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   from the issue of May 3, 2007

     
 
Cadets honor life of fallen ROTC graduate

More than 70 UNL Army ROTC cadets, faculty, staff and friends gathered on April 26 to honor the memory of Hastings, Neb., soldier, Kevin Gaspers.



 


 
The 2005 UNL graduate and lieutenant in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division was one of nine killed April 23 by a suicide bomber northeast of Baghdad.

Gaspers is the second UNL Army ROTC graduate to be killed in Iraq. The other was Edward Iwan, a 2001 graduate killed in 2004.

During the ceremony in the Pershing Military and Naval Science Building, those gathered celebrated the life of Gaspers. Individuals recalled stories about the 26-year-old soldier, joked, watched a video presentation of pictures of Gaspers, and cried.
 
Gaspers
 Gaspers


"Making the ultimate sacrifice is something we don't focus on, but it's accepted as being a part of the U.S. Army," said Elizabeth Cisne, lieutenant colonel and commander of the UNL Army ROTC program. "We chose to celebrate the life of Lieutenant Gaspers, not dwell over tragic circumstances."



GO TO: ISSUE OF MAY 3

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