Thursday, August 31, 2006

In Remembrance...

It was a wonderful service remembering Gabe and giving the glory to God for Gabe's great life. He was an oustanding man of God who wanted so much for himself to be an instrument of God. In every area of his life he gave one hundred percent. He was so devoted to Hannah and little Gabriel. He was so proud of his son. He would be very proud of Hannah. She has been so strong through all of this. She trusts that the Lord knows best. She and Gabe talked about this before he even left for Iraq. Gabe told Hannah that God had put all the pieces together for them to get married and have a son and even if he were to die in Iraq God was still putting together all the pieces. Gabe was an awesome soldier and put forth all of his effort to be so. The men in his unit looked up to him. He was a witness to his fellow soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ and he even said that he would rather die than any of them so that way they would still have a chance to be saved. Even though it hurts so much that we don't get to have Gabe with us here on earth anymore God is still putting together all the pieces and we know we will see him again in heaven. May the name of the Lord be praised!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:16&17


At the church.





SPC Eric Sakuma was there with Gabe when he died. He was also Gabe's escort back to the United States. He spoke at both the memorial service at Fort Lewis and the funeral.


For the funeral procession there was a police escort. They even shut down highway 16 and Interstate 5 so that we could all stay together. It was amazing. The line of cars in the procession must have been about a mile long.


At the graveside there was a 21 gun salute and Taps was played on a trumpet.






General Hillman




It is so hard to be sad when little Gabriel is around. He must be the most bubbly happy baby in the world. He is always smiling and laughing. He will even start laughing when there is nothing to laugh at. Whenever he sees someone smiling he smiles right back and might even start laughing. He is already so much like Gabe. We are so thankful that Hannah has little Gabriel.





"Greater love has no man than this, to lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for persevering in getting those pictures up. Both the pictures and your commentary are very tastefully done. It was nice to see that Laura and Dave received a flag, too. Thanks again for your efforts and your friendship with Hannah. There will be a memorial service here in Michigan on September 16. If someone is taking pictures, would you like me to send them to you for your site?

Ruhiyyih Rose said...

What a great article, Anne. The last picture is the one that really gets me. It looks identical to the ones at Arlington Cemetary. I am so glad that you are able to be there to support Hannah during such a difficult time. Hang in there, give her a hug for me, and I will see you soon!

Rach said...

Annie, my thoughts and prayers continue to be with Hannah and Gabe's family and friends. Thank you for posting this. Although I didn't have the pleasure of knowing Gabe, this was a wonderful tribute.

Bonita said...

Beautifully done, Annie. Thanks for posting pictures, and give our love to Hannah and little Gabe. I'm so grateful that you have been there to console Hannah, and to be a comfort and a friend.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and I thought of you and Hannah together, strolling through Gig Harbor. I hope many, many more days of sunshine are here for both of you.

Nicole @ OrWhateverYouDo said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. What a hard time to be in.