I can say from the bottom of my heart that Jesse was the closest example of the love of Christ and someone with pure joy that I have ever had the priveledge of knowing. My husband is also a solider and spent four years in Iraq- he never had the blessing of mtg Jesse but I have told him all about his amazing character and legacy. Just the other day my husband said to me..." I wonder what the world would be like if there were more people like your friend Jesse Strong". It is my desire in life to try to live the kind of life he lived- a man after God's own heart.

posted by Melinda (Lauta) Gordon, San Diego, CA
Jul 15th, 2008 at 11:51AM

I've been meaning to do this for a long time. Words are really not enough to express my feelings about Jesse Strong. We never met him or anyone in the family, however my son is a Marine. While at a local hockey game to support our local deployed Marines, I learned that a member of his reserve unit ( Chris Gentry) would be appearing in a CNN specail that night. Since I have met both Gentry twins, I made plans to have it taped if we did not get home in time to see it. As you can guess the CNN Special was "Ambush At The River of Secrets" Our son is also a combat engineer and was stationed up the Euphrates River from Haditha. This special was a real revelation to me and my wife. Even though our son was in Iraq for the second time, we still had never gotten the "real" story that this show provided. The families were just like us, and the young men were just like ours. In addition Jesse's family goes to church like we do and we sing the same hyms. I will unashamedly admit that I cried through most of the show. At the same time, I was, and am so proud of people like the Strongs. I am so glad you shared your story of your son's life. Not just his service to his country, but even more importantly, his service to God. I still hear his taped words that they included in the program.

Our son was wounded about two months prior to the airing of the CNN program that I saw on January 26th, 2007. He was wounded by an IED while he was on foot patrol near Rawah. His injuries were not severe and has fully recovered.

When our son came home from Iraq, I thought of Jesse and the other young men covered in the CNN program. I thanked God for bringing him home to us, I thank God for those like Jesse who gave their lives for our country and I thanked God for the families of both.

As a Christian, I believe I am going to Heavan one day and I really have no concept of what it will be. I do know that it would be a heavenly experience tjust o be able to spend eternity hugging each and every soul like Jesse.

I am a 53 year old married man of 32 years to the mother of our 3 sons. I hope I haven't been melodromadic or too rambling with this message. I will end it with a huge THANK YOU to the Strong family and I know, Mrs. Strong, you will get that "thank you" from an Iraqi one day.

Gratefully yours,

Mike Simmons

posted by Mike Simmons, Knoxville, Tennessee
Jul 12th, 2008 at 2:31PM

Memorial Day is a time to cry and laugh for me. Tears come when I think of missing Jesse and laughter comes from remembering his antics and his great big laugh. Somehow, all those childhood years of watching the parade go by and covering my ears when the gun salute went off prepared me to feel deep love and patriotism for my country, but didn't prepare me for the day i would cry when watching Memorial Day exercises. It makes our history so much more personal. Thanks to Jesse for being willing to serve his country. He follows in the footsteps of centuries of heroes, but most of all he follows in the footsteps of the greatest Hero of all. I am remembering Jesse with gratefulness. his aunt Lynn

posted by Lynn Calderwood, Vermont
May 31st, 2008 at 10:09AM

For those of you that do not know me Jesse was my roommate our sophomore year at Liberty . The following year, as juniors Jesse served as Spiritual Life Director (SLD) on the hall with myself as one of the two Resident Assistants (RA). It was during that Junior year that I had a major dental problem and Jesse drove me 400 miles from Liberty to Pittsburgh to see my home dentist as I was in too much pain to drive myself.

The day after my dental surgery we went out to eat with my family at a small restaurant in my hometown before heading back to Liberty . It was a typical day in Western Pennsylvania ; it was dark, cold, gloomy, and raining. As we walked out to the car Jesse looked into the sky and smiled ear to ear and said "Neat, it's raining"

Jesse was a man who embodied happiness in all he did. He reflected the heart of Christ not only in being an incredible servant but people saw something different in him at all times…they saw a Christ-like attitude about life.

Today is the 5th anniversary of the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom and today more than ever I think of Jesse. I wish I could tell him "Thank you" for the impact he made in my life.

Sometimes in death a person’s character is inflated to only reflect the “Good” in them and the “Bad” is discarded in the human effort not to say evil things about someone who has passed away. But, I truly will say that without doubt Jesse was the greatest man I have personally ever known. I don’t say it because he is gone and I only remember the good things about him, I say it because in all the years I knew him I couldn’t tell you something bad about him if I wanted to because he was that close to God.

Jesse, we on Earth miss you. This world lost a great asset when you left it early. Hopefully, those of us who knew you can reflect just a little bit of your attitude and personality in our lives and in that way your testimony will never die. We love and miss you. Thank you.

Michael

posted by Michael See, Pittsburgh, PA
Mar 18th, 2008 at 7:14PM

Some days it seems like Jesse died just a few minutes ago and other days it seems like he has been gone forever. Lately it seems like he just died recently, at least for me. I will never forget Jesse and the example he set for myself and the rest of the guys on Dorm 9 as a Christian, friend, and as a man. I can honestly say that Jesse impacted my life in a way that few others ever have or ever will. Jesse was the definition of a life changed and lived for others and for Christ. I miss him and believe the world is worse off without him. I wish that I could have taken his place on that truck because I know he was a better man than I. I hope we all never forget not only his sacrifice but also his life and the many things he did for all of us. Jesse was so special. I remember once when I was going through some trouble and had been asking people to pray for me. Everyone assured me that they would pray for me and then would go about their daily activities. When I asked Jesse to pray for me he stopped what he was doing and immediately prayed with me. I cannot even begin to explain how uplifting this was for me. That single act defines Jesse for me and always will.

posted by Matt Berg, Virginia Beach
Jan 29th, 2008 at 11:57AM