A life that mattered

This morning the internet brought sad news into our home. US Marine Cpl Kevin Michael Clarke was killed in action in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.

The Corp has a web site dedicated to supporting the parents and wives of US marines. The Marine Parents webste has been a great source of help to my wife and I as we maneuver through our daily lives during our son's first deployment to the war. Online we have met many other marine parents and wives who were online seeking or lending support to others. It was through this website that we met Barbara, mom of Lcpl Kenny, who helped us get a phone card to our son so he could call home. She also taught us to use Yahoo Instant Messenger so we could chat with Tyler. Barbara used the website to communicate to the other parents when Kenny was wounded by a sniper. It is though the website that we are getting information about the return of our marines, and planning a wonderful homecoming.

Yesterday one family posted a message about another type of homecoming. The parents of Cpl Kevin Michael Clarke, known on the parents website as KEVSFOLKS, posted a message that their son had been killed on 2/19/05, and that he is home with the Lord Jesus Chirst. You see, Kevin is a christian, as are his parents. Kevin believed that the death of Jesus on the cross paid for his sins, and that by believing, he would spend eternity with Jesus and all other believers. Christians, by faith, are all looking forward to a great homecoming with God. Jesus Christ said "In my fathers house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." KEVSFOLKS are now resting in the promise of God that they will join Kevin one day, and that Kevin's life and death will be used by God for good things here on earth as well as in eternity.

It must be a horible thing to lose a son or daughter; I can only imagine, and in my imagination it is a nightmare. For marine families it means that two marines in dress blues arrive at your home. They need not speak, for you know why they are there, but they bring consolation along with grief, the comfort of knowing that your marine's death was for a good cause, a cause only a marine can understand, for only a marine understands dying for the Corp. The marines in dress blues bring with them the gratitude of the nation, the corp, the marines, the battalion, the company, the platoon, the squad, the fire team.

We are so proud of Cpl Clarke, and of his parents, KEVSFOLKS.