Michael Weidemann remembered

The bouquet of lilies and carnations and roses are still bright and sweet smelling. They sit in a vase on her dining room table.

But Sara Vidal will never meet the soldier who sent them to her, the man she fell in love with through e-mails, instant messaging and phone calls. They had talked of marriage and were finally going to meet face to face upon his return from Iraq.

On Tuesday, she thanked him for the flowers. She told him he shouldn’t have, but gushed over them nevertheless. But hours later, Sgt. Michael R. Weidemann, 23, of Newport, was on patrol in an armored vehicle near Hit, a town west of Baghdad in Anbar Province. His vehicle struck an improvised explosive device and he was killed in the blast.

“We both believed in soul mates,” said Vidal, who lives in Houston, Texas, and met Weidemann through a friend. “We just fell in love with each other real quick.”

They talked every day, and when she didn’t hear from Weidemann on Wednesday she got worried. On Thursday, the Defense Department confirmed her worst suspicions — that he had died in action Tuesday.

Yesterday, Weidemann’s family in Rhode Island met with Rhode Island Army National Guard officials and discussed funeral arrangements. Lt. Col. Denis Riel said it was still uncertain when the soldier’s remains would arrive back in the state. Governor Carcieri ordered state flags lowered to half-staff for Weidemann — the 11th Rhode Islander to die in Iraq since 2003 — until his burial.

The Army gave Weidemann a new life and then tragically took it away, those who loved him said yesterday without bitterness or remorse.

Weidemann endured tremendous difficulties in his youth. Born in Canada, he came to Rhode Island at age 7 when his mother moved here. Susanna Weidemann, a single parent, raised him and his four siblings in her mother’s house in Middletown, said Ambrose Miller, of South Kingstown, brother of Weidemann’s mother. But the family faced even greater challenges when Susanna Weidemann died of cancer at 40 in 1999.

Michael Weidemann, her second eldest, wound up in a group home and began attending the Newport Area Career and Technical Center, affiliated with Rogers High School. There he got involved in the school’s ROTC program.

“He was a fine young man, a fine cadet. It’s certainly a tragedy,” said retired Army Col. Wayne Pembrook, of Middletown, who helped oversee the program. Speaking of the ROTC’s mission, he said, “The idea is to give kids some more direction in life. I feel like Mike was one of many success stories. Mike found his niche and became interested in the military. … Perhaps he found a home away from home in the program.”

Miller, his uncle, expressed similar sentiments, saying, "I want people to remember Mike for what he was in his last years — a guy who pulled himself up by the bootstraps, thanks to the Rogers High School ROTC, and who loved the Army and wanted to make it his career.”

Those who knew him at the time said Weidemann didn’t talk much about his personal life, but always wanted to make others happy. He was among a group of youths who hung out at Newport’s Queen Ann Square and called themselves “park rats,” said Bethany Kelly Joslyn, who knew Weidemann from the ROTC program.

“He was very sweet, nice, respectful. He was a fun guy to talk to,” said Joslyn, who now lives in Jacksonville, N.C. “He didn’t get into any trouble. He was hilarious. He could be a bit of a dork, but he was a lovable dork.”

It was clear to her that Weidemann, who was named a senior noncommissioned officer in the ROTC, was going to go into the Army, even if he didn’t say so.

“I knew he was going to be a good soldier,” she said. “Since his mother had passed away, he didn’t really have too many ties at home. The Army would give him something meaningful to do.”

After graduating in 2001, he enlisted in the Army as an automotive mechanic, his area of study at the technical school. He joined the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, stationed in Glessen, Germany. He served a tour in Iraq and reenlisted for another four years. He was nearing the end of his second tour.

It was through the Web forum MySpace.com — where Weidemann cited rebuilding old cars and drag racing as interests and “me” as his hero — that Weidemann got in touch with his old friends while he was in Iraq. He contacted Joslyn in August for the first time in several years, and she then put him in touch with her best friend, Vidal. They began sending each other messages and hit it off immediately. Occasionally, they would get to speak to each other.

“After I heard his voice for the first time, that was it,” Vidal said.

Vidal saw in Weidemann the same caring, warm and humorous personality that his Rhode Island friends cherished. She had a camera that allowed Weidemann to see her when they chatted through the computer.

“His one main thing was to make sure you were always smiling,” Vidal said. “He always wanted my face to hurt. He said if it didn’t hurt, you weren’t smiling enough. He always put everyone before himself.”

Raymond Blanchette, who was in the ROTC with Weidemann, said he heard from his old friend recently through MySpace, but that Weidemann didn’t say anything about being in Iraq. He just wanted to hear about Blanchette’s marriage and newborn child.

“He could be a goofball and cheer you up and be serious when the time came for it. He had the right attitude for every situation,” said Blanchette, an Army sergeant in Virginia. “He took nothing and turned it into something beautiful.”

The family prepared a statement about Weidemann with the help of the National Guard. It read, in part:

“Michael was not just another casualty in this war. He was a loving and caring son, brother, grandson and friend to all who knew him. He was especially devoted to his sister, Catharine Weidemann, and brothers Richard Weidemann and Edward and Benjamin Berriault…

“He was drawn to the discipline and regimentation of the military. Though we were sad to see him leave the family for the Army, we knew he was embarking on a journey he loved…. We are grieved by his passing, but are comforted that Michael died while performing a duty he felt so strongly about. He was a true patriot, and his decision to reenlist in the Army after having already served one tour in Iraq is proof of his love for his country.”

From the Providence Journal

Related Link:
Michael R. Weidemann killed by I.E.D.