thursday, mourning his loss and reminiscing about him.

Goodwin’s service awards included a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal and the Army Achievement Award. He also served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

“Stacey told me before he left this last time, ‘I’m not looking forward to going back this time,’” Dora Goodwin said.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13002045&BRD=2068&PAG=461&dept_id=387472&rfi=6

[annabanana]

7. heartbreaking.....

How many times must this pain be inflicted until the other half of America feels something?

[seemslikeadream]

6. "I ran out of tears a long time ago,"

Family from Marion mourns soldier's death
Son of St. Mary grad killed in Iraq
By BRENDA J. DONEGAN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A 28-year-old Marine from Charlotte, N.C. - the nephew of two Marion women - was killed by an explosive Sept. 16 while serving in Iraq's Al Anbar Province.

Lance Cpl. Gregory Howman was the son of 1955 St. Mary graduate Gary Howman and the late Hannah Morgan Howman, also of Marion.

Gregory Howman's death was one of several tragedies the family has been dealing with in recent weeks, as the soldier had just returned to the war after attending his mother's funeral.

"I ran out of tears a long time ago," Becky Howman-Lehmann of Navarre, Fla., said "I have to remain strong now for my dad. He's had a lot to deal with and is not doing real good right now. He still can't talk to anyone about Gregory."
http://www.marionstar.com/news/stories/20040922/localnews/1283127.html

[seemslikeadream]

8. "He told me next time he’d buy me dinner,"

As the Garces family walked out of the small rural church, nestled between the citrus groves of south Weslaco, the first of the day’s torrential rains began to fall. Undeterred by the deluge, friends and acquaintances watched the procession make its way out of the parking lot.

Glapa and Garces spent many hours on the team bus together, travelling to away wrestling meets. They even had dinner together the night before Garces was shipped off to Iraq after a leave.

"He told me next time he’d buy me dinner," Glapa said.

"Now, I guess, there isn’t going to be a next time."

As taps played softly in the background and the honor guard carefully folded the U.S. flag that had draped Garces’ coffin, mourners looked on through watery eyes.

"People say he was a model soldier or he was perfect," Ruiz said."He wasn’t perfect. He was a real person."

http://www.valleystar.com/localnews_more.php?id=54857_0_19_0_M

[Crunchy Frog]

9. I think there's been a pretty large number

of suicides among soldiers who have returned from Iraq. I wonder if anyone is keeping track.

This war is a gift that will keep on giving for decades.