| |
|
SSG Clint J. Storey
This memorial website was created in the memory of our Hero, Clint Storey who was born on February 27, 1976 and called home to God on August 04, 2006 when an IED detonated directly under his truck in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was only 30.
We will Remember him,
Honor him,
Love him,
as a Husband, Father, Brother, Friend, and Soldier
ALWAYS
I Got Your Back
I am a small and precious child, my Dad’s been sent to fight…
The only place I’ll see his face is in my dreams at night.
He will be gone too many days,
For my young mind to keep track.
I may be sad, but I am proud…
My Daddy’s got your back.
I am a strong and loving wife, with a husband soon to go.
There are times I’m terrified in a way that most will never know
I bite my lip and force a smile,
As I watch my husband pack.
My heart will break, but I am proud…
My husband’s got your back.
I am a Soldier…
Serving proudly, standing tall.
I fight for freedom, yours and mine by answering this call.
I do my job while knowing,
The thanks it sometimes lacks.
Say a prayer that I’ll come home…
It’s me who’s got your back.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
Fiddler’s Green
Halfway down the trail to Hell,
In a shady meadow green
Are the Souls of all dead troopers camped,
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddlers' Green.
Marching past, straight through to Hell
The Infantry are seen.
Accompanied by the Engineers,
Artillery and Marines,
For none but the shades of
Cavalrymen Dismount at Fiddlers' Green.
Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene.
No trooper ever gets to Hell
Ere he's emptied his canteen.
And so rides back to drink again
With friends at Fiddlers' Green.
And so when man and horse go down
Beneath a saber keen,
Or in a roaring charge of fierce melee
You stop a bullet clean,
And the hostiles come to get your scalp,
Just empty your canteen,
And put your pistol to your head
And go to Fiddlers' Green
To Those I Love
and Those Who Love Me
When I am gone, release me, let me go.
I have so many things to see and do.
You mustn't tie yourself to me with tears.
But be happy that we had so many years.
I gave you my Love, you can only guess
How much you gave me in happiness
I thank you for the Love each of you have shown,
But now it's time I travel alone.
So grieve awhile for me, if grieve you must.
Then let your grief be comforted by God's trust.
It's only for awhile that we must part,
So bless the memories within your heart.
I won't be far away, for life goes on,
So if you need me, call and I will come.
Though you can't see or touch me, I'll be near,
And if you listen with you heart,
You will hear all my Love around you soft and clear,
And when you must come this way alone,
I'll greet you with a smile and say,
"Welcome Home"
In the rising of the sun and in its going down, we remember them;
In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of the winter, we remember them;
In the opening of the buds and in the warmth of the summer, we remember them;
In the rustling of leaves and the beauty of autumn, we remember them;
In the beginning of the year and when it ends, we remember them;
When we are weary and in need of strength, we remember them;
When we are lost and sick of heart, we remember them;
When we have joys we yearn to share, we remember them;
So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are now a part of us as we remember them.
From Gates of Prayer
|
Click here to see SSG Clint Storey's Family Tree |
 Tributes and Condolences |
|
|
 |
|
|
Three Long Years / Jared Rogers (Friend)
This is SSG Rogers and its been three long years since we last talked but I think about you every day. I have been to your grave every year on augustus fourth. I left a grenade pin back in 2007 that was used too do what us scouts were supposed to do....
 Continue >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Happy Anniversary / Lissa (your wife )
Happy Anniversary Gorgeous. I cannot believe if you were alive we would be celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary (10 total)...I remember when you wanted to marry me all over again, I said no and laughed. I said we'd wait for 10 years and have all o...
Continue >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 years too many / Your Wife
Well baby...it's been two years. Two years too many. 731 days or 17,544 hours or 1,052,640 minutes or 63,158,400 seconds. Too long and a lifetime to go. I think of you every day. I wake every morning with the knowledge that you will not physically be...
Continue >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
This was read at his Iraq Memorial Service / Sgt Rogers (Friend/Fellow Soldier )
~SGT Rogers rememberance at the Memorial Service~
I got to the Troop in November of last year. They were out at Range 203 in Graf and when I got there I went straight to the chow area. 1SG asked me if I...
Continue >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
This was read at his Iraq Memorial Service / Sgt Barr (Friend/Fellow Soldier )
~SGT Barr's Rememberance at Clint's service~
My fondest memories of SSG Storey can be found in a dimly lit, smoke filled room. In the center of the room sits a table, with ashtrays at the corners,...
Continue >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Merry Christmas Gorgeous / Melissa (wife) Read >> |
|
|
|
|
|
My Melissa / Leslie Dultz (Best Friend to His Other Half ) Read >> |
|
|
|
|
|
Happy Anniversary / Lis (wife) Read >> |
|
|
|
|
|
I Miss You / Melissa (Wife....spouse....ot-her half ) Read >> |
|
|
|
|
|
Miss you brother / Kap Kim (Friend) Read >> |
|
|
|
|
|
Peace / Veronica Darlington (Aunt to Melissa ) Read >> |
|
|
|
|
|
melissa adela and cj / Jeanne M. Wrann (aunt) Read >> |
|
|
|
|
|
my brother / Tammy Devine (sister) Read >> |
|
|
|
|
|
God's Peace and Love / Laura McCartney (Friend of Charlene ) Read >> |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| His legacy |
|
|
|
|
Clint's Family
Clint left behind so many who love him dearly.
Among the many are;
his wife, Melissa
his daughter, Adela
his son, Clint Joseph II
his mother, Carol
his step-father, Bill
his sisters, Charlene, Tammy, & Tonja
his "brothers," Marcus & Mikey
his nieces and nephews, Bubba, Trent, Lala & Mo
his Grandmother
many aunts, uncles & cousins
his extended family, Cheryl "Mom", Ed, Tom,
Eddie, Derek, Erin & Kevin
friends
& fellow soldiers
Clint was predeceased by his father,
Clint Edward
At the time of SSGT Storey's death,
his daughter was only 4 years old
and his wife was 11 weeks pregnant
with their son, a "war baby" conceived
during a 17 day mid-tour R&R from Iraq |
|
|
|
|
|
Clint's Career
SSG Clint Storey was born on 27 February 1976 in Oklahoma. He enlisted in the Army as a Cavalry Scout on 10 February 1998 where he attended OSUT training at Ft Knox, KY. Upon graduation on 8 August 1998, SSG Storey reported to HHC 1/5 Infantry Bn at Ft Hood, Texas where he served as a driver and gunner in the scout platoon. While assigned to Ft Hood, SSG Storey deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina for 7 months as part of SFOR. In September 2000, SSG Storey reported to HHC 2-34 Armor Bn in Ft Riley, Kansas where he served as a Squad Leader and a Section Sergeant. SSG Storey then volunteered for and served as a recruiter in Los Angeles, CA from September 2002 to 2005.
In September 2005, SSG Storey was assigned to F Troop, 1st Cav Reg (BRT) where he served as the HQ Platoon Sergeant and later as the senior scout in 2nd Platoon. SSG Storey deployed with Fantom Troop to Biaj and later to Ar Ramadi Iraq in January 2006.
On 4 August 2006, Staff Sergeant Storey died of injuries sustained during a combat patrol in southern Ramadi, Iraq.
SSG Storey’s decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart (2nd Award), Army Commendation Medal (with one oak leaf cluster), Army Achievement Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), Army Good Conduct Medal (with two bronze knots), National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Combat Action Badge, and the Army Recruiter Badge (gold badge with 3 sapphires)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fallen soldier honored in Palmer
Sunday, August 27, 2006
By STEPHANIE BARRY
sbarry@repub.com
PALMER - Melissa Storey sat a few feet from a ceremonial helmet, rifle and combat boots representing her dead husband, with their 4-year-old daughter in her lap and their unborn child in her womb, as elected officials and veterans yesterday paid homage to a fallen soldier.
Close to 200 mourners gathered in the garden outside St. Thomas the Apostle Church following a memorial Mass for Army Staff Sgt. Clint J. Storey, killed Aug. 4 by a roadside bomb in Ramadi, Iraq.
An Oklahoma native, Storey was buried Aug. 16 in his home state. However, his wife and daughter had been staying with her family in Palmer while he was deployed. He arrived in Iraq in January.
Storey said once her child is born, she will fight to get her husband buried in Arlington, Va., instead of Oklahoma, as Storey's mother had insisted. The burial site was chosen following a bitter dispute with her mother-in-law, adding another layer of anguish.
Yesterday's service was organized, in part, to answer the outpouring of support Storey and daughter Adela have received since her husband's death.
"I don't know how to do this ... You don't think you're going to be a widow at 28. You don't think you'll lose the love of your life at 28," Melissa Storey said in an interview before the memorial service.
Though she speaks freely of her feelings about her husband, whom she describes as the "perfect soldier," their marriage and his untimely death, Storey frequently says:
"But it's not about me. It's about him."
And yesterday, after delivering an emotional eulogy in the form of a poem entitled "I Got Your Back," Storey said she explained the military trappings, the crowd and the tears to Adela similarly.
"I told her all the flags, all this is for daddy, not us," Storey said.
The Vietnam Veterans of America Western Massachusetts Chapter 111 organized the military honors aspect of the service, which included honor guard, a 21-gun salute, a recording of "Taps" and a carefully folded American flag offered to Adela.
"At some point she will be able to understand," family friend Kimberly McCloskey said yesterday of Adela, cutting through the garden with fiery red pigtails and wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with her father's picture. "And, she'll be as proud of him as the rest of us."
State Rep. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, offered words of comfort to the family and praise for the 140,000 men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"This is a nation that glorifies sports stars ... and music stars, and uses the word 'hero.' That is so wrong," he said.
The legislator also noted Melissa Storey only wanted to be a wife and mother, not a gold star wife - the military's term for widows of soldiers killed in action.
Storey's mother, Cheryl A. Moriarty, said she saw many familiar faces at yesterday's service, but also the faces of several soldiers she did not recognize.
Moriarty said her heart swelled at the sight she spotted rumbling off the highway yesterday morning: hundreds of Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle contingent whose members attend military funerals across the nation. They formed an honor guard outside the church yesterday.
"I just started to cry as soon as I saw them. It's been a long three weeks," Moriarty said after the service.
Storey said she received an e-mail from her husband three days before he was killed. It spoke of growing old together.
She last saw him in June, when she became pregnant with their second child. Only 14 weeks along, she does not yet know the baby's gender. But she knows this: if she has a son, he will be named Clint J. Storey II.
"I'll always tell my kids: 'Daddy would be here if he could.'"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Soldier remembered as hero
By Murray Evans
Associated Press
ENID, Okla. — This northwestern Oklahoma town long has been military-friendly — thanks in good part to nearby Vance Air Force Base — so when locals buried one of their own war dead Wednesday, they made sure to let Army Staff Sgt. Clint Storey’s family know how they felt.
Dozens of U.S. flags — held by veterans, members of a motorcycle gang and young children, among others — lined the streets around Central Christian Church, where funeral services for Storey were held. Another flag hung high above the street in front of the building, held by a fire truck’s ladder.
More flags waved at Enid Cemetery, where a plot and headstone were donated for Storey, 30, who died Aug. 4 after a roadside bomb blast in Ramadi, Iraq. About 100 people held flags as family and friends gathered around Storey’s casket at the cemetery, where he was buried with full military honors.
That support didn’t escape the notice of Storey’s mother, Carol Inherst.
“You are an American hero and an Oklahoman,” Inherst wrote in a letter to her son that was read during the service, “and I wish you could see your hometown of Enid.”
Storey’s wife, Melissa Storey, who lives in Palmer, Mass., attended the funeral. She and Inherst had disagreed about where he should be buried. His wife said earlier that he had wanted to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, but Inherst had said her son signed military papers before he deployed overseas that left her in charge of his remains.
Army Chaplain Maj. Martha A. Carson praised Storey and other soldiers in Iraq for their bravery and compared them to the shepherd described in Psalm 23 in the Bible.
“Staff Sergeant Storey decided to go beyond his backyard, put on a uniform and fight the enemies of freedom,” Carson said.
“He was a man in uniform who was willing to go out and do what others cannot, or will not, do.”
Storey joined the military in 1997 and was an Army recruiter for three years in Los Angeles before being stationed in Germany and, eventually, Iraq.
Melissa Storey was presented with the folded flag that had laid atop her husband’s casket. Military officials then presented another folded flag to Inherst, who at the cemetery sat across her son’s casket from her daughter-in-law.
The Storeys had a 4-year-old daughter and Melissa Storey is pregnant with the couple’s second child. She is due to give birth in February.
A memorial service for Clint Storey will be held in Massachusetts on Aug. 26 in Palmer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Soldier from Enid dies in Iraq
By James Epperson III
The Oklahoman
A 30-year-old Enid man became the latest Oklahoman to die in the war against terrorism.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Clint J. Storey was killed by an improvised explosive device under his Humvee on Friday in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, Defense Department officials said Sunday.
Also killed in the blast was Sgt. Bradley H. Beste, 22, of Illinois. Both were members of the U.S. Army 1st Calvary Regiment, 1st Armored Division of Friedberg, Germany.
"He was extremely proud of his job," said Melissa Storey, about her husband, Clint Storey, on Sunday.
"I'm very happy I had eight years with him."
Clint Storey grew up in Enid and frequently visited his mother there, Melissa Storey said.
She said she always will remember her husband because no one could make her laugh the way he could.
Their daughter, 4-year-old Adela, "was the absolute apple of his life," she said, adding that Clint Storey left her a "wonderful gift" the last time he was home in June. Melissa Storey is pregnant again.
Adela will gain a sibling in February, Melissa Storey said.
"I have letters and e-mails to show the baby," she said. "You find comfort in the little things."
Melissa Storey said Friday's explosion follows another one that occurred about two weeks ago.
In the earlier incident, an improvised explosive device went off under the engine of Storey's truck. Storey was hurt, but he survived and continued to fight, she said.
"I didn't think lightning could strike in the same place twice," Melissa Storey said.
The explosion Friday was directly under the soldiers, she said.
"I take comfort, because he was not alone," Melissa Storey said. "It was instantaneous, and I do not think he knew what happened." |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| SSG Clint's Photo Album |
|
|
|
|
| Clint and his sister Charlene |
|
|
|
|
|
Add to favorites 
