Superaggie79
11-28-2006, 01:16 PM
BHS grad Craig Ledsome killed in Iraq
By Candace Cooksey Fulton — Brownwood Bulletin
http://brownwoodbulletin.com/content/articles/2006/11/28/news/news01.jpg Cpl. Craig Ledsome
Tammy Eoff thought that in a month she would get a reprieve from the worry.
Eoff’s daughter-in-law, Megan Ledsome, had told her U.S. Marine Cpl. Craig Ledsome’s last “working day” in Iraq would be Dec. 27. In January he would be returning stateside.
“Dec. 27 was going to be the last day I was really going to have to go to work and not worry,” Eoff said.
But Saturday night, a little after 9 o’clock, two Marine officers appeared at her door, and Eoff knew the thing she feared most since her older son deployed to Iraq four months ago had happened.
Cpl. Michael Craig Ledsome was killed Saturday during combat operations in Al Anbar province, the Defense Department confirmed Monday.
Eoff said Ledsome and his brother, Lance Cpl. Bradley Scott Ledsome, had joined the Marines together, two years ago. Brad Ledsome is stationed at Okinawa, Japan, and was scheduled to be landing at Dallas/Fort Worth late Monday.
Funeral arrangements are pending for Craig Ledsome, and Eoff said she expects it will be at least a week before they can be finalized. There will be a service in Brownwood, she said, and a second service in Austin, where he lived before joining the Marines.
Ledsome’s widow, Megan Ledsome, is from Austin. The couple have a 2-year-old son, Caleb.
Ledsome graduated from Brownwood High School in 2000, and Dec. 4 would have been his 25th birthday.
He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Besides his mother and stepfather, Kevin Eoff, survivors include his father and stepmother, Mike and Shawna Ledsome of Weatherford, his maternal grandparents Richard and Joan Smith of Early and his paternal grandparents Keith and Joanne Ledsome of Lake Brownwood.
Monday, a U.S. flag flew half staff in front of the Eoffs’ home in Early, and a steady stream of friends and family stopped in to offer condolences. Her sons had been very popular, and had many friends, Eoff said.
Craig was something of the funny one, and could always make her laugh, she said.
“Everybody loved Craig,” she added.
“Right now, we want to let it be known he’s not here,” Eoff said, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“He’s our hero and we’re proud of him. Craig believed in what he was doing. He wanted me to always believe that what he was doing was right. He was very brave.”
Craig and Brad were very close, Eoff said, and both knew it would worry her they were joining the Marines.
“They made up their minds they were joining, and when kids make up their minds like that, they’re going to go through with it,” said Richard Smith. “This is a hard sad thing for us to go through, but Craig was doing what he thought was right, and what he wanted to do.
“He would have done anything for anybody.”
He and his brother were good friends when I lived in Brownwood.:sad:
By Candace Cooksey Fulton — Brownwood Bulletin
http://brownwoodbulletin.com/content/articles/2006/11/28/news/news01.jpg Cpl. Craig Ledsome
Tammy Eoff thought that in a month she would get a reprieve from the worry.
Eoff’s daughter-in-law, Megan Ledsome, had told her U.S. Marine Cpl. Craig Ledsome’s last “working day” in Iraq would be Dec. 27. In January he would be returning stateside.
“Dec. 27 was going to be the last day I was really going to have to go to work and not worry,” Eoff said.
But Saturday night, a little after 9 o’clock, two Marine officers appeared at her door, and Eoff knew the thing she feared most since her older son deployed to Iraq four months ago had happened.
Cpl. Michael Craig Ledsome was killed Saturday during combat operations in Al Anbar province, the Defense Department confirmed Monday.
Eoff said Ledsome and his brother, Lance Cpl. Bradley Scott Ledsome, had joined the Marines together, two years ago. Brad Ledsome is stationed at Okinawa, Japan, and was scheduled to be landing at Dallas/Fort Worth late Monday.
Funeral arrangements are pending for Craig Ledsome, and Eoff said she expects it will be at least a week before they can be finalized. There will be a service in Brownwood, she said, and a second service in Austin, where he lived before joining the Marines.
Ledsome’s widow, Megan Ledsome, is from Austin. The couple have a 2-year-old son, Caleb.
Ledsome graduated from Brownwood High School in 2000, and Dec. 4 would have been his 25th birthday.
He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Besides his mother and stepfather, Kevin Eoff, survivors include his father and stepmother, Mike and Shawna Ledsome of Weatherford, his maternal grandparents Richard and Joan Smith of Early and his paternal grandparents Keith and Joanne Ledsome of Lake Brownwood.
Monday, a U.S. flag flew half staff in front of the Eoffs’ home in Early, and a steady stream of friends and family stopped in to offer condolences. Her sons had been very popular, and had many friends, Eoff said.
Craig was something of the funny one, and could always make her laugh, she said.
“Everybody loved Craig,” she added.
“Right now, we want to let it be known he’s not here,” Eoff said, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“He’s our hero and we’re proud of him. Craig believed in what he was doing. He wanted me to always believe that what he was doing was right. He was very brave.”
Craig and Brad were very close, Eoff said, and both knew it would worry her they were joining the Marines.
“They made up their minds they were joining, and when kids make up their minds like that, they’re going to go through with it,” said Richard Smith. “This is a hard sad thing for us to go through, but Craig was doing what he thought was right, and what he wanted to do.
“He would have done anything for anybody.”
He and his brother were good friends when I lived in Brownwood.:sad: