Page 9 - May John News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> for those who desire, may you join me now in prayer. holy father, we thank you for this day, for this national recognition and for technical sergeant john chapman. lord, we enter this esteemed ceremony with hearts filled with grief and pride. our grief stems from the pain of john's sacrifice along with six other courageous americans that lost their lives in noble service to our nation in the cause of human freedom and dignity. our pride stems on this day focused upon the man you created, gifted, and empowered with an unconventional resolve to operate selflessly in protecting his family, his...

Him with machine gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. despite facing overwhelming force, john brave low and fiercely battled on for an hour another american quick reaction force helicopter approached. john engaged the enemy and provided covering fire in an attempt to prevent the enemy from shooting down our soldiers, our airmen, and that helicopter. in this final act of supreme courage, john gave his life for his fellow warriors. through his extraordinary sacrifice, john helped save more than 20 american service members, some of whom are here today. and i'd like to introduce them. sergeant m...

Sergeant major raymond de pauli. thank you, raymond. special tactics major gabriel brown. thank you. along with his team leader master chief brit slobinski. thank you. thank you all. and we also remember the six others who, along with john, gave their lives on that snowy, really, really cold afghan night. petty officer first class neil roberts, specialist mark anderson, sergeant bradley crose, senior air man jason cunningham, technical sergeant philip svitak, and corporal matthew commons. our nation is rich with blessings, but our greatest

Skills so others may live. as we conclude, may john's family be covered with your lavish love and peace. may the uniformed sons and daughters of america know your empowerment and protection. and may you hasten the day, oh, lord, where war will be no more. for your glory we pray, amen. >> thank you.

Heroic actions in the same battle we are remembering today. john chapman grew up in windsor locks, connecticut. from a very young age john was determined to protect those in need. in kindergarten, john noticed that his classmate, bill brooks, was being bullied. as bill says, john stepped in and saved me. in his high school yearbook, john quoted these words. give yourself before taking of someone else. that's very far-sighted. john lived by that motto every single day. everybody that knew him said that's the way he lived. two years after he graduated high school, john enlisted in the united sta...