Number 3,431

I worked with Joe Montgomery in the Army at Camp Drake (Tokyo, Japan) when he and his wife Gail were there from Oct 1961 to Jan 1964. I was stationed there from Jan 1961 to Jul 1965. We worked on the same shift during his time there.

Joe died from injuries received from an automobile accident during 1976-77. At the time of Joe's death, Gail was not aware that she was pregnant with Joe's son, Robert Joe Montgomery Jr., until after her husband was buried.

Last year on May 22, 2007, her son SGT Robert Joe Montgomery Jr was killed while serving our country when he stepped on a land mine in Iraq.

In the May 2008 edition of Esquire magazine there will be a special article on Robert Joe Montgomery Jr. titled "The Things That Carried Him".

The Esquire magazine article is on the Esquire web site. It is a long article, 11 web pages with the story of this man, his family and the people who know them. The first page of the article is at:

http://www.esquire.com/features/things-that-carried-him

At the bottom of each page just click the [next] box to go to the next page.

What does the number mean? Out of about 4,021 US Soldier casulties in Iraq, number 3,431 was Joe's son Robert Joe Montgomery Jr.

May GOD watch over and keep his family safe.