M2RB: Bare Naked Ladies
This is where the children used to play
This is only half a world away from the attack
This is where my life changed in a day
This is only half a world away from the attack
This is where my life changed in a day
And, it won't ever be changed back
Luke Wise spending time with his daddy, SFC Benjamin Wise
Luke's mum caught him spending time with his daddy, SFC Benjamin Wise,
originally of Hope, Arkansas, who was killed in Afghanistan on 15
January 2012. He was buried in the Albert G Horton Veteran’s Cemetery
in Suffolk, Virginia...next to his 35-year-old brother, retired Navy Seal Jeremy West,
who was killed in a terrorist attack on a CIA
outpost in Afghanistan in December 2009 where he was
working as a security contractor. Their brother is Marine Corps Cpl.
Matthew Wise, who is still on active duty from what I have been able to
gather.
Ben and Jeremy Wise, both killed in Afghanistan in service of their country
Arkansas flags were ordered flown at
half-staff across the state through sunset on Thursday in memory of the son of
a Hope couple.
Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Brian Wise, 34,
of Little Rock, died Sunday in Landsthul Regional Medical Center in Germany. He
became the second son of Dr. Jean and Mary Wise of Hope to die as the result of
military action in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Wise received multiple gunshot
wounds on Monday, January 9 when enemy forces attacked his Green Berets unit
with small-arms fire in Balkh province. He died of complications at Landsthul
as his parents were flying to Germany to join him.
Sgt. Wise was assigned to the 3rd
Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. Sgt.
Wise's wife, Traci, sons Luke and Ryan, and daughter Kailen live in Puyallup,
Washington.
The sergeant graduated from Wise Side
Christian High School in El Dorado in 1995. No funeral arrangements have been
announced. Sgt. Wise has received posthumous awards of the Bronze Star medal,
the Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Dr. Wise is an ear, nose and throat
specialist who has a clinic in Hope. Sgt. Wise is also survived by a sister,
Mary Heather Skaleski, and a brother, Matthew "Beau" Jordan Wise.
Matt Wise is a Marine Corps corporal based in Hawaii. Matthew Wise and his
sister, Mary, were with Sgt. Wise when he died.
The Wise family issued a statement
through the Department of Defense:
'The Wise family is
sincerely touched by the concern and interest all have taken in Ben's life, his
career and his sacrifice for our country. Ben was proud of the career he built
in the Army. We would like to thank friends and his fellow soldiers for their
sincere expressions of sympathy during this very difficult time. Your support
is appreciated as we mourn the loss of Ben who was a loving husband, a devoted
father, a caring son and a selfless soldier.'
Wise joined the Army in November 2000
and previously served a tour of duty in Iraq from 2003-2004. He volunteered for
the Special Forces in 2005 and was a medical specialist. He served two tours of
duty in Afghanistan.
The Wise's oldest son, Jeremy Wise, 35,
a former U.S. Navy Seal team member, died in Afghanistan on Dec. 30, 2009. He
was one of seven people killed when a suicide bomber attacked a meeting at
Forward Operating Base Chapman, where Wise was working as a security
contractor. The explosion also killed another security contractor and five of
the Central Intelligence Agency's top operatives in Afghanistan.
Gov. Mike Beebe ordered state flags
flown at half-staff on Tuesday to honor Sgt. Wise.
U.S. Rep. Mike Ross of Prescott issued
a statement on Monday night regarding Sgt. Wise's death.
'Sergeant First Class
Benjamin Wise was a true American hero -giving his life in service to our great
country. His bravery, dedication and patriotism exemplified what it means to be
an American soldier and I am eternally grateful for his selfless sacrifice. My
thoughts and prayers are with his wife, children, parents and the rest of his
many family and friends during this very difficult time. We must never forget
that our service members often put themselves in harm's way, and too many, like
Sergeant First Class Benjamin Wise, die in service to our country. We must
always thank all of our active duty service members and veterans for what they
do and have done, and never forget those, like Sergeant First Class Benjamin
Wise, who have died serving this country.'
Ben was an Army Special Forces Medic
assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, Joint Base
Lewis-McChord, Washington. He was critically injured on January 9, 2012 during
an attack by insurgents in the Balkh Province, Afghanistan. He passed
into eternity on January 15, 2012.
The assignment in Afghanistan was part
of Wise's fourth deployment overseas, and was in support of Operation Enduring
Freedom.
Upon completion of Basic Combat
Training, Advanced Individual Training and the Basic Airborne Course at Fort
Benning, Ga., in 2001, he was assigned to the 520th Infantry Regiment, 2nd
Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis- McChord where he deployed to Iraq as a
member of the Battalion Scout Platoon from 2003-2004. In 2005, Wise volunteered
for the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course and was selected to
continue training as medical sergeant in the Special Forces Qualification
Course.
After graduating from the Special
Forces Qualification Course in 2008, Wise was assigned to 3rd Bn, 1st SFG (A).
During his time with the unit, he deployed once to Iraq and twice to
Afghanistan.
Wise’s military education included the
Warrior Leader’s Course, the Advanced Leader’s Course, the Survival, Evasion,
Resistance, and Escape (SERE) Course, the Recon and Surveillance Leadership
Course and the Basic Airborne Course.
Wise’s awards and decorations include
the Bronze Star Medal, the NATO Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (3rd Award),
the Army Good Conduct Medal (3rd award), the National Defense Service Medal,
the Iraq Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, the Afghan Campaign Medal
with two campaign stars, the Global War on Terror Service Medal, the Overseas
Service Ribbon (2nd award), the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development
Ribbon with Numeral 2, the Army Service Ribbon, the Special Forces Tab, the
Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge and the Parachutist
Badge.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze
Star Medal, Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medal, according to the DOD.
A 1995 graduate of Wise Side Christian
High School in El Dorado, Wise entered military service in 2000.
He was the son of Dr. Jean and Mary
Wise, of Patmos, and is survived by his wife, Traci, and sons, Luke and Ryan,
and daughter, Kailen.
Ben also has an older brother, Jeremy,
who served honorably as a Navy SEAL, and was killed protecting an CIA outpost
in Afghanistan, in 2009 as a civilian contractor. Ben’s younger brother Matthew
“Beau” Wise is still active in the US Marine Corps.
We all salute them and their family for
their service and sacrifice to the United States of America. We owe them a
great debt of gratitude, and have established the Wise Family Benefit Fund as a
token of our American appreciation and to facilitate supporting and encouraging
them.
Please pray for the
Wise family and honour them by never forgetting that…
'We sleep soundly in our
beds at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who
would do us harm.'
- Winston Churchill
Have
you thanked a soldier and his/her family for their service today?
Have
you ever gone out of your way to offer your profound thanks to those that have
fought or are fighting for you (and disapproving of the endless military
entanglements and engagements is NOT an excuse)?
Have
you ever considered delivering a home-cooked meal to the frazzled mum holding
down the home fort while her husband is on the other side of the world fighting
members of a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, child-abusing, xenophobic,
tribalistic, anti-Semitic, racial-supremacist, Christophobic, maniacal,
homicidal, suicidal, totalitarian, death cult, whom we would welcome to the
21st century, if they ever decide to leave the 7th century?
Have
you ever thought of being a Secret Santa to a military family? (Do you
have any idea how little we pay our military?)
Have
you written a thank you and letter of condolence to the family of a fallen?
Have
you donated even $1 to an education fund for the children of the fallen?
Have
you ever considered becoming a Big Brother, Big Sister, CASA, tutor, or
anything that would help a child, who family has been shattered by the loss of
their soldier parent or sibling or even a child, whose parent or parents are
incarcerated?
Have
you hugged a child today?
Have
you hugged and kissed your love and child today?
If
you haven't, think of the Wise Family and Just Do It!
Please
consider making a donation to the Wise Family. You can
learn more about the family and view additional photographs at The Wise Benefit Fund - In Honour Of Benjamin Wise.
One
last thing, I think that this is the first time that I've ever asked anything
of my readers. As most of you know, this blog is a labour of love for me
and I profit not from it. For those that haven't realised this, look at
the screen. Are there ANY advertisements? So, while I
realise that this is a break in custom, I would ask that you please consider
making a donation to the family of a fallen or one on active duty. It
doesn't have to be money, which I understand is tight in this time of Obamanomics.
Let
me be clear, I have never met the Wise family. Axe from HotAir.com sent
me the first photo last night and it deeply touched me; thus, I felt like I had
to do something. If you can do anything for them or another family, pray
do.
- Sophie
Soldier, scholar,
horseman, he,
As 'twere all life's
epitome.
What made us dream that
he could comb grey hair?
I had thought, seeing how
bitter is that wind
That shakes the
shutter, to have brought to mind
All those that manhood tried, or childhood loved
Or boyish intellect approved,
With some appropriate commentary on each;
Until imagination brought
A fitter welcome; but a thought
Of that late death took all my heart for speech.
- William Butler Yeats
http://tinyurl.com/o72oatx
3 comments:
Sophie.
I noted this in the hot-air thread where you posted the link. You appear to have mis-typed the family name as 'West' three times. Two near the top and one near the bottom. You should probably do a text search since I may have missed other cases.
Thanks so much, gh. It is Wise, not West.
Hello Sophie. I would like to speak with you re: this topic of the Wise brothers. How can I privately email you or otherwise contact you?
Thank you!
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