On This Date in Nativity History
March 2003
In March 2003, the war with Iraq began. Because the Nativity community includes such a high proportion of military service families, we experienced losses in this war in a powerful and personal way. Two parishioners were killed in Iraq during the fighting. Soon after the invasion, the parish opened a prayer book in the church vestibule for all to write the names and prayers for their family and friends who were stationed in the war zone. By the fall of 2013, over 4,000 names of service members had been inscribed in these books.
On 2 April 2003, U. S. Army Captain James F. “Jimmy” Adamouski died when the Black Hawk helicopter he was piloting crashed in central Iraq. He was the first West Point graduate to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom. After graduation from Lee High School, he attended the Military Academy, served a tour in Germany, received basic and advanced training in flying helicopters at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and was nearing the end of his assignment in Iraq with the Third Aviation Regiment, Third Infantry Division. He was planning to attend Harvard Business School in the fall. He was survived by his wife, Meighan, his parents, and other family members. After his funeral Mass at Nativity, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
On 11 December 2004, U. S. Army Captain Mark N. Stubenhofer was killed by small arms fire during a patrol in Baghdad. He was a company commander in an infantry battalion of the 1st Armored Division. He was on his second tour in Iraq, having served there for six months in 2003. Stubenhofer graduated from West Springfield High school, and from Clemson University in 1996. He went directly into the army, served a tour in Alaska, and was assigned to the 1st Armored Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas, in 2001. He was survived by his wife, Patti, three young children, and his parents. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
By the front entrance to the church, dogwood trees were planted in memory of Captains Adamouski and Stubenhofer.
