[Vision2020] Web Site Wants Every Name Listed of Those Killed in Iraq

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (November 20, 2006) Roundup edition of the Army Times -

"They Have Names"
http://www.TheyHaveNames.com

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Web site wants every name listed of those killed in Iraq

By Kelly Kennedy
staff writer

Master Sergeant CJ Grisham didn't like the wording of a news report when CBS
cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, "along with a soldier,"
had been killed in an attack in Iraq, he got angry. .

"I got so angry,'" Grisham said. "I was yelling at the TV: 'He has a name!"

He wants to make sure it doesnt happen again.

Grisham launched a Web site, http://www.TheyHaveNames.com, to honor the
memory of every last service member who has died in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Rather than linking to newspaper stories or Defense Department press
releases, he hopes to call the families and friends of each person and tell
the stories through their eyes. The story of Capt. James A. Funkhouser,
commander of 1st Battalion., 12th Inf. Regiment - the soldier who died with
the journalists May 29 - was the first story to go up on the site. 

An obituary-style story describes how he asked his wife to marry him - she
was wearing overalls, that he was named after his father, and that he loved
playing soldier as a little boy. Beneath that, friends and family add their
own comments. Further down, picture after picture describes Funkhouser's
life. 

"I just want to know how he became a soldier," Grisham said. "What was he
like as a kid? Not, 'Was the war the right thing?'"

For the past five months, he has enlisted the help of Sue Tottle, who
researched soldiers' names and looked for phone numbers, and Vince Asciutto,
who built the Web site. Grisham takes care of the stories while working full
time, going to college and taking care of his own family.

"I cold-call the families and explain who I am," he said. "Then I try to
explain that I'm not a scam artist. I have 3,000 more to go."

Eventually, he'd like to create a virtual bulletin board for each soldier
where friends and families can post stories and memories. 

"It's a living site," he said. "It will be updated constantly."

Though there is no advertising on the site - and won't be - Grisham does
take donations with Paypal. He said he will donate any amounts he receives
that go above what it costs to maintain the site to the Intrepid Fallen
Heroes Fund. His website also lists foundations taking donations for the
people Grisham profiles. 

In Funkhouser's case, it's a college fund for his children. Grisham said he
plans to file for non-profit status.

""It's been so interesting to get into their stories," Grisham said. "I want
people to know who they are - not number 2,152 or the guy who died with the
journalists or the guy beheaded by al-Qaida. They have names."

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Pro patria,

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.