User:Bahamut0013/In Memoriam

This page has two purposes: as a memorial to certain individuals, and as a wiki-will.

In Memoriam

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In the memory of:

• All those lost on September 11, 2001.
• Lance Corporal Marcus Miguel Cherry (taken 6 April, 2004 from enemy fire in Fallujah)

Cherry was an acquaintance of mine; we'd been in the same platoon at MCT. Turned out his brother was in my unit when we deployed to Iraq, and when Marcus died, Andre went home and was seperated out of the Corps. I hadn't known Marcus was killed until I read No True Glory where Bing West describes the encounter.

• Lance Corporal Chance Phelps (taken 9 April 2004 from enemy fire in Fallujah)

I'd met Phelps once or twice, but I didn't really know anyone from Battery L for most of our deployment. Chance was our only fatality during our seven month rotation.

• Corporal Jason Dunham (taken 22 April 2004 diving on a grenade in Husaybah)

I'd never actually met Dunham, but he and I both were raised in upstate New York, both joined the military around the same time, and deployed to the same area of operations at same time. It's not unlikely that I'd met him at some point but never noted the name.

• First Sergeant Rodney Stanley (taken in 2005 in a vehicle accident in Morongo Valley)

1stSgt Rodney Stanley was killed by some black ice just after we'd returned from Iraq. He became the second casualty in Battery L in a year.

• Private First Class Franklin Stairs (taken 31 May 2005 in a vehicle accident in Twentynine Palms)

Stairs was driving his motorcycle at unsafe speeds at night. I'd never met Franklin, he had just joined the unit from Field Artillery School. He was the third casualty for Battery L in just a little over a year, but luckily the streak ended there.

• Francine M. Wyzomirski (taken 31 March 2005 from a heart attack)

Mrs. W was the mother of one of my childhood friends, Marc. Having known her for years, I was apalled when he told me he suspected negligence in the hands of a physician that had declared her healthy the day before. She was the great-neice of Anthony Dimond.

• Sergeant Stephen M. Carpenter (taken in 2006 while swimming with his family in Lake Havasu)

Sgt Carpenter was the platoon sergeant of the Motor Transport section during my brief stint there. When I left Okinawa, he was just arriving as part of the battery that replaced mine. He had just arrived home and was on his post-deployment leave when he was struck on the head by a watercraft and drowned.

• Master Sergeant Michael Wert (taken 5 May 2007 rescuing two boys from drowning in Fort Macon)

MSgt Wert was someone whom I'd only met once. When I was checking into MWHS-2, I was standing in a line at the security manager's counter, he had gotten in line behind me and began to inquire about my last name. He was actually one of the only people who had correctly suggested that is was of Russian origin, rather than Polish.

• Gunnery Sergeant Herman J. Murkerson Jr. (taken 1 October 2007 from enemy fire in Baghdad)

Gunny Murk was actually someone whom I have never met, he was deployed forward before I got to the unit. He worked in the G4 as well, and his death affected many Marines whom I work closely with. I have had the unfortunate honor of helping to present his Bronze Star to his widow and children.

• Sergeant Hiahwahnahi K. Neal (taken 8 May 2008 from a vehicle accident in Camp Pendleton)

"Kris" was a very close friend of mine. He'd checked into 3rd Battalion 11th Marines just weeks before myself. We deployed to Iraq together, came home, deployed again to Okinawa together (as roommates), came home again, were promoted together, re-enlisted together, but did not PCS together. He went to MCTSSA, while I went to the east coast. Reports indicate that the MTVR that killed him swerved to avoid hitting another vehicle, and that he was actually driving safely, which was unlike his customary style.

• First Sergeant (ret) and Riverside Sheriff's Deputy Richard Alvin Schindler (taken 21 June 2008 from a skydiving accident in Lake Elsinore)

1stSgt Schindler was formerly a member of the Force Recon community until he injured his back. Unable to perform recon missions, he transferred to Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion 11th Marines, and kept his endearing Recon attitude (I recall him once telling a colonel to "go hug a root"). He took wayward young Marines under his wing and rehabilitated them into outstanding individuals, jokingly referred to as his list. Having built an impressive resume of skills (to include jumpmaster, divemaster, and coxswain), he once remarked with remarkable premonition that he would probably get killed doing one of the daring stunts he loved. Memorial videos: 1 2

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

John Stuart Mill, "The Contest in America," Fraser’s Magazine (February 1862); later published in Dissertations and Discussions (1868), vol.1 p. 26

Last Will and Testament of User:bahamut0013

Article One

• I hereby revoke all previous Wikiwills and Promises to people for my posessions upon my departure.
• No claims but my own (found only in this page and any subsequent genuine communication) to the dispensation of my wikiproperty and legacy are to be honored.

Article Two

• I hereby leave my Watchlist, and all pages added to it in perpetuity, to User:Marine 69-71.
• My edit count, included any and all deleted edits that are desired, shall be granted to User:EVula and utilized in a manner that benefits the encyclopedia.
• The copyright to all images I have personally taken/created and uploaded to Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons (under condition that they must retain their current licenses) are granted to User:Looper5920.
• All awards I have accumulated and any and all future awards are left to User:ERcheck.
• The disposition of the portal we all love so much and any other Marine-related contributions is left to User:ERcheck.
• The P:BB is left to WP:OMT.
• Any flight related contributions are given to the Phantom Phanatic.
• Any userboxes I have created are given to WikiProject Userboxes, and may be transferred to a different page if desired.
• All templates and other remaining non-USMC WikiProject Military history related contributions are left to User:Kirill Lokshin.
• What sense of humor I had is offered to Wikipedia:BJAODN
• My bathrobe and cheesey grin are left to WP:BRC.

Article Three

The disposition of my legacy will be arranged as follows:

• My User page will be protected and left as is upon the moment of my death, save for a tag at the head of the page denoting my deceased status (a hatnote or notice). My talk page will be left open, should other users desire to leave comments (good or bad), but a notice shall be left (seeing as I can never respond).
• All subpages should be protected as well, with the exception of userboxes, but a notice of my death is not necessary for each.
• Any user rights I have should be revoked, but my account should not be blocked unless it has been compromised.
• I desire to be listed on Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians.
• I request that an article be created if it is deemed by consensus that my biography meets the qualifications of notability.

Article Four

I hereby nominate User:Looper5920 to serve as Executor of my estate. Should Looper5920 not be able to serve, I hereby nominate User:ERcheck as the alternate Executor of my estate. Should both be unable to perform, User:Marine 69-71 and User:EVula may perform these duties.

Signature and Witnesses

Hereby signed by me on this Nineteenth day of April, 2010
bahamut0013^words_deeds 02:31, 20 April 2010 (UTC)