By James Jennings, Managing Editor
Spec. Clint Gertson, 26, of Eagle Lake was killed in combat near Mosul, Iraq, Saturday, Feb. 19.
He was a member of the U.S. Army 1st Battalion 24th Infantry Regiment 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team),
Gertson was killed by an insurgent sniper while on a combat patrol in western Mosul.
Gertson, a sniper himself, was wearing a Kevlar vest, but the shot hit him near the shoulder and tore through his upper body, exiting out the other side, according to his father Gayle Gertson.
"Snipers are trained to shoot at areas not protected by the vest," he said.
Friends and family gathered at the Gertson home in Eagle Lake to offer their support to the grieving family.
His parents, Gayle and Susan Gertson, said they were sharing their grief publicly because their son wanted the public to know that he was fighting for a good cause.
"The last time I talked to him, about a week and a half before he died, he told me he wanted the American public to know that what we're doing over there is good," Susan said. "He said that there are a lot of good people in Iraq, and they want freedom."
Clint told his father, "We're paying the price, and we're glad to do it."
Gayle said that his son was especially taken with the children in Iraq.
"What really got him was seeing the kids there," Gayle said. "They were on patrol one time and saw that a boy's bicycle had broken down. Clint stopped to help fix it."
The Gertsons also received a message from Clint's commander, Lt. Col. Michael Kurilla, who was also Clint's best friend in Iraq.
"I know you know he was a good man, but he was an even better soldier," Kurilla wrote the Gertsons.
Gayle shared the story of when Kurilla and Clint first met at Fort Lewis, Wash.
"Clint was driving an army-green four-wheel-drive pickup truck," Gayle said. "Clint (who stood 6'5" tall) got out of the truck, and (Kurilla) said 'my God, he's bigger than the pickup!'"
Susan remembers her son as "a big, strong country boy."
"I'm very proud of the man he became," she said. "He found a purpose in life and loved what he was doing."
Clint was involved in a close call in Iraq less than two months ago.
On Dec. 21, 2004, he was injured when a suicide bomber attacked a mess tent at Base Marez, a U.S. base three miles south of Mosul. The explosion killed 22 people.
After his injury, he opted to continue with his tour of duty in Iraq, saying that his work there was not done.
"After the Mosul bombing, he told me 'Dad, freedom isn't free, but we're doing the right thing,'" Gayle said.
"When Clint was injured, we felt like he was spared for a reason," Susan said. "After that, we thought that he'd be fine.
"We really weren't expecting this. It came as a big shock. It's not supposed to be this way. You're not supposed to bury your child."
Clint was optimistic about the situation in Iraq, especially since the elections which coincided with Clint's birthday, according to his mother.
"He said that the people over there weren't afraid any more," she said. "He was really upbeat. He saw a big difference and that things were really changing for the better over there."
Clint had been in Iraq since October 2004, and his brother Matt had also served a tour in Iraq.
"Matt said that every morning over there you know it could be your day," Gayle said. "He told me there's no way to describe the camaraderie and brotherhood you feel for each other when you're over there.
"It would be easy to get mad and say there's nothing worth my son's life. He could've come home when he was wounded, but he chose to stay."
Susan said that all military families should be proud of what their children are doing.
According to his father, Clint said in his last letter home, "If something does happen to me, don't worry about me and don't worry about us.
"There are a lot more people like me that will pick up the slack."
At press time, no details of a memorial service had been finalized.
When arrangements are complete, they will be posted on The Citizen web site, www.coloradocountycitizen.com.
Colorado County Citizen, February 24, 2005
Courtesy of The CitizenMemorial service set for Saturday
A public memorial service for U.S. Army Spec. Clint Gertson, who was killed in Iraq Feb. 19, is tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Rice High School gymnasium.
Community mourns a fallen hero
By James Jennings, Managing Editor
The community said "good-bye" to fallen U.S. Army Spc. Clint Gertson with a series of memorials over the weekend.
Gertson, 26, of Eagle Lake was killed in combat near Mosul, Iraq, Saturday, Feb. 19.His body was flown to Bush Intercontinental Airport Friday evening where a military escort carried him home to Eagle Lake.
Hundreds of mourners, many of them carrying American flags and candles, met the procession when it reached Eagle Lake late Friday night and followed it to Dulany Funeral Home.
"It was the most moving thing I've ever experienced," one mourner said.
On Saturday morning, friends, family and well-wishers gathered at the Rice High School gymnasium for a memorial service.
One of the speakers, Sgt. Derek Brame, who served as Gertson's team leader for four months, gave an emotional presentation.
"He was honored to help those who couldn't help themselves," Brame said of his fallen comrade.
Brame also shared some personal memories of Gertson.
"He was the only person in the barracks that loved Dr Pepper as much as me," Brame said.
He also recalled the day Gertson was killed.
"The day he died, he was already done for the day," Brame said. "He was asked if he would go out on patrol again.
"That's the kind of guy he was; he would always say 'yes.'"
State Rep. Robby Cook, D-Eagle Lake, also paid tribute to Gertson at Saturday's service.
He recalled how after serving two years in the Army, Gertson decided to re-enlist even though he knew he would be sent into combat.
He also talked about how Gertson chose to continue his tour of duty in Iraq after being wounded in a suicide bombing in December.
"Clint loved people he didn't even know," Cook said. "He put all of us above himself. He gained a compassion and love for the people of Iraq.
"He made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and the freedom of the Iraqi people."
Cook urged the crowd to show their support for all the soldiers serving in harm's way.
"Don't wait until a soldier has fallen before you tell him thank you," Cook said. "Show them we love them and support them through emails, letters and prayers."
Formal funeral services were held for Gertson Monday at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Columbus.
A burial with full military honors followed at Lakeside Cemetery in Eagle Lake.
Gertson's family has established the Clint Gertson Memorial Scholarship Freedom Fund at First National Bank of Eagle Lake.
Anyone wishing to donate can contact Barbara Struss at (979) 758-1399.
Colorado County Citizen, March 2, 2005
Courtesy of The CitizenA thank you for soldiers
Dear Editor:
To an American Soldier -
Thank you for fighting for me, my family and friends, even though we may never meet. Your selfless sacrifice is too often times taken for granted or forgotten.
Thank you for believing in our great country and fighting to keep her free. In some countries you are told what to believe, how to act, living in fear, tyranny and torture.
Thank you for the freedom to choose where I will work, live and who I'll be. In many countries people are told or forced to serve their country, forced to have a certain career, forced to live in a certain place. Americans have a choice.
Thank you for the freedom to travel, for fast food restaurants and grocery stores. Many countries ration gas, and automobiles are a luxury, while we Americans can come and go as we please and buy a car and gasoline. In some countries people will wait in a long line and spend a week's wages for an over-priced loaf of bread or piece of meat to feed their family, or worse yet, wait in line for foreign aid workers to give them their family's portion of rice and water. We just have to wait in a check-out line.
Thank you for the freedom to worship. No matter my faith, I can find churches, cathedrals, synagogues and temples to worship God. In foreign lands, my beliefs are illegal and even punishable by death.
Freedom Isn't Free!
My eyes are crusted with foreign soil, my body tired and sore,
Weep not for me, I'll pay the price, freedom's worth fighting for.
I wake each day with the knowledge, I may not wake again,
Weep not for me, I fight that you need not go where I have been.
The enemy is everywhere, it's hard not to be afraid,
But fear gives way to peace, when I remember the choice I made.
Tears are sometimes my only comfort, my only company,
Sometimes the warrior gives way to the "momma's boy" in me.
The dust and smoke, and the killing fields, make it hard to sleep,
Weep not for me; pray for me, that God "my soul will keep."
And should I die to live no more, weep not for me,
Be assured I knew the price, I fought 'cause Freedom Isn't Free!
Erik A. CameronIn Tribute to Our Fallen Heroes - In Honor of Clinton R. Gertson
Colorado County Citizen, March 2, 2005
Courtesy of The CitizenTragedies never get easier
By James Jennings, Managing Editor
I love my job; I really do.
But there are aspects of my chosen profession I find difficult to handle no matter how many times I have to do it.
On Monday morning, I faced one of those situations when I received a call from the Gertson family that Clint Gertson had been killed in action in Iraq.
They graciously invited me to their Eagle Lake home so I could talk to them about their lost loved one.
I know I'm a journalist, and it's my job to "get the story." However, there's a fine line between getting the story and intruding on a family's grief.
Situations like this are not new to me.
I sat in the living room of a family whose father, a convenience store owner, was shot to death in a robbery.
I sat on the front porch of a grieving mother who had lost her son in a gang-related shoot-out the night before.
I visited the home of a family who had just lost a 6-year-old son who drowned in a neighbor's pool the day before.
I visited with a family outside a hospital after a young man died from a gunshot wound to the head during a dice game just hours before.
As much as I've had to deal with tragedies, I never get used to it.
Maybe other journalists become jaded and desensitized to grief, but not this one.
I've approached every situation with the same frame of mind: I'm writing about a person whose story needs to be told. If I don't tell the story, the public will just view this person as another statistic.
Still, I never want to be intrusive. I don't want to be a hovering vulture waiting to pick apart a vulnerable family.
When families like the Gertsons let me in and open up, I share their grief. As I watch good people go through so much pain, I find it difficult to keep myself composed.
I want to cry right along with them. I want to share an embrace to show my support and empathy. Yet, I still have to remember, this is not my family, and I do not have any right to co-opt their personal grief.
Clint's mother, Susan, must've seen that while I was visiting.
"I need you to smile for me," she said. "You look so somber."
I did just that. It's easy to smile for such good people, especially when you know they need it.
Clint's father, Gayle, told me that he was sharing his grief because it was Clint's wish to let everyone know he died fighting for a good cause.
Clint wanted the public to know that the Iraqi people, as a whole, truly desired freedom, and the only way they could achieve that dream is with the help of the United States.
My heart goes out to the Gertson family. Nothing I could say or write could ever do anything to assuage their pain.
I've not gone through anything like that personally, so I have no personal frame of reference.
All I can do - all any of us can do - is pray for the family and pray for the soldiers that continue to stand in harm's way, fighting for a cause they truly believe in.Colorado County Citizen, February 24, 2005
Courtesy of The Citizen
