Mailed blog – written by Julian

20 Feb 11

Today is a somber day here at Alpha Company.  Early this morning, one of our comrades passed away.  Private Jordan Chase of 1st Platoon went into the hospital last Saturday with a high fever.  From there his illness escalated and this morning it took his life.  My heart truly goes out to his family, who were fortunately able to be here by his side.

They are still unsure what the illness was but have concluded it was nothing contagious.  None the less, we have spent the last three days cleaning and disinfecting our living areas.  The drill sergeants and commander have been handling this situation very appropriately and have been relaying information as they receive it.  Friday we will have a formal memorial service.

As sad as this is, it is surely not the last loss we will see as soldiers.  It has really put things into perspective.  While ony 1st Platoon truly knew PVT Chase well, all of Alpha Company will continue to train and push ourselves as he would want us to.  Let’s do it for PVT Chase!