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Peshtigo soldier
Steven Drees remembered
By Paul Srubas
Green Bay (Wis.) Press-Gazette
PESHTIGO — Friends and
well-wishers carrying candles and waving flags lined
the streets of Peshtigo Monday night to honor a
19-year-old soldier who died Sunday as a result of
injuries he sustained in Afghanistan.
Army Pvt. Steven Drees’
family found out Wednesday morning that he had been
shot in the head when insurgents attacked his unit
with small arms fire and a grenade launcher in Konar
Province, Afghanistan, said Barb Bayer of Peshtigo,
Drees’ cousin.
His parents, Dawn Bayer and
Paul Drees, and his twin brother, Charlie, were
present when Drees died Sunday at Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, Barb Bayer
said. He had been kept alive until his organs could
be harvested for donation, and family members
learned this weekend that Drees’ organs may have
saved the lives of three people, Bayer said.
Drees’ parents and brother
arrived in Peshtigo about 9:30 p.m. Monday. Hundreds
of people gathered in front of the home at 281 S.
Peck Ave. and along the street to welcome them.
Candles on the street and a police escort guided the
family to their flag-covered yard.
High school friends of
Drees said they spent the past four days preparing
for the memorial. “We wanted it to be happy,” said
James Meeks, 17, a high school friend. “Before Steve
left, he told everyone that if anything happened to
him he wanted them to be proud, not sad.”
The mourners seemed to
express their reactions in different tones. Some
joked about past memories, others expressed anger
toward the insurgency, and some just wept.
One friend, Josiah Schafer,
said the loss has motivated him even more to join
the Army.
“I know he would be proud
and supportive of me,” Schafer said. “If I die, I
hope I have the same support as Steve did.”
Funeral plans won’t be made
until the family learns when the Army plans to
release the body and transport it home, Bayer said.
She said the family is very close-knit, and that
Drees had never been away from home for long before
he enlisted in the Army on July 25, 2008.
“When he went to basic
training, he wrote home every day,” Bayer said. “He
always wrote poems. It kept him going through the
training.
Bayer is Drees’ mother’s
cousin, but she was always “Auntie Barb” to Drees,
she said. She described Steven as a playful young
man — “a child at heart” — who loved children. As a
boy, he played baseball, and he lettered in both
football and basketball in high school, she said.
Drees’ high school friends
all solicited area businesses for donations for the
candles and flags used in Monday night’s event,
Bayer said.
“The kids have been
wonderful,” she said. “Some of the family members
wouldn’t have made it through without the kids here
supporting them.”
The kids were planning to
have T-shirts and rubber bracelets made in Drees’
honor, for the funeral, and plans are under way for
a parade for when his body is returned to Peshtigo,
she said.
John Bayer, Drees’ uncle,
said Drees was very dedicated to the Army.
“He did what he wanted to
do, and he was proud of what he was doing,” Bayer
said of his nephew.
Drees was assigned to the
2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade
Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson,
Colo.
He joined the Army July 25,
2008, and was deployed May 26, on his 19th birthday.
Drees and his girlfriend
from Silver Spring, Colo., were expecting their
first child, John Bayer said.
Since Drees’ enlistment, he
has received the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat
Infantry Badge, and the following medals: National
Defense Service, Global War on Terrorism Service,
Army Good Conduct, Purple Heart and Bronze Star,
according to the Public Affairs office at Fort
Carson.
Flags fly at
half-staff for Drees
The Associated Press
PESHTIGO, Wis. — Flags at
Wisconsin National Guard armories, air bases and
other facilities throughout the state will fly at
half-staff in honor of a Peshtigo soldier killed in
Afghanistan.
The state Department of
Military Affairs announced the order honoring
19-year-old Army Pvt. Steven Drees. He was injured
June 24 in an attack that involved small-arms fire
and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. He died
four days later.
His funeral is scheduled
Tuesday at Peshtigo High School where he graduated
last year.
Additional Websites:
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090708/GPG0101/907080647/Story--photos--video--Peshtigo-gives-fallen-soldier-Pvt.-Steven-Drees-a-final-farewell
Story, photos, video:
Peshtigo gives fallen soldier Pvt. Steven Drees a
final farewell
By
Malavika Jagannathan
greenbaypressgazette.com
PESHTIGO — More than a
thousand people crammed into the gym at Peshtigo
Middle/High School on Tuesday evening for a funeral
service for fallen Peshtigo soldier Pvt. Steven
Drees. It followed a daylong visitation that brought
most of the community to the doors of the school
that Drees graduated from.
Tears flowed from family
and friends in attendance as Drees' casket was
closed before
But they couldn't help but
smile as speakers recalled the 19-year-old's
fondness for making people laugh, something he
continued to do on the day of his final mission when
he placed blue bunny ears over his Army-issued
helmet.
Drees died June 28 at
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl,
Germany, of injuries sustained June 24 in Konar
Province, Afghanistan. Insurgents attacked his Army
unit using small arms fire and a rocket-propelled
grenade launcher, according to the U.S. Department
of Defense.
Liz Peterson, 19, said her
favorite part of Tuesday's service was the mention
of the bond Steven had with twin brother Charlie.
"I thought it was
beautiful," said Peterson, who was good friends with
Drees. "He wanted to serve our country so bad. He
went out fighting."
A basketball player in high
school, Drees was remembered by his coach during the
service as a devoted team player who wasn't
embarrassed to give his mom a hug or kiss before a
game.
"A special kid," the coach
added.
Drees joined the Army on
July 25, 2008, and was deployed to Afghanistan May
26, which was his 19th birthday. He was assigned to
the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th
Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort
Carson, Colo.
A representative from the
U.S. Army presented the family with Drees' medals —
a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a medal for good
conduct. He also posthumously earned a promotion.
The funeral service was webcast to his unit in
Afghanistan.
Early Tuesday morning,
Patriot Guard Riders escorted Drees' casket from
Berth & Rosenthal Funeral Home to the high school.
The riders are a volunteer group, including
veterans, who act as escorts at military funerals.
Throughout the day,
visitors stopped by the school, where Drees' car — a
yellow coupe now emblazoned with the flag and "In
Memory of Steven Drees" — and another car he'd
wanted to drive were displayed out front.
Three poems written by
Drees lined the hallway leading up to the gymnasium,
where his casket was surrounded by bouquets of
flowers donated by well-wishers. Many visitors
walked out with a decal showing Drees' face, the
American flag and the words "Death before Dishonor."
Some of those who visited
the high school, like 20-year-old Breanna Kaster of
Peshtigo, knew Drees and tearfully recalled his
"wide-eyed, ear-to-ear smile."
Veterans like Allen R.
Urbaniak, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Post 8813, came to show support for the family and
Drees' service.
"Showing the respect that
the veterans deserve is one of the few things we can
do," Urbaniak said. Members of the VFW Post,
American Legion posts and other veterans were
present at the visitation and the funeral service.
Drees' immediate family
declined to talk to the media but invited attendees
to a local park after the service for food and
drinks.
"This is so far the worst
day," said a woman who chose not to be identified,
wearing a T-shirt saying, "Proud Army Aunt."
"Before, you could think
it's just a mistake. Now it's a reality. He was too
young."
A memorial fund for Drees has been set up at
Peshtigo National Bank. The private family burial is
scheduled for today at Riverside Cemetery
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