SALUTE TO FALLEN HERO

Submitted by Webmaster
Anchorage, AK
Jan. 20, 2006

Jacob Melson died Jan. 7 in Iraq, while serving with the Army National Guard.

Service Held January 19 4:00 at Assembly of GOD Wasilla

THE FALLEN SOLDIER
by Patricia Krull

Don't weep for me
O' land of the free,
When it was my time to fall
'Twas for my country's call
'Twas for the land that I loved
That I gave my all,
And for the land that I loved
I did freely give,
And in her freedom and her courage
I'll continue to live.

Dedicated to the brave men who gave their lives

Jacob's Story

The night Army National Guard Spc. Jacob Eugene Melson died in Iraq began like many others.

He told a fellow soldier and close friend, John Smith, that he was ready for the next day, when he'd have a little time off to finally get a haircut and go to church. The 22-year-old soldier then gathered his weapons and boarded a helicopter in what would be his final mission.

Jacob lost his life a short time later, along with three fellow members of his unit - the Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment - and eight passengers, which they were transporting to Tel Afar, a city near the Syrian border. Their chopper went down during bad weather in an area marked by heavy fighting with Iraqi insurgents.

In his last mission, Jacob worked as a door gunner and flight engineer. Shortly before midnight Jan. 7, his aircraft lost contact with a second aircraft in the formation and was not heard from again.

Life

A Mat-Su boy, through and through, Jacob Melson was born, raised and married in the Valley. He attended Colony High School until 2001. In July, he married high school sweetheart Sarah Ling Melson in Hatcher Pass near the Little Su River.

One week after their union, Sarah was sent to Illinois to begin her training in a career as a professional singer for the U.S. Navy. Only a month later, August, Jacob Melson headed to Iraq for a one-year tour in combat and combat support efforts. He was due back this summer for a leave of absence, but halfway through the tour he lost his life.

Jacob hails from a longtime Valley family. He was one of four children and the son of Teresa Melson and Mark Melson, an Alaska Army National Guard captain.

Following in his father's footsteps, Jacob joined the Army National Guard in 2001, after voluntarily entering and completing the Youth Corps Program in Anchorage.

The Melsons have attended Gospel Outreach Church in Wasilla since Jacob was 3. Pastor Mark Campbell said that he remembers Jacob as a quiet young man who touched many lives.

“There was a strength in that quietness". “I watched him grow up. He loved his family, the Lord, and his country, and he served them all. We are going to greatly miss him.”

Memorial Page

It's the Soldier, not the poet,
who has given us the freedom of speech.

It's the Soldier, not the politicians
that ensures our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

It's the Soldier who salutes the flag,
who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag.

Jacobs Guestbook

Webmasters Comment's:
I only met this man twice in my life but have been friends of his family for years. I have never seen a funeral with a church more packed then for our fallen friend. He will be missed