Ralph Porras laid to rest

Family and friends honored him with wadded-up handkerchiefs to dab tear-filled eyes during services Wednesday at the Case Funeral Home at 201 N. Miller in Thomas Township.

"At 33 he found what he was meant to do -- soldiering," he said. "People usually don't go into the Army at 33, certainly not the airborne infantry."

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, however, inspired Porras to join the Army, getting in just under the age limit. The age ceiling for the regular Army is 34.

Porras, 36, of Merrill died in Yusifiyah, Iraq, on Sept. 2 of injuries suffered from mortar fire while he was on combat patrol as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, U.S. Department of Defense officials said. Yusifiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab town, is about 10 miles south of Baghdad.

Read the rest at the Saginaw News

Merrill grieves

The outgoing message on the answering machine at Ralph N. and Christine R. Porras' Merrill home bears words of love and concern for a husband and father stationed far away from home.

"If this is Ralph, I love you," Christine Porras says to her soldier husband at the end of the greeting.

The family and the community are grieving Porras, who died Saturday in Yusufiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab town about 10 miles south of Baghdad. He was 36.

U.S. Department of Defense officials said Porras was on patrol Saturday when enemy mortar fire hit his unit. Defense officials did not release information about Porras' rank or unit.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks inspired Porras to join the U.S. Army, a neighbor said.

"He was bound and determined to get in," said Debi L. Frasle, 44. "He just got in under the (U.S. Army's) age limit."

Porras' wife and son, 16-year-old Gabriel Storm Porras, survive him.

Read the rest at the Saginaw News
Note: Due to problems with blogger we were unable to post news of the fallen for the last 10 days. This post is part of the update from that period.