Seth Stanton laid to rest

People can learn a lot about the life of Pfc. Seth Stanton by seeing how those closest to him have reacted to his death.

They have every excuse to hate right now. They could hate the insurgents who set the bomb that claimed the 19-year-old Colorado Springs man’s life nine days before Christmas near Taji, Iraq. They could hate his commanders who sent him into battle or the government that oversaw the invasion of Iraq.

Instead, the family used a funeral Wednesday at New Life Church to tell an audience of nearly 500 that the best way to remember Stanton is to love your friends and forgive your enemies.

tears, his father explained that it’s a reaction driven by pride rather than pain.

“Seth enjoyed life,” Stephen Stanton said. “He always wanted to be a front-runner, a leader.”

Stanton, active through his youth at New Life Church, was homeschooled until his senior year, when he attended Coronado High School.

Pictures projected during the funeral showed a rambunctious toddler who grew into an avid outdoorsman. Parked conspicuously outside was a modified Jeep Cherokee that Stanton drove through Colorado’s wilderness in search of the biggest rocks to climb.

But Stanton’s biggest passions were his friends and family, eulogists said.

“He’s a great hero,” said his uncle, Eric DeMello. “He showed us all how to live harder, love deeper and laugh louder.”

Love of others drove Stanton to the Army, said the Rev. Mel Waters.

“He could have gone to college. He could have gotten a better job,” Waters said. “But he chose to stand in harm’s way for the sake of others.

“His life reflects selflessness, not selfishness.”

Stanton was serving in Iraq with the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas. He’d been in Iraq two months and was on patrol in a Humvee when the bomb detonated.

The blast claimed another local life, Staff Sgt. David R. Staats, 30, formerly of Colorado Springs. Also killed in the bombing were Spc. Matthew J. Stanley, 22, of Wolfeboro Falls, N.H., and Pfc. Joe L. Baines, 19, of Newark, N.J.

Stanton was a comparative newcomer to the Army, but commanders said he showed skill and dedication that put him ahead of his peers.

Stanton was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Army Commendation Medal.
His grandmother, Georgell DeMello, called Stanton, “an amazing young man,” whose example of loving others must be replicated.

DeMello urged mourners to love more, give more and do more to help others as a living monument to her grandson. She said it is the only strategy that can defeat the forces that killed Stanton.

“Anger and hatred are our enemy,” she said.

From the Gazette

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