The Witmer family

Spc. Michelle Witmer was killed last year just five days before she would go home. She had two sisters also serving in Iraq. Michelle was the first National Guard female killed in combat and her death sprung a huge interest from the national media. I am a friend of Lori Witmer, Michelle’s mother. And I recently had dinner with the Witmer family. To my surprise, John Witmer had been keeping a blog, at which is dedicated to Michelle and to help others deal with grief of a fallen loved one.

After Michelle’s death, the media camped out on their lawn and local talk-show hosts said things like they were taking advantage of their daughter’s death. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Similar to the situation in Saving Private Ryan, the Witmer sisters, one of whom was Michelle’s twin, were given the option to return to the U.S. rather than staying in Iraq. It took them a while to make the decision of coming home, and who wouldn’t? Well, the couch generals and media likes debated this issue for weeks and were really crude to a special family. The Witmers are truly genuine people and I hold them in the highest regard.

John is a wonderful writer (he can also grill a mean steak) and I encourage everybody to visit his site… http://www.johnwjournal.blogspot.com. I hope you enjoy this truly remarkable family as much as I have. You'll see what I mean after a couple paragraphs of John's writing.