Monday October 19, 2009, 1:59 pm
So sad, so needless!

Vanessa Adelson would not let her 21-year-old son make his final journey home alone.

"I brought him into this world, and he was my baby," she said. "I thought it was my responsibility as a mother to bring him home."

Mace and seven other soldiers were killed this month in a Taliban attack on their remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan, making it the deadliest battle for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since July 2008.

Three days after the deadly fight, Mace's mother attended the Dignified Transfer of her son, then returned home with him from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Since May, Mace had been on his first deployment in Afghanistan, following a childhood dream of joining the Army. He planned to continue his career in service after his Army stint by joining the Department of Homeland Security or the CIA, his mother said.

Instead, he was buried Monday in Arlington National Cemetery.

Monday October 19, 2009, 2:08 pm
Such a touching, sad story. And very needless.

Monday October 19, 2009, 3:52 pm
My heart goes out to the family and friends of this brave young man...
Rest In Peace Stephan.

Monday October 19, 2009, 8:10 pm
This was so unnecessary. I hope what I suspect isn't true but I wouldn't put it past them to have put those guys out there like that just so their deaths would create outrage and support for more troops. The commander that put them there should be relieved of duty at the very least. The suffering those families are going through could have easily been avoided with just a little bit of common sense on the military's part.

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 3:30 am
How many more will die so tragically before reason prevails? It is heart-breaking to see such slaughter on both sides. The conflict is spreading and the military response is proving ineffectual. It will continue so, as every "militant" slain is regarded as a martyr and stimulates recruitment. Call a halt to fighting and start talking in an attempt to redress the wrongs that fuel "terrorism". Blessed are the peacemakers ...

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 4:12 am
they(al-queda) had pleanty of "recruits'.before.9/11..i guess we were not to safe before the war in afghanastan....this guy died protecting us from extremists who want to kill us...if we did not take the fight to al-queda/taliban they would have surely planned and carried out more attacks on mainland U.S by now...al-queda/taliban will not stop and neither can we..

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 4:32 am
Yes, Joe, but what caused 9/11? However many troops you deploy and regardless of how long you try you will never crush al Qaeda by military force. It is like trying to put out a fire by stamping on it; you merely spread wider the embers. Already it has off-shoots all over Asia and around Africa. Only by reason, by removing the causes of "terrorism", will it be conquered. You are facing anothet but more widespread Vietnam.

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 7:47 am
My prayers and thanks go out to Stephan's family. He made the ultimate sacrifice and was taken too young.

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 7:58 am
The longer I consider this, the more distressing it becomes. Think not only of the grieving U.S. mothers, but also of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani mothers who too are mourning the loss of husbands, brothers, sisters, children, infants, mostly innocents, many slain for a cause to which they are equally as devoted and consider as just as do the U.S. believe theirs. When will the senselass slaughter cease?

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 1:08 pm
al-queda is on the run and mainland U.S has not been attacked since 9/11 so yes taking the fight to them has been effective and on the defensive(instead of having free range in afghanastan to plan and train fighters at will...

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 1:27 pm
As a Mom of a Vet my heart breaks for her anguish. This is why more Troops need to sent to save our children. War hits home when it's your loved one who is there I know.

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 3:19 pm
The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own: Aldous Huxley - English novelist and critic, 1894-1963

I hate it when they say, 'He gave his life for his country.' Nobody gives their life for anything. We steal the lives of these kids. We take it away from them. They don't die for the honor and glory of their country. We kill them." : Admiral Gene LaRocque.

"Where is it written in the Constitution, in what article or section is it contained, that you may take children from their parents and parents from their children, and compel them to fight the battles of any war in which the folly and wickedness of the government may engage itself? Under what concealment has this power lain hidden, which now for the first time comes forth, with a tremendous and baleful aspect, to trample down and destroy the dearest right of personal liberty? Who will show me any Constitutional injunction which makes it the duty of the American people to surrender everything valuable in life, and even life, itself, whenever the purposes of an ambitious and mischievous government may require it? ... A free government with an uncontrolled power of military conscription is the most ridiculous and abominable contradiction and nonsense that ever entered into the heads of men." -- Daniel Webster (1782-1852), US Senator Source: Speech in the House of Representatives, January 14, 1814

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 5:11 pm
ever think may there hasn't been another attack on the u s mainlandbecause the first was an inside job that worked so well that another wasn't required? i grieve with the Mother,for the unnecessair loss of her son! be well lil Mother!

thanks wicked

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 5:28 pm
I think Lionel Mann said it best. We are facing another but more widespread Vietnam. Didn't we learn anything from that war. Not all wars are winnable. I fear for all our soldiers there. Honnor them by bringing them home.

Tuesday October 20, 2009, 6:24 pm
This young soldier was brave and joined the Army in confidence that the supreme commander would make intelligent choices ( which isn't always the case). He is a hero and he fought to protect us. I do believe that war, violence and conflicts are not the answer, but we must still honor those who have lost their lives, health, etc. My heart aches for this mother and for all the mothers and the families of those in these terrible conflicts. This mother is a wonderful example of a mother's perfect love. Thank you Stephan!

Wednesday October 21, 2009, 3:14 am
It is devastating that a son goes before a mother. That is real grief. My one brother died and still today I see my mother's face. It is not a nice feeling if your children goes before you.

Wednesday October 21, 2009, 10:15 am
This must be the hardest day.. burying your son.... I hope that she will recover sooon and that her pain will continue to heal..