A soldier’s story runs deep and wide through communities

Memories and prayers for Anthony Kaiser

By FRITZ MAYER

United States — When a soldier in Iraq is killed while fighting for his country, the news spreads quickly and far. A search of Anthony A. Kaiser and Narrowsburg on the internet on March 26 turned up 36,500 returns.

The majority of the posts were news sites stretching from Australia to Maine. Others were official sites such as the Department of Defense (DOD), or repeating DOD information.

But some sites were set up as memorials where people who had never even met Kaiser posted condolences to the family and praised Kaiser as a hero.

On the web site www.legacy.com, a couple from Lancaster, PA, who lost a son to the Iraq war in December 2005, offered a long condolence letter to Kaiser’s family. It read, in part, “For every fallen hero there is a bright star that shines in the evening sky to remind us of the cherished gift we were given¾even if for too short a time.”

At the site www.libertyunites.tv, an anonymous poster wrote, “Condolences to the Anthony Kaiser family. We do appreciate his bravery.”

On the site www.patriotguard.org, in a tribute to Kaiser, another anonymous writer posted a quote from General Douglas MacArthur, which said, “The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”

Also from www.legacy.com was this post from Damon LeGrand of San Diego, CA: “I knew him on an everyday basis. He was a good man and set a very high standard for himself. He was a quiet professional. I was there that tragic day. He did his job with a passion to the end. I will always love him and keep a part of him with me.”