Iraq 2004

ROBERT “ALLEN” LEATHERWOOD

ROBERT “ALLEN” LEATHERWOOD

Allen Leatherwood was born in Austin, Texas in 1983 but he grew up in a country home near Elgin where he attended public schools. In high school he was a 3-year varsity Football letterman and was also on the Power Lifting Team. As a 17 year-old during his senior year, and with his parents consent, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Both of Allen's grandfathers had served in the military and he had an uncle that was an Army Vietnam veteran, but Allen was the first Marine in the family. He graduated from Elgin High School with the class of 2001 and was soon sent off to begin training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in California. After completing Boot Camp in November 2001, he...

TIMOTHY J. GAESTEL

Tim is one of the earliest of today’s wounded warriors to have joined America’s war on terrorism. In fact he would have been inducted into the Army before the end of the day on 9/11 had the planes not all been grounded that morning when the towers fell. By the time his enlistment was up, he was a Sergeant and a combat veteran of both Afghanistan and Iraq. Still contending with the pain from wounds sustained in Iraq, he is on course to graduate from Texas State University next year, becoming one of the earliest beneficiaries of the “Post 9/11 G.I. Bill.” Here is his story. Timothy J. Gaestel was born at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii in 1983. His father retired from the...

RENESSA GERHARDT

Renessa L. Gerhardt was born in Lubbock, Texas in 1985. When she was five years old, her family moved to Saudi Arabia. They lived in Yanbu (about an hour away from Jeddah) where Renessa attended the Yanbu International School until, when she was age ten, they returned to Texas. The Gerhardt’s then lived, initially in Denton, where Renessa finished elementary school. They next moved to Houston where she graduated from Bleyl Middle School and then attended Cy-Creek High School until (having skipped 11th grade) mid-way through her senior year. Then, when she was seventeen, the family returned to Saudi Arabia, once again to Yanbu. Renessa graduated from the Yanbu International...

PRESTON HALEY

Preston G. Haley was born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1978. He grew up in suburban Austintown, and went through Saint Joseph’s Grade School. Then when he was in 9th grade the Haley family moved to Stow, Ohio. Preston graduated from Stow High School in 1996 and then attended Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio for one year. After the 1997 Spring semester, he left OSU and returned home to take a job in Stow. For the next four years Preston worked in either Stow or Columbus, moving back and forth as he changed jobs several times. Then he joined the Army. He had signed up shortly before 9/11 and was inducted from Broadview Heights, Ohio on October 10, 2001. He took Basic Training...

HORACE  P. WILLIAMS

A Modern day "Buffalo Soldier" Horace Williams is a civilian employee working at Camp Mabry. He served two tours in Vietnam and was wounded at CU CHI on February 10, 1966 while serving in Company C, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry (Wolfhounds), 25th Infantry Division. As an Army Vietnam veteran and a resident of Austin, Texas, that puts Horace squarely in the middle of the most populous demographic group of Chapter 1919 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, nothing particularly noteworthy about that. But, he does something truly special and unique for a member of our veterans group. Early in the morning on any given weekend, Horace gets up and dresses in his authentic...