Missman, Gregory James

Gregory J. Missman

Batavia, Ohio

Feather Location: Row L, #17

The Associated Press

Gregory J. Missman’s 4-year-old son, Jack, doesn’t quite understand the significance of his dad’s death.

Yet his words are mature: “Dad was a strong soldier,” Jack said as he ran into the arms of his mother, Brooke. “He loved us. We loved him.”

Missman was wounded by a roadside bomb and was awarded the Purple Heart before he died of his injuries July 9. He enlisted in the Army after graduating from Amelia High School in 1993, serving for more than three years. He then worked as a computer consultant before re-enlisting. He was assigned to Fort Carson, Colo.

“I don’t know who I’m going to get to fix my computer,” said his father, Jim.

The soldier was a hero to his family long before his death.

“He’s always been a hero of our family,” said his sister, Dawn. “I remember several Thanksgivings we spent together where he was down volunteering in homeless shelters, feeding people who had no place to go or eat.”

Carver:  Robert Ommert is a Marine veteran and carves with The Carvers Den in Bellevue Ohio.

Wood:  Basswood