When The Shooting Stops: Defense Department Identifies Army Casualty

Monday, July 16, 2012

Defense Department Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced yesterday the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Michael E. Ristau, 25, of Rockford, Ill., died July 13 in Qalat, Zabul province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his vehicle was attacked with an enemy improvised explosive device.

He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Ristau joined the Army in July 2004 and attended Initial Army Training and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Benning, GA. He had been at Lewis-McChord since he completed that training and deployed to Afghanistan with his brigade in December 2011.

This was Ristau's second deployment, having served in Iraq from June 2006 to August 2007.

Ristau's family released the following statement,

"Sergeant Michael Ristau, husband, father, son, brother, died serving the country that he loved. He will live on forever in our memories. Though his time on earth was short, his impact was huge. We have lost our Michael, but we are still so proud of him and his choice to serve our nation. He had a tremendous love for life and was passionate about bull riding. He leaves behind a wife, two sons and many family and friends. We want to thank all of our friends, family, community and the nation for their prayers and support during this time of great loss.”

Sgt. Ristau had just been married in June of 2011 and was a father to a newborn baby.

During his career he earned several awards including the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star and Iraq Campaign Medal with campaign star.

Ristau is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, one child and a large family.

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Why This Blog?

I spent a lot of the last decade pissed off -- really pissed off. And my writing at the time reflected it: Angry, pointed and focused like a laser on everything I did not like about the previous administration and, in particular, the war in Iraq, which as a military Veteran, left me fuming more days than not.

My opposition to the Iraq war was specifically because of having been in the military and my unshakable belief that our men and women in uniform were serving honorably and with tremendous courage in a war that was not worthy of their sacrifice. I stand by every word I wrote during that time, but I would be lying if I said there were not some things that I wish I could take back. Thus is the lot you draw for yourself when you are angry and where most of what you care about is what you are against, rather than what you are for.

This web site and my upcoming book, When The Shooting Stops, will be all about what I am for: Our newest military families who have sacrificed so much over the last 10 years, the people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and our duty as a nation to see that what they gave -- and what they risked -- is honored and never forgotten.

I can't promise I will never take a political tone -- can any of us ever swear to that these days? What I do promise is that I will damned well try to keep this blog about the people who are wearing the uniform, those who have served and their families. I may call some people out, but I will try to make the criteria for that criticism what they do for or against the interests of our military people and Veterans and not what political party they belong to.

After feeling at odds for so many years with my more conservative friends, it feels good to come back to something that, at its core, is something most people can agree with -- our military families and Veterans gave to us and we must remember to give back to them.

Thanks for reading.