A time to mourn

The death of Army Sgt. Robert G. Davis of Jackson Aug. 18 in Afghanistan brought the ultimate tragedy of war home to Southeast Missouri for the first time since the Vietnam War.

Davis grew up in Cape Girardeau and graduated from high school in Jackson, where he had just bought a home. An estimated 200 mourners attended his military funeral Friday in Jackson.

He was 23. He and his wife, Mandy, had just become parents for the first time. Their son, Brayden, was born in April, but Davis saw him for the first time during a two-week visit home in July.

Davis had served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was due to leave the Army last March, but his tour of duty was extended by a year. Relatives said he believed in the military mission in the Mideast and viewed himself as an ordinary soldier. But nothing is ordinary about anyone giving up his life for his country.

Three days after Davis' death, an East Prairie soldier, Army Spc. Blake Hall, became the second Southeast Missouri casualty in the war zone. Like Davis, the 20-year-old Hall was killed by a roadside bomb.

Losing these young men grieves us all.