Branden Cummings remembered

Army Pfc. Branden Cummings of Titusville and his fiancee, Danielle Denull, had their whole life blissfully planned.

A June wedding, as soon as Cummings returned from his tour of duty in Iraq. Two babies, a boy and a girl. A home in Texas, with frequent visits to his family in Brevard County.

Then, just after midnight Thursday came a devastating phone call: Cummings was dead, killed on Valentine's Day by an improvised explosive device during combat in Baqouba, about 30 miles northeast of Baghdad. He was 20.

"He was the best thing that ever happened to me, and this [his death] is the worst thing that could ever happen," Denull, 18, said Saturday. "He was my best friend."

Cummings grew up in Titusville, a 2005 graduate of Titusville High who enjoyed fast cars and video games and dreamed of one day pitching for the Atlanta Braves. He had a wide smile, flashing brown eyes and an outgoing personality that earned him the nickname "Jokester" -- because he could make anyone smile "even when they were having a totally awful day," Denull said.

He proposed to his girlfriend on New Year's Day, at her family's home in Texas, after asking her father for permission.

"He made me happier than anyone I've ever met," Denull said. "I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with him."

The couple met last year while Cummings was training at Fort Hood in Texas, and they instantly became inseparable.

After he shipped out to Iraq in October, Denull said, she posted a message every day on his MySpace.com page.

"Branden's the biggest-hearted person you'd ever meet," she said Saturday. "He loved running his hands through my hair at night or sitting on the hood of the car and looking up at the stars. He was the kind of guy who made everything special."

He looked up to his father, Charles Cummings, a Titusville corrections officer who had raised his son by himself since the boy was a preschooler. He called his dad "my hero" in a letter on his MySpace page.

"He has made so many sacrifices to make sure I was happy and now maybe I can return the favor to him. He's my dad, he's my hero, and I love him with all my heart," Cummings wrote.

In return, his father said he offered unwavering support when Cummings enlisted in 2005, even though he knew his son's choice might one day lead him to the front lines in Iraq.

"He had a strong sense that he needed to be there. He felt that what we were doing [in Iraq] was just and right," Charles Cummings said Saturday. "I was proud of him every single day for that."

Branden Cummings was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood. His death brings Florida's toll in Iraq to 130.

In December, Cummings was allowed to return to the U.S. for a two-week break and spent the holidays in Texas with Denull and her family. But she knew he was distraught over not spending Christmas with his father for the first time, and she arranged for Charles Cummings to fly to Texas as a surprise.

"The doorbell rang, and we made him go answer it," Denull said. "When he saw his dad standing there, he just completely broke down and started crying."

As news of Cummings' death spread, at least three Web pages sprang up in memory of him, and dozens of friends and others posted comments and exchanged messages of condolence and grief.

"Rest in peace, Private Cummings, with our gratitude," one Deltona writer posted on a memorial page for Cummings on www.ourguysoverthere.com, which was set up by parents of soldiers in his platoon. The outpouring of love brought comfort to his father.

"His body is coming home to be put into the ground," said Charles Cummings, "but his soul is forever in my heart."

From the Sentinel

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