These were the words of Col. David Procopio(Ret.) as he eulogized his son, 2nd Lt. Mark J. Procopio , killed in Ramadi on 2 November, 2005.  The way in which I came by this quote, and the events that led to my having met Mark's sister Amy who has provided me with the details of her family and Mark's short, rich life and ultimate passing, can only be described as an act of God's divine intervention.


As a member of the Noble Duty MilBlogger Coalition , I was invited to spend the Independence Day weekend with 28 Army Soldiers and ride in the parade with them.  Mine was the job of taking pictures and trying to capture the essence of 24 hours in the life of a Soldier NOT living in an active Theater of Operations; to sit and visit, chat, learn of their lives and the experiences that brought them IN to the Military, and get some insight into why they WANT to go to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight for their country.  We had excellent meals, a beer or 3, and a great many of both tears AND laughter.  Their stories need to be told, and they will-but not today.

The parade was like any other; clapping and cheering spectators, kids, balloons, and paint adorning faces young and old.  I was very gratified to see so much support of the Military from the folks there.  People shouted out "thank you", "we're proud of you", "God bless you and keep you safe", and the like, and it struck me that this didn't square with what we hear all day long about the low poll numbers favoring the Troops and the war effort.  I was quite happy to see for myself that there really ARE thousands of cheering American supporters of our Men and Women in Uniform.  The Soldiers were in 2 vehicles (a humvee and a "deuce and a half") riding in front of us, and we rode in a bright red pickup truck with 3 big US flags waving off the tailgate.  We handed out little flags to the kids and anyone else interested, and gave out TMFF t-shirts to as many as we could that said they were Veterans.  It was a wonderful experience for me as I had never been IN a parade before.

As we got about half way through the parade route, Mrs. haystack noticed three women hugging each other and visibly crying together.  Julie, Director of the Texas Military Family Foundation jumped off the truck and approached them.  Then, she brought one of the women back to the truck and made her get on.  My wife, Julie, and this young lady (Amy) talked a moment, all three started crying and hugging, and Julie and Amy were off the truck again only this time they were loading Amy up onto the "deuce and a half" with the Soldiers.  Now, Amy is a small young lady, and she was immediately engulfed by these men and women on that truck.  They were instantly hugging, Amy crying, and she was lost in the mass of uniforms with arms around her.  She rode the rest of the parade in that truck, and we met and visited for a few minutes when everything had calmed down a little.

Amy, you see, lost her brother, 2nd Lt. Mark J. Procopio, to an IED in Ramadi on 2 November 2005.  Mark was loved and respected by everyone that knew him.  His loss was extremely difficult on his family and friends, yet like so many Gold Star families, they understood the risks, respected his decisions, supported him in the cause he felt so strongly about, and put their faith in God that Mark would go where God planned for him to go.  They knew as well that God would watch over him and would watch over his family and friends.  This is their comfort, and it gave them the strength to mourn then heal then move forward with their lives.  For Amy on the day of the parade, and for those she was with, memories of Mark in life, his pride in his uniform and in his service, and the memory of suffering his loss all seemed to come rushing back at them and they broke down with tears of both pride and sadness all at once.  You would have to live this yourselves to fully appreciate it; my only hope is that I have done justice to the attempt at expressing it here.

I vowed to Amy that day that I would tell Mark's story and the story of his family wherever I could find an ear (or an eye).  Those who know me understand how important it is to me that this global war against terrorism being fought in our stead by our collective sons and daughters be supported, and be waged with the full commitment to victory by those responsible for waging it.  This war is important, it has meaning and purpose for the future of humanity, and for the cost of the lives being given fighting it, it must be won.  2nd Lt. Mark J. Procopio shared my view.

Mark was born 12 May 1977 in Burlington Vermont to Col. David and Debra Procopio.  He loved Vermont, and he enjoyed the outdoors (and everything in it).  He attended Burlington High School, before attending the University of Vermont (settling on UVM after a few "investigatory" dry-runs at colleges elsewhere).  His father will tell you that a good first glimpse into Mark's personality and outlook on life appeared somewhere in late middle school.  Apparently Mark was too interested in the other, "more important" things in life and had been more than comfortable with being in the middle of the academic pack.  One day, somewhere around 7th or 8th grade:

Col. Procopio says of his son, however, that Mark had a plan; that he always had a plan, and the plan he had built and cultivated and worked towards when God called him home was "to experience all the great things that life has to offer, determine what was the best of those great things, then pursue them with a fearless determination".

Part of Mark's plan included joining the Mountain Battalion as an enlisted soldier, get into the ROTC at UVM, and be commissioned as an Infantry Officer.  Even though Col. Procopio (himself having served with distinguished service as a member of the Vermont National Guard culminating in being DCOS for Operations) tried to convince him to consider other branches because there was a line for getting Lieutenant slots in the Mountain Battalion.  Mark persisted and ultimately achieved these goals.  While working through his ROTC training, however, his plans got adjusted a little bit.

While at the UVM ROTC, Mark distinguished himself as an outstanding leader and, from the first day, as a mentor to his fellow cadets.  It was here that Mark first met Erika Gilman.  Erika graduated from UVM as an ROTC cadet in 2003 (Mark would follow in 2004), and during Mark's senior year he and Erika married.  Mark's father tells us that, while Mark was "always fairly smooth and confident with the girls", there was something different about him after he met Erika.  With Erika, he was not his old, usual confident bouncy self; Erika seemed to make him stumble around like a lost puppy when they first met and started dating.  Mark tried to convince his father that Erika was THE one, and it didn't take the family very long to figure out that he was right.  Erika and Mark both felt the other was their soul-mate, and they lived and loved each other that way for all of the short time God had given them.

Following outstanding Advanced Course evaluations by both Mark AND Erika, they were commissioned with the Vermont National Guard as Second Lieutenants.  After Mark completed the Officer Basic Course at Ft. Benning, GA, he returned to Vermont to serve as a Platoon Leader with Alpha Company of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry(Mountain) Battalion of the Vermont Army National Guard.  2nd Lt. Mark J. Procopio deployed with his unit to Iraq as part of Task Force Saber in June 2005.

Mark had lots of friends.  One such friend, Matt Bunting (Publisher, Director of Business Development at the Regional High School Varsity Online Sports Magazine) wrote a tribute to Mark after his passing.  It is one of the most compelling I have ever read.  In it, Matt describes Mark from "his" experience(s):

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Amy graciously and generously shared with me a few emails Mark sent, and in these letters we get a glimpse of what Iraq was like for him; what the experience of deploying in general was like for him:


In a letter sent to Marines associated with the downed helicopter and the two pilots Mark died trying to reach, protect, and save if possible, a Sgt. Major shares the reflections of six soldiers, including Mark's Battalion Commander and Company Commander, who commented on Mark at the memorial they gave him before his remains were shipped back to the states and his family:


Col. Procopio, as he eulogized his son, recounted the events that led up to the death of 2nd. Lt. Mark J. Procopio:

Mark is survived by his Mother and Father Debra and Col. Procopio, his loving wife, 1st Lt. Erika Procopio, his close sister Amy Beirne, her husband Craig and their two daughters Kayla and Abigail, his maternal Grandparents Gerald and Joan LaTulippe, his paternal Grandmother Joan Procopio, and numerous cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and dear close friend.  He is also survived by hundreds of past graduates of the UVM ROTC Dept. as well as those young cadets following in his footsteps.

Mark was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor, the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M Device, Army Service Ribbon, Vermont Duty Ribbon, Vermont Distinguished Service Medal, the Vermont Veteran's Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the Ram's Head Device.
On Mark's passing, Matt Bunting had this to say:




Mark's father closed his eulogy with his firm conviction that Mark remains with him and his loved ones in spirit.  They were close, as father and son should be, and especially close because of the relationship they shared with the US Military.  Col. Procopio shared with the attendees that Mark sent HIM a transmission after his passing.  He tells of an order Mark surely issued AFTER the one that sent the troops around the canal, and off to the only alternate route his team had available to get at the crashed Marine helicopter; an order he issued to his father.  I close this story of Mark's life and his passing with the Col.'s words: