Wichita Falls, TX. August 30, 2010, members of the Patriot Guard Riders from Oklahoma and North Texas began to arrive at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, to the somber tolling of the Texas Liberty Bell. Hundreds of mourners came to pay their final respects of An American Hero, US Army Spc. Alexis V. Maldonado.

Family members, friends, fellow veterans, and even strangers were unified in honoring this young warrior. The family chose to conduct his funeral services at a church surrounded by members of the Patriot Guard Riders with their flags snapping in the morning breeze.

See more below:

After the church services the procession made it way to the Sacred Heart Cemetery. The procession was greeted by two long flag line down the driveway to the Staging area for the public ceremony. The family later held a private graveside service.

Once the mourners gathered around the 10’x20’ tented area the Patriot Guard Riders then took up position shielding the family and in a show of support.

Brig. Gen. Bryan Watson presented the family with medals awarded posthumously including the Purple Heart and Bronze Medal for valor.

The honor guards were members of 20th Engineer Battalion, Ft. Hood TX. Engineers from this unit were among the victims of the Ft. Hood tragedy last November. Spc. Maldonado’s friends and fellow soldiers were among them.

The honor guard fired a 3-round volley with 7 rifles. Shortly thereafter, the bugler played Taps.
Finally, the honor guards folded the American flag, which had been draped over the casket. Clouds began to let go of a light drizzle. The first flag was presented to the mother. The father received the 2nd flag and his son, Isaiah, received the final flag. At two-years-old he will have to get a little older to understand the significance of this historic event.

Then the light drizzle turned into a full fledged downpour of rain. Most got wet, but know one seem to mind all that much since, it shielded everyone’s tears.

May God bless this young warrior and the family he leaves behind.

Wichita Falls, TX Aug. 28,2010. On a warm clear summer day several dozen family members gathered at the Wichita Falls Municipal Airport to welcome home their loved one, SPC Alexis V. Maldonado.

Also gathered were 50-75 North Texas Patriot Guard Riders who stood by while the family watched the dignified transfer on the tarmac, and later escorted the procession through town on the way to the Owens & Brumley Funeral Home.

Originally, the family had requested no media, but once I explained how my videos are watched by family members who are unable to attend and the troops who served with him.  The family invited me out on the tarmac with them and allowed me to document this solemn ceremony.

This was especially poignant for me as I am preparing for the Patriot Guard Riders National Gathering of the Guard 2010 scheduled for Sept. 9-12 in Killeen/Ft. Hood, where Spc Maldonado was based. His unit was one of the units attacked during readiness processing at Fort Hood last November, and engineers Alexis had trained with were killed or wounded before the unit ever left American soil.

Alexis Maldonado enlisted in the Army a year after he became a father. His son, Isaiah, just turned two.

Alexis became a combat engineer, one of the soldiers who travel dangerous roads, seeking to protect the lives of others while risking their own. Once deployed to Afghanistan, his service was remarkable.  Alexis’s unit was stationed at Forward Operating Base Ramrod, and they cleared roads of IEDs to protect soldiers and civilians alike.  Alexis completed more than one hundred missions of this extremely dangerous duty, usually driving or manning the machine gun position which serves as the eyes of the vehicle.

After his service in the Army, Alexis Maldonado hoped to study auto mechanics at Universal Technical Institute, near home in Dallas, Texas.  He wanted to be a mechanic.  He loved music, and was a dedicated weight-lifter.

Alexis died of wounds he suffered when his convoy was ambushed in Zhari Province, Afghanistan.

Alexis is mourned, remembered, and loved by many, including his parents and step-parents, Jesse, Alicia, Linda, and Keith, his fiancée, Baronica, his son, Isaiah, his brothers, Brad and Sergio, and his sister, Aleksi.

(Left to right) U.S. Army 1st Lt. Matthew Machacek, from the Texas Agribusiness Development Team, Michéle Flournoy, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and U.S. Army Maj. William Davis, also from the Texas ADT, pose for a photo while holding the Texas A&M University flag, Aug. 8, at Forward Operating Base Ghazni.

WASHINGTON – The Defense Department is as committed as ever to bringing home thousands of U.S. service members who remain missing from the Korean War and Cold War conflicts, the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for policy said, Aug. 26.

“This issue has the full and unequivocal support of this secretary and this nation,” Michele Flournoy said at the Korean War/Cold War Annual Government Briefing on the accounting of missing and imprisoned servicemembers held in Arlington, Va. Ensuring resources are available “to have the fullest possible accounting” is a top priority of the department, she said.

As many as 5,400 Americans may still be in North Korea, and another 900 may be in the demilitarized zone that has divided North and South Korea since an armistice in 1953 halted three years of fighting there, Flournoy said. Because there has never been a peace treaty to officially end the war, those areas remain inaccessible to the department’s search and recovery teams, she said.

American search teams were allowed into North Korea under tight control between 1996 and 2005, and recovered the remains of 225 U.S. servicemembers, 81 of whom have been identified, Flournoy said. Rising international tensions with North Korea over its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons and the sinking of a South Korean navy ship this year have ended those operations, the undersecretary said.

Further complicating efforts, Flournoy said, are ongoing reports that “tiny” numbers of veterans may have defected to the north, raising concerns that they are being held as prisoners of war. Department officials have spent years trying to determine if the reports are true, she said.

“We have no evidence that U.S. servicemembers are being held against their will in North Korea,” she said. “But we cannot tell you in many cases the fate of our missing service members.”

Despite the challenges, she said, “We will get through this difficult period and do everything in our power to resume recovery operations and bring our service members home.”

Flournoy called the issue of missing or imprisoned servicemembers “surely the most painful legacy of war,” and said the department is committed to keeping its search and recovery staff fully resourced. Congress, also, has shown its willingness to provide for the recovery of POWs/MIAs by including in the current budget a directive that 200 new staff members be added to the effort each year until 2015.

Meanwhile, the United States has had increasing collaboration with Russia and China to recover missing service members, and currently is evaluating remains found from a plane crash in the China Sea reported by Chinese officials, Flournoy said.

The department usually recovers the remains of between 80 and 85 missing servicemembers each year, she said.

Flournoy told the audience that their work gives hope to the 200,000 military members currently deployed in war zones. POW/MIA work “is not an artifact of the distant past,” she said. “These issues remain urgent, and our commitment to leaving no one behind is as vital and real as it has ever been.”

Search and recovery techniques have vastly improved in recent years, and the department’s teams are the best in the world, Flournoy said. “No one is more dedicated to the mission,” she added.

“Your loved ones gave their lives for this country,” she said. “We honor their sacrifices, and we are committed to their recovery.”

SPC Alexis Vicente Maldonado, 20, of Wichita Falls, TX

SPC Alexis Vicente Maldonado, 20, of Wichita Falls, died Saturday, August 21, 2010 while serving his country in Afghanistan and is expected to return to the North Texas region later this week. Once arrangements have been announced we will update this article.

On August 21, 2010 SPC Maldonado’s life was tragically ended while on a route clearance patrol on highway one, in Southern Afghanistan. While moving east along highway one an enemy ambush struck the rear vehicle where SPC Maldonado was a gunner.

SPC Alexis Maldonado was born on July 16, 1990 in Wichita Falls, Texas to Jesse and Alicia Maldonado. After graduating high school SPC Maldonado became the proud father of a baby boy named Isaiah on August 6, 2008.

While continuing to be a dedicated father SPC Maldonado enlisted in the United States Army on October 3, 2009. SPC Maldonado went to the 35th Engineer Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he completed OSUT training for basic training and AIT. At the completion of his training he was awarded the MOS of 21B, Combat Engineer, and assigned to Fort Hood, Texas where he would eventually be assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, 510th Clearance Company, and finally 3rd platoon. While assigned to 3rd Platoon SPC Maldonado went on to complete many individual, squad, and platoon level trainings to include Combat Lifesaver Class and the R2C2 operator classes. In September of 2009 SPC Maldonado deployed with the rest of the 20th Engineer Battalion to the National Training Center in California to complete the unit’s readiness training, prior to block leave and the Battalion’s upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. SPC Maldonado and his platoon always performed above the standard receiving many accommodations from the officials at the training center.

Upon returning to Fort Hood SPC Maldonado had yet another hurdle to overcome before his company’s deployment. The entire 510th Clearance Company was hit with tragedy when their friends, peers, and battle buddies were wounded on November 5th at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Site.

On January 23, 2010 SPC Maldonado deployed with the 20th Engineer Battalion, 510th Clearance Company, 3rd Platoon. After spending two months at Kandahar Airfield completing training and helping to build his platoon vehicle force, the 510th moved to Forward Operating Base Ramrod. While stationed at FOB Ramrod SPC Maldonado completed over 100 route clearance missions with his platoon. SPC Maldonado would serve as a primary .50 cal machine gunner and a RG31-MK2 driver; continually displaying the Army Values in everything he did.

SPC Maldonado had aspirations of eventually ETS’ing from the Army and using the skills and experience he gained to further his education at UTI in Dallas, Texas, in order to study to become a Mechanic. SPC Maldonado could always be found in his down time either in his room, head nodding back and forth to his music, or in the gym grinding away with any weight he could get his hands on.

Whether it was trying to build his fitness in the gym or his ability to bring out not only the best in himself, but those around him, SPC Maldonado was an exemplary Soldier and a person in everything he did. He was a loving and dedicated father, who enjoyed spending all his time with his son. He will never be forgotten and greatly missed by all that knew him.

SPC Maldonado’s awards and decorations include the following: Bronze Star Medal; Purple Heart; Good Conduct Metal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; NATO Medal and the Combat Action Badge.

Alexis enjoyed listening to music, wrestling and playing video games.
He was preceded in death by his great-grandparents, David and Maria Maldonado.

Survivors include his parents, Jesse Maldonado and wife, Linda of Wichita Falls and Alicia Maldonado and husband, Keith Hastings of Wichita Falls; grandparents, Robert “Bob” and Irene Butterfield of Wichita Falls; Frank and Rosie Rodriguez of Wichita Falls; Ruben and Ruth Castillo of Princeton, Illinois; David Hernandez Everette; great-grandmother, Jesusa Garcia Aguirre; fiancé, Baronica Chapa; son, Isaiah Malachi Maldonado; brother, Brad Newlin and wife, Tia of Wichita Falls; brother, Sergio Maldonado and wife, Mykeli; sister, Aleksi Marie Maldonado of Wichita Falls; uncles, Robert Butterfield and wife, Hope, David Everette, Jr. and wife, Rita and Roy Castillo, all of Wichita Falls; aunts, Michelle Castaneda and Cristina Rodriguez, both of Wichita Falls; also many nieces, nephews and cousins.

“All gave some, some gave all”

Resource: Owens & Brumley Funeral Home & Cremation Center · Wichita Falls, TX 940-322-3181

Now, that I’m back after a few weeks of rest and relaxation, let me begin with a story of someone Doing the Right Thing.

LCpl. Dustin Tunnell, recently attended the funeral of one of his uncles.  After the ceremonies an elderly man walked up to LCpl. Dustin Tunnell to thank him for his service to our country and admire his uniform.  The elderly man, as it turns out is LCrpl Dustin Tunnell’s great-uncle, began to recall how the uniform was a contributing factor in his decision to join the USMC, but at the time not all Marines were issued a dress uniform since, they were immediately shipped out to war as soon as they completed basic training.

LCpl. Dustin Tunnell began thinking about how could he obtain a uniform for the Marine veteran he met at the funeral.  He talked to some of his buddies and they decided to start a group page on FaceBook to solicit funds to purchase a dress uniform for the veteran.

Contributions began pouring in from people everywhere.  They quickly obtained the $730 needed to make the purchase.  They then prepared for a way to present this great gift.  After presenting him with his new dress blues they had to have a group picture.  After all what is the purpose of being a part of the few, the proud, the Marines; if not a photo-op in dress blues?

I’ve had the pleasure of asking the Marine a few questions and below, was his responses.

USF Q:  What motivated you to do this?

LCpl. D. Tunnell A:

I did not do this for any personal recognition. To be honest, the way this started was at an uncle of mine’s funeral in Tennessee. My uncle John “Curtis” Sammons passed away on April 28, 2010. His funeral was on April 30. I wore my Dress Blue uniform to the funeral to honor my uncle who served in the Army during Vietnam. At the funeral Bobby and I started talking about the Corps and how he served during WWII and I’m serving today.

As Robert and I were talking, he brought up that he had never received a Dress Blue uniform, and it was 1 of 2 reasons he joined the Corps. During WWII, the US devoted a lot of funds toward the war, and therefore stopped issuing the Blues uniform and only issued the Service (green uniform) until after the war was over. Bobby brought it up several times how proud he was of me, the Corps, and how nice the Dress Blue uniform is. He joined the Corps and not another branch for two reasons, 1 being for our Dress Blue uniform, and the second because he wanted to go to nice tropical places. Robert also gave me a copy of his memoir that he wrote for the family, as his daughter had requested it. Bobby told me that he did not know what medals he was awarded, and that he tried to gain that information with no luck, but he wanted it for his son and daughter.

USF Q:  How to did you plan for this?

LCpl. D. Tunnell A:

On my drive back to Cherry Point, where I am currently stationed, I kept thinking about what he had told me and how happy he was to see me in my Dress Blues. I decided that a hero like him should not go any longer without our nicest uniform and made up my decision. I called my dad and told him that I would need some help from the family finding out his measurements because I was going to purchase and present a Dress Blue uniform to Bobby. Dad was kind of confused about the idea, as he knows that the uniforms are expensive, but due to never having served, he has no idea the pride we have.

He brought up the idea of possibly trying to take donations to cover part of the cost so it would not all come out of my pocket. When I arrived back to Cherry Point, I brought up the idea to my fellow Marines and everyone was very enthusiastic and excited about my idea. I decided to make a Facebook event with the idea. At this point, I was hoping to receive maybe a small portion of the cost, but anything would help due to the cost of the uniform and the pay that we receive. I made the event on May 9 of this year, and in less than 24 hours I had already received $105 in donations. I was very shocked at the interest in this. When I realized that this was interesting to people, I decided to start posting it on different Marine Corps pages, and military pages.

USF Q:  What were your challenges?

LCpl. D. Tunnell A:

During this time, I could not figure out how I wanted to present this uniform to Bobby. Robert Webster is a very humble individual, as he even stated at the presentation when asked to speak he said “I just wanted to help my country.” To this day he says the true heroes are the ones who died, and the Navy Corpsmen. I wanted it to be something special for him, and something he would never forget, but nothing that would upset him. I considered several options, such as taking him to a recruiting station and presenting it there, or simply arriving at his house with the uniform. Then I thought of Independence Day coming up in the near future. I knew this was less than two months away, and not knowing any of his sizes, or even what medals and awards he rated, this would be very hard to accomplish.

I eventually got in contact with two individuals from Pepsi, who coordinate the Independence Day events every year at Freedom Hall. They informed me that the events would partake on July 3 this year due to the 4th being on Sunday. They were very excited about my idea, and so we sat down and discussed how this would take place. I was also able to gain all of the information regarding his service, including all of his campaigns, both times he was wounded, and even a picture that was taken on January 20, 1942 while he was in boot camp. He was very happy to receive this information, and got many laughs out of the picture that he has not seen in so many years.

USF Q:  What did you learn about Bobby?

News Clipping of Webster

LCpl. D. Tunnell A:

Bobby, along with a few other good friends joined the Marine Corps on December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He shipped for boot camp on January 13, 1942 to MCRD San Diego, California. His dates of service are from January 13, 1942 until December 14, 1945 when he was honorably discharged as a Sergeant. He was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 25th Regiment, 4th Marine Division as a machine gunner. He was wounded in action on Saipan on June 15, 1944 and then again on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. His unit participated in 4 campaigns during WWII before it was disbanded due to heavy casualties at Iwo Jima. These campaigns consisted of the Battle of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands campaign, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. They were in the first wave on Saipan and Iwo Jima and third at Tinian. The battalion played a critical role in the seizure of Hill 382 (”Turkey Knob”) in an area that Marines on Iwo Jima called the “Meat Grinder.” They were awarded two presidential unit citations for their campaigns, 1 being at Iwo Jima.

USF Q:  Why was this, the right thing to do?

LCpl. D. Tunnell A:

I remember being so extremely proud after finishing the crucible and receiving my Eagle, Globe and Anchor and welcomed into the Marine Corps and then walking across the parade deck at Parris Island, at graduation. This is the only thing that I could compare to the way it made me feel having the opportunity to do something like this for such a wonderful man like Robert Webster. I’m honestly not sure which event made me feel better, because becoming a Marine was a great feeling, but it’s hard to compare anything to giving great joy to another individual.

The other marines who participated in this as well agreed that we all felt great about getting the opportunity to be part of this. Another very nice outcome of all of this was that it brought a lot of family together.

USF Q:  What did you learn from this experience?

LCpl. D. Tunnell A:

His daughter, her husband, and her daughter all flew in from Texas to witness this. His son was able to attend, one of his brothers, and it just brought a lot of the family together, some of which I had never met until this day. My cousin just told me the other day, that after we left his house Monday evening, as he was hanging up his uniform, he said “I never thought I would have this.” I really wish more heroes like Robert Webster could have the opportunity to receive the uniform and recognition that they deserve.

The Marines who presented the Dress Blue uniform were:

Cpl Lyle Marston from Camp Lejeune, NC attached to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit
Cpl Raymond Ortiz from Cherry Point, NC attached to the 6th Special Security Communications Team
LCpl Colin Wine from Cherry Point, NC attached to the 6th Special Security Communications Team
LCpl Michael Wilson from Cherry Point, NC attached to the 6th Special Security Communications Team
LCpl Dustin Tunnell from Cherry Point, NC attached to the 6th Special Security Communications Team

Update:  The remainder $150 that they received in donations was donated to the Wounded Warrior Project – http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ – on Robert Webster’s behalf.Three weeks after LCpl Tunnell brought the greatest joy to another, he and his partner Shelia Goodson, gave birth to Alannah Jane Tunnell, a beautiful, healthy, bouncing baby little girl.

Please join me in saluting this young Marine for Doing the Right Thing.