A boy who went to my church was just killed in Afghanistan...

[catlover79]

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-painesville-marine-killed-txt,0,7458811.story

PAINESVILLE -- Lance Corporal David Baker was set to return home from Afghanistan in a matter of weeks, but Tuesday the 22-year-old Marine from Painesville was killed by an improvised explosive device while he was on foot patrol.

David's father Mark Baker says he and his ex-wife were notified Tuesday about the accident.

"It's such a terrible thing over there you don't want to live the rest of your life knowing your child died for nothing, and that's how I feel right now," Baker said.

Baker says his son joined the military after graduating from Riverside High School in 2006. He says David was planning to go back to school when he was finished with his tour of duty. He was set to come home in November.

"He had no rough edges, everybody loved David. He had a very quiet demeanor very much in the background kind of shy. He went from being a shy insecure homesick kid to I mean, my son's a hero." Mark Baker said.

Baker turned 22 on October 1st. His father says around that time David got ahold of a satellite phone, and he called everyone in his family. It was one of the last times he spoke to his father.

"He called his grandparents, his mom, me, his brother, his sister some of his friends and David had never done that before and it was almost in retrospect now it looks like a farewell call," Baker said.

The principal at Riverside High School was a coach and teacher when David was a freshman there. Bill Wade says David was a smart and happy student and his death is tragic.

"What I remember most about David is his personality, he was just a genuine kid who brought a lot to the team with his personality and effort he always brought 110%," Wade said. School administrators were notified of David's death Wednesday, and they plan to find some way to remember him.

David's body will be returned to the United States on Thursday. Funeral arrangements are pending.

[Chocoholic]

Rest in peace and God bless :) My prayers go out to his family.

[LuLu Rogers]

Reading this... Deja Vu... made my heart sink ohno:

[catlover79]

I will always remember David and his brother Mark as the little boys who sat behind my family in church. They were good kids, always running around, having fun and just as cute as can be. His dad and grandparents also went to our church. God bless them all.

David - thank you for your sacrifice and bravery. You are now safe at Home.

:rip: patriot:

[LuLu Rogers]

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk49/digdug14/FallenSoldier2.jpg

[catlover79]

What makes this even sadder - the circumstances of David's death:

SAN DIEGO- The Pentagon released the name today of a 22-year-old Camp Pendleton-based Marine killed by an improvised explosive device this week in Afghanistan.

Lance Cpl. David R. Baker of Painesville, Ohio, died while on a security patrol in Helmand Province on Tuesday, according to the Department of Defense.
Baker, who enlisted in August 2006, was a mortarman with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

His personal awards include a National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/41526/

[catlover79]

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/a_young_marine_from_lake_count.html

A young Marine from Lake County makes ultimate sacrifice
By Robert L. Smith, The Plain Dealer
October 21, 2009, 5:24PM

PAINESVILLE, Ohio — As the nation's leaders debated the war in Afghanistan, David Baker was fighting it.

The young Marine from Lake County shouldered six weeks of combat in war-torn Helmand Province, a Taliban stronghold.

Anxious to get out, he remained a committed soldier. On Tuesday, he made the ultimate sacrifice.

Baker, a 2006 graduate of Riverside High School in Painesville Township, was on foot patrol when a hidden bomb exploded close enough to kill him. Anguished loved ones say they would not be surprised if he was leading that patrol, as was his custom.

"They just grow up before your eyes and then, and then they're gone," said a grieving father, Mark Baker. "He was a Marine. He had a job to do and he did it. He was a great kid."

David Raymond Baker grew up dreaming of joining the military and followed his older brother into the U.S. Marine Corps. He settled into a service that soon lost its luster. Toward the end of his tour, he was anxious to finish and to get out alive, his family said.

He almost made it. The lance corporal, who turned 22 on October 1, was due to complete combat duty Nov. 29. He was to be home before Christmas.

"He was on the last lap," Mark Baker said. "As far as my family is concerned, he is a hero."

A war that unnerves the U.S. government had also spooked the friendly, country-music loving young man from Painesville Township. Upon learning that his second tour overseas would take him to Afghanistan, Baker shared with his father a premonition that he would not be coming back.

"It was just something in his gut," Mark Baker said. "He said, 'I just have a bad feeling about this.'"

Still, he served with determination, as his older brother Mark expected.

"I knew if he got the responsibility, he would do it and do it well," said Mark Baker Jr., 23, who recently finished a tour in the Marines.

David Baker enlisted nearly three years ago, soon after finishing high school. He landed in Afghanistan on Memorial Day and by September was in the thick of the long-running war. He was a "mortar man" in the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, his brother said.

He got a hold of a satellite phone in late September. With a flurry of calls home to family and friends, he relayed his experiences and even said some good-byes.

He said his unit was patrolling Helmand, a largely lawless, opium-growing province bordering Pakistan.

"He was fighting. He was fighting every day," his father said. "He was the guy who always volunteered to be point," to lead a patrol of a dozen or so soldiers.

There were close calls. Friends and mates were wounded in a truck bombing. Once, one of the Afghani nationals following his lead accidentally discharged his gun and nearly shot him.

His parents urged him to be safe. They questioned why he was leading patrols.

"He told me, 'Dad, that's my job. I can control the pace. I can be more careful for everybody.'"

On Tuesday, Marine Corps officers arrived at the home of Mark Baker and at the home of his ex-wife and David's mother, Laurie Lewkowski. The parents learned that their son was on foot patrol when someone detonated an IED, an improvised explosive device, killing him.

In addition to his parents and his brother, David Baker is survived by 19-year-old twin sisters -- Taylor, a student at Lakeland Community College, and Lauren, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve.

On Wednesday, family members were making plans to fly to Delaware to meet the casket at Dover Air Base today. David Baker is to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, his family said. Local memorial services are being planned.

[catlover79]

patriot:

[*Pleasant Tomorrow*]

So sad. It hits harder the older I get because these kids are around my age. RIP. :(

[catlover79]

So sad. It hits harder the older I get because these kids are around my age. RIP. :(
I know. I still think of him as a little boy - I probably always will. :(

[Shine]

I'm sorry to hear this, Monika. :( May your friend Rest in Peace.

[catlover79]

I'm sorry to hear this, Monika. :( May your friend Rest in Peace.
Thank you. David's dad Mark was interviewed on the news and was just crying his heart out. It was just heartbreaking. :(

[beautifuldreamer]

So sorry, Monika... what tragic news.:( My heart goes out to the family.

:rip: David

[HuntingtonM15]

That's horrible news. Very sorry to hear of it.

[Schmoopie]

So sorry to hear about this Monika, but he was brave and he died for his country.

[MickeyMac]

I am really sorry to hear this news Monika. God be with his family at this time. Thank you Lord for men and women like him who are brave enough to go to war for our freedom.

[catlover79]

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/10/22/news/doc4adf07d03d572339296099.txt

Marine Lance Cpl. David Raymond Baker gave his mother a stuffed bear from the Fairport Harbor Mardi Gras so she could hear his voice, even when he was in Afghanistan.

Whenever she squeezed the bear, his voice answered, “Hey Mom, I miss you. I love you very much, with all my heart. I’ll be home soon, please don’t be upset. I love you.”

Baker, 22, of Painesville Township, was killed by an improvised explosive device Tuesday in the Helmand Province of south Afghanistan. He was a mortar man for the First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment. It was his first tour in Afghanistan.

He is survived by his father, Mark Baker, his mother, Laurie Lewkowski, brother, also named Mark Baker, and twin sisters, Lauren and Taylor Genovese.

The shy guy

David Baker didn’t like attention, his family said.

“He was very shy, very reserved, one of those guys who didn’t like the spotlight on him,” his father said.

“We thought he was never going to talk,” his grandmother Marlene Baker said of David as a young child.

“His brother did all the talking for him and got everything for him. They were so different. Mark was so outgoing. David was quiet and reserved.”

David Baker was 18 and a recent graduate of Riverside High School when he joined the Marines. The military matured him and forced him to focus, his family said.

“You could just see the transformation of his personality from being a shy boy into a young man because of his tour of duty in the Marines,” his uncle Jim Baker said.

During boot camp, David Baker questioned his choice to join the Marines.

“He was very homesick and very much missing his family. He very much wanted to come home,” his father said.

But David Baker grew to accept his responsibility. When he went on security rounds in Afghanistan, he would volunteer to take the point.

As the first vehicle in a convoy, this left him exposed. When his family asked him why he would put himself in danger, he told them, “That’s my job.”

He explained to his grandfather — a retired Army colonel, also named Jim Baker — that taking the point allowed him to control the tempo of the security rounds. By going first, he could do a thorough job and prevent someone else from stumbling on a land mine.

David Baker turned 22 on Oct. 1. Before his birthday, he called friends and family, making plans for his expected Christmas visit.

“He called his friends, his grandma and grandpa, his cousins,” his father said. “He had access to a satellite phone and he called everybody. Maybe, in hindsight, that was his way of saying goodbye.”

Jim Baker said he noticed a change in his grandson when they spoke.

“When he left, he was a kid. When I talked to him on the telephone, he was a man, a fully matured one. Combat will do that to you. First one that goes across your ear and you hear that ‘snap,’ you know this is for real. The targets are now shooting back at you,” he said.

The joker

David Baker was a practical joker. He once convinced his younger sister, Lauren, to eat grass.

“He told me rain was salad dressing and the grass was salad,” she remembered.

Lauren smiled as she recalled the grass story but teared as she talked about David.

“He was my best friend,” she said. “He was the person I could go to for guidance.”

Three flags fly in Laurie Lewkowski’s yard: the Marine, Army and American flags. In addition to David, his brother, Mark, served as a chemical/biological incident response specialist for the Marines and was discharged for medical reasons. Lauren, 19, is a member of the Army Reserves.

In Lewkowski’s home, a mug sat on an end table in the living room. It had three lines of text: Marine Mom, USMC, Always Faithful. In a nearby hallway, Lewkowski cried for her son.

“I have the biggest hole in my heart,” she said. “I don’t know what to do. My heart is just broken.”

The family learned about David’s death Tuesday afternoon.

“When I saw the Marines, I knew,” his sister, Taylor, said. “They wouldn’t say anything until mom got home, but I knew.”

“It’s gut-wrenching information,” his uncle, Jim Baker, said. “You read the news. You read about this every day, what’s going on in Afghanistan and Iraq. You’re detached from it because it’s not personalized. When it’s personalized, it’s just devastating.”

David Baker’s body is expected to be flown into Dover, Del., today. His family plans to bury him in Arlington National Cemetery after a local funeral.

The hero

David preferred to be in the background, his father said — except, that is, when he took point on patrol.

“He’s a hero,” the elder Mark Baker said. “He didn’t have to die in Afghanistan to be my hero, though.”

Laurie Lewkowski had wanted to surprise her son when he visited this December. She hoped to meet him in Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he was stationed, but she didn’t have the money to buy a plane ticket.

She called a Geneva-based country music radio station and told her plight to a DJ. People heard her and donated money until she had enough for a ticket, her husband, Karl Lewkowski, said.

“She was going to surprise him, but it’s not going to be,” he said.

“Say that he was a hero,” Laurie Lewkowski told the reporters who had gathered in her living room.

Jim Baker served in the Army and Central Intelligence Agency. He was a prisoner of war for 13 1⁄2 months. He marvels that he survived all that but his grandson didn’t live to see 23.

“He had a crucifix on his back,” his grandfather said. “I asked him why he got it there, and he said, ‘Because Jesus has got my back.’ That told me a lot about his character.”

[browneyes106]

RIP Lance Cpl. David Baker.

[Pus$y Galore]

So sorry to hear of his sacrifice. I'm afraid the longer this thing goes, the more each of us will be touched personally by the War.

Let his death not be in vain. :(

[catlover79]

So sorry to hear of his sacrifice. I'm afraid the longer this thing goes, the more each of us will be touched personally by the War.

Let his death not be in vain. :(
AMEN!!

[catlover79]

There is now a Facebook group entitled "In Loving Memory of David Baker". Everyone here who is also on FB, please join.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=159928984546&ref=mf

[Marvo301]

Jesus didn't just have David's back He had the back's of all who served with him and were saved from harm by David's sacrifice. patriot:

[Retro4Life]

Very sad news, I mourn your loss.

I don't think he died for nothing, though. His sacrifice was made honorably and his death was noble, if incredibly tragic and achingly premature.

:rip:

[catlover79]

Very sad news, I mourn your loss.

I don't think he died for nothing, though. His sacrifice was made honorably and his death was noble, if incredibly tragic and achingly premature.

:rip:
Moment of Silence for Local Marine at Football Game

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio -- A rainbow appeared Friday night, over a football stadium in Willoughby where the people of Lake County paid tribute to a fallen U.S. Marine.

The family of Lance Corporal David Baker believes the rainbow is a symbol that their son is smiling down on them.

But, they are still grief stricken over his death on Tuesday in Afghanistan.

The 22-year-old was killed by a roadside bomb as his unit was taking part in combat operations in the Helmand Province.

His father, Mark Baker, says, "Those guys have not stopped crying for two days. That's how well he was loved and how well he was received and he truly is...he truly is an American hero, you know he gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country and he did his job."

David Baker died while providing cover for his fellow Marines as point man. His father says, "I don't know, I wish I was a fraction of the man my son was, and I'm going to be 53-years-old. I'm not sure I'd have that kind of courage but David didn't even think twice about it, he just did it."

There was a moment of silence before Friday's game between Willoughby South High School, and Painesville Riverside, from which David Baker graduated in 2006.

His family was moved by the tribute.

Mark Baker says, "God bless each and every one of them, God bless each and every person who has lifted David up in their prayers."

The coach of Riverside, who taught David Baker as a student, says the young Marine symbolizes what real battle and sacrifice are all about.

Ryan Wolf says, "He fought for our country to protect this game. The things that we do here -- and you know everything that America stands for -- and I think that's something they should see and be proud of and know and be proud of David, what he did."

As if on cue, Riverside took the opening kick-off and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown.

His family says that too, would bring a smile to David's face.

The remains of Lance Corporal Baker will be returned to Cleveland on Thursday. The family is encouraging people to line the route as the procession goes from Hopkins Airport to his home in Painesville Township.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-marine-killed-moment-of-silence-txt,0,7686570.story

[Retro4Life]

That just breaks your heart. We're very lucky to have young men like your friend; I wish his family (and he, of course) were spared such a terrible tragedy.

I loved the 90 yard return thing. That was awesome. :)

[Marvo301]

It's really cool that God gifted David's family with a rainbow in his honor! What an amazing tribute to a selfless and courageous hero.patriot:

[Janice]

It's so sad, Monika. I pray his family finds the strength to cope with such a devastating loss.

[catlover79]

It's really cool that God gifted David's family with a rainbow in his honor! What an amazing tribute to a selfless and courageous hero.patriot:
I thought that was so neat - it was such a gloomy, rainy day and then we get a rainbow right at the right moment. :D

Thanks again, everyone, for your kind words and prayers. They mean a lot to David's family, friends and community. :bighug:

[coffield3]

I'm very sorry! A brave one. :rip:

[catlover79]

This bulletin board at church was made up in memory of David. Our pastor shared several funny stories about David, and also shared how he spent his life at our church, as he was both baptized and confirmed here. There were many tears shed but also a sense of pride was strongly felt. patriot:

[Scoobiedoo30]

I am also very sorry

[PunkyP0WER]

God bless your friend and his family, Monika! He is a true hero who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country and will always be remembered for his bravery.

[catlover79]

God bless your friend and his family, Monika! He is a true hero who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country and will always be remembered for his bravery.
Thank you. David went to our church his whole life - and let me tell you, there was not a dry eye in the church yesterday. The service is on Saturday. The other three churches in the neighborhood and the college across the street are graciously letting us use their parking lots as we are expecting a MASSIVE turnout.

[catlover79]

http://news-herald.com/articles/2009/10/30/news/nh1630888.txt

By Michael C. Butz
MButz@News-Herald.com

On an end table at Laurie Lewkowski's Painesville Township home sits a framed studio portrait of her four children laughing and smiling at one another.

It was a candid moment captured last Christmas, the last time Lewkowski's two sons and two daughters — three of whom either have served or currently serve in the military — were home at the same time.

Shortly after the photo was taken, one of her sons, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. David Raymond Baker, left to serve his country in Afghanistan.

On Thursday afternoon, for the first time since that photo was taken, he returned home.

As Baker's flag-draped casket was lowered from a small charter jet into the hands of six fellow Marines, his family and friends stood arm-in-arm, weeping on the tarmac at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

Stillness and silence dominated the scene. The sound of passenger planes taking off and landing was drowned out by the weight of the scene unfolding at ground level.

That silence was broken only when a police bagpiper began playing "When the Saints Go Marching In." Baker's casket then was loaded into a waiting hearse, and scores of policemen and firefighters — from no fewer than 25 area departments — surrounding the family saluted the 22-year-old Painesville Township native.

Baker and his family then were escorted by police and hundreds of members of the Leathernecks Nation, Freedom Riders, Blue Knights and Axemen motorcycle clubs to Monreal Funeral Home in Eastlake.

Along the way, motorists stopped at freeway entrance ramps by the police escort stood and waited outside their cars with their right hands over their hearts. As the procession moved through Euclid on Interstate 90, residents and city employees lined up and waved flags along Lakeland Boulevard.

When the procession reached Monreal, dozens of people stood along SOM Center Road and Curtis Boulevard to welcome Baker home. Most waved flags, and some held signs that told Baker and his family "thank you" for making the ultimate sacrifice.

"It's powerful stuff," said Baker's father, Mark Baker.

"It was wonderful, everybody lining up on the street. Everyone (in the family) was moved," he said. "The outpouring of love the community has shown and the prayers that have been given. ... We just ask that everyone continue to pray for our family."

Baker was killed by an improvised explosive device Oct. 20 in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan. He was a mortar man for the First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, serving his first tour in Afghanistan.

"I pray for all of (the troops) who are over there day and night," said Marlene Baker, David's grandmother. "But so many people have honored David. This is wonderful. ... It's not going to hit any of us until it's over, when we're alone and not with family all the time."

Upon arriving at Monreal, Baker's casket was carried by the Marines into the south parlor, where his family spent some time alone with their fallen son, brother, grandson and friend.

As he exited the parlor, Baker's uncle, Jim Baker, said there's a hole in his heart over the loss of his nephew.

"(The family) is pretty torn up. Seeing his body on the tarmac was so surreal," he said. "But what a tribute with all the people lining the streets and the highway, and all the former Marines on their motorcycles. What a great tribute. The respect and the patriotism ... there are no words. It's overwhelming.

"Not only is his family proud of him," Baker's uncle said, "but the entire community is proud of him."

Calling hours for the 2006 Riverside High School graduate will be from 2 to 8 p.m. today at Monreal, 35400 Curtis Blvd. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church, 508 Mentor Ave., Painesville. Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

Church requests help with reception

Because of the large number of attendees expected at the funeral for Marine Lance Cpl. David Raymond Baker, Zion Lutheran Church is asking for assistance with the post-funeral reception. Anyone who is able to bring a side dish or dessert to share is asked to drop off all food items at the church's kitchen before the funeral begins at 11 a.m. Saturday. Zion Lutheran is located at 508 Mentor Ave. in Painesville.

[LoveMrsG]

Wow, Monika...I really do not know what to say, other than what everybody else here has said already. His family is in my prayers and I am SO sorry for your loss. :(

:bighug:

He was obviously a brave and wonderful man. God bless him for his service, and may he rest in peace.

[catlover79]

Wow, Monika...I really do not know what to say, other than what everybody else here has said already. His family is in my prayers and I am SO sorry for your loss. :(

:bighug:

He was obviously a brave and wonderful man. God bless him for his service, and may he rest in peace.
Thank you, Billie. :bighug:

[catlover79]

It was a beautiful service from start to finish. RIP David and THANK YOU!! patriot:

[Lee]

Lance Corporal David Baker
October 1, 1987-October 20, 2009

May you rest in peace

Too bad his death caused the Westboro Baptist Church to rear its
ugly head again.

[catlover79]

Lance Corporal David Baker
October 1, 1987-October 20, 2009

May you rest in peace

Too bad his death caused the Westboro Baptist Church to rear its
ugly head again.
The funny thing is, I'd never even heard of this "church" before.

[cyberalias81]

Not so much a church as a crazy guy and his family.

[catlover79]

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/11/01/news/doc4aecba5694be4513986730.txt

Hundreds honor fallen Marine from Painesville Township

By Michael C. Butz
MButz@News-Herald.com

“No greater love has a man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Those Biblical words were written about Lance Cpl. David Raymond Baker at the bottom of a sympathy card received last week by the Painesville Township Marine’s father, Mark Baker.

The card was sent by the wife of a lieutenant colonel whose husband Baker once was assigned to protect. When they came under attack, Baker put himself between the superior officer and enemy fire.

Because of Baker’s bravery, both safely escaped the attack.

With great amounts of honor and sadness, the words written in that card were repeated Saturday at Baker’s funeral.

Hundreds of people — family members, friends, former classmates and grateful community members — gathered at Zion Lutheran Church in Painesville to remember and pay tribute to the 22-year-old who died laying down his life for his friends and country.

Baker was killed Oct. 20 by an improvised explosive device while on his first tour in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan. For making the ultimate sacrifice, Baker was awarded a Purple Heart, which was presented to his family during the funeral.

“David is truly, and without a doubt, my definition of a hero,” his father said in the eulogy, which was delivered by his pastor, the Rev. Robert Heggestad of Pilgrim Lutheran Brethren Church in Mentor.

Several generations of U.S. military veterans stood outside to honor Baker’s heroism before the funeral started, as did countless proud and thankful members of the community.

At Riverside High School, hundreds more stood along the street to watch and wave flags as the funeral procession passed by the school from which Baker graduated in 2006.

Cars drove past the church before the funeral with windows down playing the country song “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band, which Baker’s mother, Laurie Lewkowksi, said was one of his favorite songs.

Flags lined portions of the funeral procession route on Riverside Drive as well as East and West Walnut Avenue in Painesville.

The procession arrived at the church announced first by sirens and later the roar of dozens of motorcycles.

As Baker’s flag-draped casket was removed from the hearse, it was silent except for the sound of hundreds of U.S. flags fluttering in the brisk wind.

A bagpiper then played as six fellow Marines took Baker’s casket into the church. His family, many of them in tears, followed as bystanders saluted the fallen Marine.

Once inside, the sound of bagpipes was replaced by that of a church organ.

The flag was then removed from Baker’s casket and presented to the family of the First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment mortar man.

In the eulogy, Baker’s father told of when his other son, David’s brother Mark, spoke to a Marine who served alongside Baker and said “he was easily, easily the bravest of us all.”

“Our son David was the epitome of the expression ‘still waters run deep,’ ” his father wrote, explaining that his brave but often reserved son never liked attention.

Though some definitions of “duty” define it as something carried out because of obligation or legal responsibility, Baker’s father wrote of how his son’s definition was much simpler.

“He fulfilled his duty not out of obligation or for legal reasons, but out of love,” he said.

“I’ve said before that our son’s testimony would speak for itself. I just never realized how powerful that testimony would be.”

Zion Lutheran Pastor Jimmy Riley knew Baker from when he was a child and a member of the church’s youth group. Riley encouraged those at the funeral to “go” and “live a life worthy of his sacrifice.”

He also said what many who knew Baker — and perhaps even those who didn’t — have likely thought in the days since his death.

“Memorial Day is going to be a little different for us now,” Riley said. “We’ll shed an extra tear for someone we loved.”

[catlover79]

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-bin-laden-death-local-military-families-react-ea-txt,0,1230608.story

Local Military Family Reacts to Osama bin Laden's Death

By Elisa Amigo

Fox 8 News Reporter

9:20 p.m. EDT, May 2, 2011

PAINESVILLE, Ohio— The death of Osama bin Laden is a stunning victory in the war on terror but a local military family whose son was killed in combat has mixed emotions.

In October 2009, Marine Lance Corporal David Baker was killed while on patrol in Afghanistan. The 22-year-old marine grew up in Painesville and was nearing the end of his deployment when he was struck by an IED.

"It's something we'll have to live through the rest of their lives. There's not a day that goes by I don't think of my son. David didn't have to die in Afghanistan to be my hero. He was just that kind of a kid, just a good person," said David's father, Mark Baker.

Baker says the death of Bin Laden is a huge relief. Although he is upset it took this long, he feels justice has been served.

"[Bin Laden] is a mass murderer. He's killed thousands of people. I'm sure somebody will rise up. You cut off the mythical monster's head and three will appear. Somebody will rise up, but I'm certain they will definitely take notice," said Baker.

As for the military operatives who carried out this mission, Baker had this to say. "I think they're the bravest individuals in the whole-wide world. I can't even imagine, sounds like something out of a movie."

More than 1,500 U.S. soldiers have died since the start of the war in Afghanistan. Nearly a third of the deaths occurred last year alone.

[snowcreature23]

sorry for your loss

[catlover79]

Thank you - this is basically an update from his family reacting to the death of Bin Laden, and David's service to the country. Thought everyone might find it interesting...