Orange County Register



Judy Probst, Michael Probst's mother, is one of my wife's closest friends. She teaches with my wife. This is the first time the war has affected either of us personally. The funeral is next week.

Please give L. and her friend my deepest sympathies, winston.

(My neighbor's son is home for now and she is so grateful. I think she would lose her mind if she lost her son. He will have to do another tour after his toddler son has some serious surgery.)

My sympathies go out to the Probst family, to you and your community....a young man from my community was killed in Iraq right before Christmas......I have a white ribbon attached to my mailbox in his memory....that is one way my community is honoring him....tragic all around.... I'm truly sorry to hear this, WS.....

My heart goes out to Judy and Michael's family and friends. They are all in my prayers. My daughter is also 26 years old.

KT

Thank you for your thoughts. It is really going hard for my wife- I didn't know her friend that well, but when my wife hurts, so do I.

Sad to hear. My sympathy goes out for all friends and family.

I'm sorry for your wife's friend's loss! It changes things when it strikes close to home methinks. Some of us here've had family and close friends in the combat zones of SW Asia, and 'tis affected the way we view things, especially what gets said in forums such as this, eh?

Condolences go out to the Probst family and to your wife winston.

Winston, my sympathies to you and yours.

Our deepest condolensces! There isn't more I can say.

Bein' in a war is rough on everyone involved. Two of my cousins and I were in the Vietnam War; one ended up with a plate in his head and ultimately spent a lot of time in the VA Hospital in Long Beach. Me, well, I just flew in and out of the war zone, but both my cousins were in-country. It changed each of us profoundly. I carried a lot of wounded on med-evacs, and quite a few caskets, too. It was that experience that moved me to participate so actively in the anti-war movement, and has upset me so much since March, 2003. The cousin with the plate in his head wanted to go back to kill people- VC, NVA, kids on bicycles, he didn't care. He liked that part of it- which is why he spent so much time in the VA Hospital. The other cousin went on to become a celebrity cop- a SWAT negotiator who ended up on the lecture circuit. He also became a real conservative of the best kind; he hated wars because they cost so much and accomplished so little.

Anytime a young man dies it is a tragedy.

I remember people I served with, although they are gone in my mind they are forever young. They don't grow old like the rest of us and will always be remembered as a young man.

How my heart aches when I think of them. I didn't know Lance Corporal Probst, but he was a Marine and my brother.

Semper Fi Michael Probst; see you on the other side.

Thank you for your thoughts, Marine. I knew you'd feel that way.

Being a civilian, I do not know first hand the horrors of war or combat... yet I feel personal loss and anguish...

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13)

The body will arrive at Miramar on Monday. Funeral is next Saturday.

God Bless...

Wow. Winston, you must be older than I though. And I had no idea that you were a veteran.

Bless you.

Not that I didn't like you before!

Winston,

I just wanted to extend my sympathy for you and your community. I wish you, your wife, her friend, and family didn't have to go through this awful grief.

I just found out today that my first cousin will be returning to Iraq on Tuesday. He was there during the invasion but was able to go to Japan and California and avoid Iraq for the time since then. He has 3 children under the age of 8. I wish so much he didn't have to go. I wish they would stop this stupid war.

Gabrielle,

Thank you for your thoughts. Next Saturday will be tough because we'll be going to the funeral. That'll be real tough on both of us: my wife because it's her friend's son, and for me because my wife will be in such pain. I dread it.

I don't know what to tell you- not that you asked- but things will be tense until he comes home. I hope your cousin's wife never has the phone call, or worse yet, the knock on the door. When he comes home he will be different than when he left.

My thoughts will be with you and your family.

WS

Hey, I was around to witness the creation of the very first dirt!

my deepest sympathies ws, it hurts every time i here one more us soldier kia

My condolences Winston. It is grippingly sad every time. One of my family friends lost his grandson a Marine in Iraq 2 months ago.

I am sorry to hear this. They are fortunate to have you for a friend.

I really lost it this morning. Like I said, I had never met Michael, but knew alot about him. I was watching This Week and, of course, at the end of the show they have their In Memoreum scroll across the screen. He was on it. It sent a pain in my heart and I started crying. Not 'boo-hoo' like tears down the cheek and deep sobs, but none I did cry.

Like I said, next Saturday is gonna be a bitch. That's his funeral.

Thanks for your thoughts, Brookie.

I get that way too Winston. Nothing to be awkard about, proof you're human.

My sympathies go out to you and the Probst family for this loss.

I'm so very sorry for you and your wifes friend, winston. I wish I could come up with an explanation or justification, but all I can do is get royally p----d (again.) Thoughts and prayers are with the Probst family and yours, and all the men and women who gallantly volunteer to defend our country. May they receive the honor and respect they deserve in more than words, and soon.

Amen. And I go between these moments of rage and sorrow, anger and remorse. Sorrow comes not as single spies, but in battalions.

God Bless the United States Marines.

I did a service call for an elderly lady and after I was done with the job, I asked about a picture she had in her living room. It was a young man in what appeared to be a WWII era uniform. She told me that it was her brother who had been KIA in the Battle of the Bulge.

Your comment which I highlighted got me to thinking. This frail woman with the picture of her long gone brother has always thought of him as a young man who was just entering adulthood and she'll continue to think of him that way as long as she remains.

I sometimes think that those who knew these people who died young ought to write down everything they can about them so that future generations who look at the pictures will know the story behind the face in the picture. Very few of them were famous but they were still men and women none the less who had hopes, dreams and fears just like every one else.

I'm probably going to write more later. Linda just came home and had all kinds of news- all of it so compassionate and caring.

But right now I would ask that you follow this link to The Legacy Project and leave a thought for this family. You can say you are a friend of Mike and Linda if you wish.

The funeral was today. I didn't go. My wife and I talked it over and we agreed that I wouldn't do well mixing with this group. I guess the big give-away would have been my NO WAR bumper sticker; no doubt some would have been deeply offended. While Michael's mother is adamently anti-war (more so now- wants to get together with Sheehan, but my wife thinks that'll never happen...) the service was not about the war, the politics, or anything else: it's about Michael.

Linda came back relieved; it's been a hellava week for her. Fortunately none of the inbred bastards from Fred Phelps band of neaderthals was there. My wife said that the Marine honor guard was dignified and magnificent. A lot of tears, especially during Taps and the folding of the flag.

One of the Marines that was with Michael when he died was there, too. He had been badly injured, mangled right arm but not life-threatening. Every one came up to him at some point and shook his hand; my wife hugged him. So cute, and typical of her: she asked the Honor Guard if it was appropriate to hug a Marine.

It was a closed casket; from the description my wife gave, there was nothing left below the belt, and his face was about 50% wax and filler. Apparently though, he was dressed in his blues.

This is about as far as I can go in this particular post. I write a paragraph or a sentence and my eyes tear over.

Michael's mother knows all about this thread; my wife says she's seen it and wants to thank everyone who has posted their feelings.

Taps

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Semper Fi, Marine.

May Michael rest in peace.

The Angels will guide you...
As we pray...
Blessed journey, Michael...

Sunday, February 26, 2006
A somber salute
Family and friends honor Lance Cpl. Michael Probst, who was killed in Iraq.

By JEFF ROWE
The Orange County Register



Lance Cpl. Michael Probst of Irvine reported for duty Saturday and, his pastor said, "has begun a new assignment."


(PAYING RESPECTs: Lt. Col. Aaron Slaughter salutes Judy Probst, mother of Lance Cpl. Michael Probst, at Michael’s funeral Saturday in Tustin. Michael’s aunt, Mary Jo Nelson, father, Roger, and brother Matthew watch.)


A church full of family, friends and fellow Marines came to salute Michael, who by all accounts had crammed a lot into his 26 years.

"This is a celebration of (his) life," said the Rev. Seth Britton. "He committed his life to a cause greater than himself."



About 250 people attended the service at Red Hill Lutheran Church in Tustin, where Michael was baptized, attended preschool and was confirmed.

He was killed by a bomb Feb. 14 near Abu Ghraib, Iraq.

Michael likely could have handled anything else. He had trained for 14 years in Jeet Kune Do, a martial art created by the late Chinese film star Bruce Lee.

"He was my most senior student," said Gabriel Gambino, his instructor. As did many at the funeral, he vacillated between beaming joy and trembling sorrow at Michael's memory.

Michael joined the Marines in late 2004 after three years in college and several jobs, most recently as a trainer at a fitness club in Tustin. But he was searching for direction, a purpose, a cause.

He found it with the Marines.

He learned to be a tank gunner; in Iraq, his job was to patrol the streets, searching for improvised explosives that have become the favored and feared weapon of the insurgency.

On Feb. 14, Michael and the other two Marines in his Humvee found one of the roadside bombs. It detonated, a blast so powerful that it killed Michael, sprayed one Marine in the face with shards of metal and ejected another Marine from the vehicle, shredding his arm with shrapnel.

But that was not enough to keep Lance. Cpl. Jay Thurin of Pine Bluff, Wyo., from Michael's funeral. Thurin pushed his bandaged and broken right arm into his Marine dress uniform jacket and stood at attention with the other 20 Marines at the funeral. Three surgeries have extracted the shredded metal from his arm; when it heals, it will be set in a cast to mend the broken bone.



Thurin, 20, struggled to speak of his friend and roommate: "We did everything together. He was there for you, faithful, and never said anything bad about anyone."

Outside the church, Lt. Col. Aaron Slaughter, commander of Michael's battalion at Twentynine Palms, presented the flag that had shrouded Michael's casket to his mother, Judy Probst. He thanked her "on behalf of a grateful nation" for her son's sacrifice.

Earlier in the week, Judy and Roger Probst had received their son's personal effects, the things he had been carrying when he died. In his pocket was a rosary sent by a grandmother and around his neck with his identification tags was a cross Judy had sent. It had arrived three days before.

To Judy, that was a sign that God was saying to her son, "You're ready – I need you now and welcome home."

Now though, she says, "I must learn to live with God's will because that is what Michael would want me to do."



Voices -

“We’re not going to let these guys be forgotten.”
Larry Hughes, Fullerton, Brothers of Vietnam

“Michael was a hopeless romantic . . . and he was smart and funny. He is a true friend and one of the toughest guys I ever knew.”
Wesley Sinclair, Tustin, friend since high school

“He was a really fun, fun guy, He made us proud, he became the Mike he always wanted to be – responsible and doing something good.”
Kelly Migliara, friend since high school

“We’re all of the same brotherhood; we live up to our motto.”
Duane Matthews, former Marine, member of the Marine Corps League, Capistrano Beach

Good night, sweet prince
may flights of angels take thee to thy rest...

Thank you for finding and posting this article, VMaus. It fills in many of the pieces that my wife told me about yesterday.

There was an Irish durge in the movie We Soldiers
Once and Young...I watch it differently now that
I've met retired Gen. Hal Moore...
-----------------------
Sgt. McKenzie Lyrics

Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone

When they come I will stand my ground
Stand my ground I’ll not be afraid

Thoughts of home take away my fear
Sweat and blood hide my veil of tears

Once a year say a prayer for me
Close your eyes and remember me

Never more shall I see the sun
For I fell to a Germans gun

Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone

Where before many more have gone
------------------------------------------------
In memory of Sgt. Charles Stuart MacKenzie
Seaforth Highlanders Killed in WW I.

We will remember them...all...
Winston...knowing what we know...
it will always hurt...but I often think
it is the women...mothers, sisters, lovers
who hurt the most.

"Never Think that war, no matter how necessary,
nor how justified, is not a crime" - Ernest Hemingway

Peace

I have my grandfather's diary from WWI. Some of the things he describes are beyond the pale. Nothing has changed in 10,000 years.