Shawn Powell
03-26-2004, 01:36 PM
I had the honor of knowing and befriending these two fine soldiers in the early 1990's.
We gave Mertens full honors in 1996, I handed his wonderful parents his flag with 3 expended casings tucked inside.
Heywood's family requested a non-military funeral, nevertheless we showed up in greens. His family allowed us to drape a flag over his casket.
CPL Heywood was a Ranger out of Hunter Army Airfield, Ft Stewart, GA. He was a brilliant young team leader who loved his soldiers immensley and demonstrated it. He was from Deer Park, WA.
SPC Mertens was a tough, aggressive Irish Catholic SAW gunner out of Spokane. He would go above and beyond in all duty responsibilities, and loved wearing the uniform of a US Army grunt.
Good men. I miss them. :cross_glo
We gave Mertens full honors in 1996, I handed his wonderful parents his flag with 3 expended casings tucked inside.
Heywood's family requested a non-military funeral, nevertheless we showed up in greens. His family allowed us to drape a flag over his casket.
CPL Heywood was a Ranger out of Hunter Army Airfield, Ft Stewart, GA. He was a brilliant young team leader who loved his soldiers immensley and demonstrated it. He was from Deer Park, WA.
SPC Mertens was a tough, aggressive Irish Catholic SAW gunner out of Spokane. He would go above and beyond in all duty responsibilities, and loved wearing the uniform of a US Army grunt.
Good men. I miss them. :cross_glo