19 Forever

Duncan and Droll

Today would have been Duncan Crookston's 21st birthday. He would have been of legal age to go bar hopping and partying. Unfortunately on September 04, 2007 Duncan was severely wounded in EFP strike that severely wounded SGT Joe Mixson, and killed SGT Joel Murray, SPC David Lane, and SPC Randy Shelton.
Duncan fought for his life for 4 months until his body succumbed to his wounds. It was not lack of spirit by any means because Duncan showed that he was as tough as they come. A true warrior. He died in the presence of his beautiful wife, his mother, his battle buddy SGT Joe Mixson.
As his mother said in a letter sent to family and friends, he will forever be 19. I think about him often and wished that I would've expressed to him how much I admired his skill, intellect, intelligence, and warrior spirit. He first came to my squad right before we deployed in support of OIF. Everyone marveled at his genius, and later at his bread making skills when we were in country. He was so smart that when our shit bag RTO Mavity didn't return from RnR Duncan was the only logical choice to be in charge of the Platoons radios. I was so pissed off when they took him from my squad. He was my driver at the time and also my Grenadier. When he died I often wished that it was Mavity in his place as which it should have been. I really wished it never happened but if it had to be someone not him. He should have been in my truck with me.
Duncan was nothing shy of truly amazing with the heart and stamina he possessed surviving as long as he did so he could get home and be able to see his family one last time before he passed away.
I post here to keep his memory alive and to remind people that rough men do stand ready to violence on their behalf. Duncan was smart enough to go to any school he wanted but he chose the Army and he chose the Infantry. If there were not patriots like Duncan ready to answer the call this country would cease to exist.
Here is the letter that his mother sent out the day he passed away.

Dear Friends and Family,It is with great sadness I write to you today - Duncan passed away at 3:346 p.m. today after the decision was made to stop heroic measures. Duncan developed another infection over the past two days, the effects of which were causing him a great deal of pain and causing him to run a fever of 108* F overnight. The doctor who treated Duncan said he had never heard of anyone surviving such a high fever, and that normally the body did not allow itself to sustain such a high temperature for even 15 minutes, let alone the 2 hours Duncan suffered with it. The doctor said it was an indication the hypothalamus of the brain, which regulates body temperature, was damaged. He also advised us even though Duncan survived, he would have permanent and widespread brain damage that would eventually cause his organ systems to fail, and that his kidneys were already dialysis dependent, and he was quickly becoming ventilator dependent. Meaghun and I were asked to make a decision, and we chose to allow Duncan to die a dignified and peaceful death, so he was given a morphine drip and taken off the ventilator. He died about 45 minutes later surrounded by his beautiful wife, his mother, his battle buddy Joe Mixson and the hospital chaplain he had come to know during his stay. It is the closest thing to a "good death" one could ask for a young man who fought so hard and long, only to have the limits of his body betray him. Once we knew there was no chance of any sort of quality of life, we felt we could not ask this brave young man who lived life to its fullest to spend his remaining days hooked to machines with no chance of recovery.Words cannot express the gratitude we feel towards all those who offered support and prayer to Duncan and our families during the past 5 months. We can take away from this experience the knowledge that good people exist in this world, that evil is worth fighting or that reason, and Duncan was a proud example of a good person who did not stand by and allow it to flourish by doing nothing. Duncan would have been 20 years old tomorrow - he will be forever 19 now, and forever missed.
Love, Lee Crookston

Forever 19, Happy Birthday Duncan. You will never be forgotten.