Since
May 12, 2007, Gordon Dibler held out hope that his stepson, Army Pvt. Byron W. Fouty,
would return home from Iraq. Military officials came to his home delivered the grim news
that the body of Byron and another soldier captured during an ambush south of Baghdad had
been recovered on July 9, 2008.
Byron, 19, and Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., were
kidnapped in May 2007 in the volatile area south of Baghdad known as the "triangle of
death." The body of a third captured soldier, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of
Torrance, Calif., was found in the Euphrates River a year later.
Funeral
services will be held at Brightmoor Christian Church 40800 W. 13 Mile Road Novi (at the
corner of M-5 and 13 Mile Roads) Tuesday July 22, 2008 at 11:00 AM. Friends may visit Lynch & Sons Funeral Home
340 North Pontiac Trail Walled Lake (3 Blks. South of Maple Rd.) Monday July 21, 2008 from
4-9 PM, and at the church Tuesday 10 AM until time of service. For more information please call 248.624.2251. Lynch
& Sons Walled Lake Chapel is located at: Please remember all of these families in your prayers. |
| The following websites have been helpful in gathering information. www.iraqwarheroes.com/fouty.htm www.themoderatevoice.com |
|
Original
story
On Tuesday, May 15, 2007, the Pentagon identified Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, a soldier serving with the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team- as one of seven soldiers who are either missing or confirmed dead after a weekend ambush south of Baghdad. Four soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed during a predawn ambush Saturday near Mahmoudiya, in a Sunni stronghold 20 miles south of Baghdad. Four soldiers were killed and three are missing and possibly abducted by al-Qaida. The Pentagon has identified three of those killed, but is waiting for more testing before the identity of the fourth dead soldier can be confirmed. Gordon 'Gordy' Dibler, brother of our lead singer, Matt Dibler, is Byron's stepfather. He has been unable to describe his emotions since learning from the military over the weekend that the teenager was unaccounted for. "I don't know how to put words to it". In speaking with Matt, we also learned that Byron's sister, Sarah, age 15, is devastated. According to Matt, Sarah has always looked up to her brother as a role model. We couldn't agree more. Byron is a true hero. His uncle, Matt, had 'baby-sat' with Byron and remembers that Byron was fond of 'playing' with model cars and was an energetic child who loved to laugh. Byron attended Walled Lake Central High School in Waterford Township, Michigan, graduating in 2006. According to his page on MySpace.com, dated April 12, 2007, Byron joined the U.S. Army in June, 2006. After boot camp, he was assigned to operations in Iraq. According to Fox news -and other news sources- massive numbers of U.S. troops (4,000 plus) have questioned hundreds of people in the quest to find the the missing American soldiers. An email from Byron
contained the following thought: To read the original
story as reported by Byron's home county news, Previosly confimed dead are: Pfc. Daniel W. Courneya, 19, of Vermontville; Sgt. 1st Class James D. Connell Jr., 40, of Lake City, Tennessee; Pfc. Christopher E. Murphy, 21, of Lynchburg, and most recently, Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, California. |
Byron had posted this picture on his MySpace page. > >  |
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