From the Twin Towers to Fallujah

Army Staff Sgt. Jason M. Evey
July 6, 2006

The text-message exchange below is between Evey (jaseevey) and his father (johnevey).

johnevey (2:33:44 PM): Are you going to get some dinner?
johnevey (2:33:52 PM): Mom mentioned that you weren't sure that you would.
jaseevey (2:34:06 PM):I dunno, not really interested tonight
jaseevey (2:34:14 PM):have to put on full gear to go and eat
johnevey (2:34:15 PM): Are your missions going ok?
johnevey (2:34:26 PM): Wow, just to eat.
jaseevey(2:34:33 PM):yeah
jaseevey (2:34:38 PM): missions have been fine
johnevey (2:34:39 PM): Is that because of the need to be ready or the potential for shelling?
jaseevey (2:34:55 PM): had a big IED the other night...but we found it
johnevey (2:35:02 PM): Or are you just in a danger zone getting to the mess hall?
jaseevey (2:35:12 PM):it was in some grass and there was wire poking out
johnevey (2:35:14 PM): Found the IED on the mission?
johnevey (2:35:24 PM): Found before it exploded?
jaseevey (2:35:29 PM):yeah, we usually find one
jaseevey (2:35:33 PM): yes
johnevey (2:35:43 PM): Along a roadway?
johnevey (2:36:06 PM): Are they detonated by contact or by some kind of remote signal?
jaseevey (2:36:49 PM):yeah...cell phone, RC car control...you name it
jaseevey (2:36:56 PM): garage door openers
jaseevey (2:37:06 PM):security key fobs for car doors
jaseevey (2:37:19 PM): they arent new to this
johnevey (2:37:24 PM): So someone is watching and hoping that troops get close enough for it to do some damage.
jaseevey (2:37:28 PM):yep
johnevey (2:37:50 PM): Sounds harrowing.
jaseevey (2:37:57 PM):it can be
johnevey (2:38:00 PM): How do you find them.
jaseevey (2:38:07 PM): drive slow
jaseevey (2:38:17 PM):stay alert of anything odd
johnevey (2:38:32 PM): So your job is to keep the road open for traffic?
jaseevey (2:38:39 PM): most of the time
johnevey (2:38:48 PM): What do you do when you find them--detonate them>?
jaseevey (2:39:12 PM): pretty much

Evey, 29, of Stockton, Calif., was killed on July 16, 2006, when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle was hit by an IED during combat operations in Baghdad.

Marine Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel
Nov. 2, 2004

I moved to a small apartment next to Central Park in New York City and began the long hours of the "grind" of Wall Street. I remember those years as some of the best of my life, surrounded by close friends and good times. So how, after all this, did a guy like me end up in Iraq? The answer is pretty simple when I look to the young Marines at my right and left. I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to do something, no, give something, to deserve all the good things we, as Americans, enjoy and sometimes take for granted as we move through the years of the good lives we lead under the safety and freedom of our flag. Everyone lost something on that terrible day of 9/11. I lost my close friends, brothers you might say. Guys I grew up with, team mates, pals, mentors and confidants. I watched the towers fall, helpless, from a block away in the streets of New York and made a promise before God that I would do all I could to keep something like this from happening again. I left a job I loved, said goodbye to a circle of close friends and joined the Marines, the perfect place for a guy who wants a front row seat to the sweeping changes the world is currently experiencing.

No man can know just exactly how much his effort has changed the world out here, but together we have chased much evil away from power and have shown those who, for one reason or another, hate our way of life, that we are a nation of people who refuse to live under the threat of terror. We are out here for the things we miss most, green grass, football games, flowers, and the fresh cool breeze of home. Most importantly, we are out here for you, the people who make our land so special.

Gavriel, 29, originally from Haverhill, Mass., was a Wall Street analyst who enlisted after losing two friends in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was killed during fierce fighting in Fallujah on Nov. 19, 2004.

Army Capt. Timothy J. Moshier
Jan. 11, 2006, Taji, Iraq