Lagrange Daily News -- Troup County is united in mourning the death of Sergeant Corey Spates, 21, the first local soldier to make the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq. This brave young American was killed by a roadside bomb Sunday in Diyala province.

We mourn him, too, as a soldier committed to his country and a caring man committed to his family, friends and hometown. We mourn a young husband, gone days after his first anniversary. We mourn a young man with a gift for making people laugh and a habit of saying thank you for the support he got during two tours in Iraq.

Just over a year and a half ago, Corey Spates wrote a letter to this newspaper, describing the toil and fear, the discomfort and satisfaction of a soldier’s life in Iraq.

Today, as this community grieves for Spates and his family, we republish excerpts of that letter.

His wife was working on their taxes. His mother was at Wal-Mart looking for a hot plate to send to her son. His father was doing repairs on a house.

Late Sunday afternoon, just before dark, phones rang out as, one by one, uncles, grandmothers, cousins, neighbors, pastors and friends were told that Corey Spates was dead.

His family came together in the coming darkness, holding each other in their grief, desperately trying to make sense of a family tragedy that had happened a half a world away.

A lifelong resident of LaGrange, Spates enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating from Troup High School in 2004. It wasn’t a quick decision, said his mother, Joy Thomas.

 “He was going through some trying times and he was looking for purpose in his life,” she said. “He talked to recruiters several times. He thought through his decision. He reasoned it out.”

It wasn’t long after he enlisted that Spates was shipped out to Iraq. He served there from January to December in 2005. Within months of his arrival in Iraq, Spates wrote to his mother and asked for her help.

“Everywhere his platoon went, they saw children who had nothing. They had no soccer balls, no school supplies, nothing to occupy them,” Thomas said. “Originally he wanted me to collect soccer balls for the children, then after he thought about it, he decided he wanted school supplies for the Iraqi children.”

Thomas sent the word out to members at Western Heights Baptist Church and within weeks collected more than 100 pounds of crayons, paper, scissors, pencils and other supplies.

“I divided it all up in big baggies and we sent him 168 bags of school supplies,” she said.

When he returned home on his first leave, Spates brought pictures and stories of grateful, excited children to share with his family and his church.

During that same 30-day leave, Spates ordered a pizza and fell in love. While eating dinner at Pizza Villa, the soldier met a brown-haired waitress that captivated his heart. His first date with Celeste Burke was just two years ago this month. Within months they were engaged. A year later, on Feb. 3, they were married.

The newlyweds began their life together in Temple, Texas, while Corey Spates was stationed at Fort Hood. His wife found a job as a veterinarian’s technician. The two found a small church where they worshiped on Sundays. They made friends with other Army couples.

On his way home, he would stop and pick wildflowers for his bride.

An animal lover, Celeste Spates brought home every stray she found, and the two collected two dogs, two cats and two rabbits. At one time, she recruited her husband to help her provide physical therapy during the evenings for an injured cat.

“He really didn’t like that cat,” she admitted.

Back to Iraq

His family was devastated last year when he received word that he would be deployed a second time to Iraq.

“I was a wreck the day I found out he was leaving,” his mother said. “I just thought it wasn’t fair. He’s been one time, he shouldn’t have to go again. I went to church just an emotional wreck, but I still remember the sermon that day. I knew I had to give my fears to God.”

His wife had panic attacks when she thought of him leaving her again. It was her faith as well that kept her at peace.

“I had a hard time before, but when he actually left, we both had a peace about it,” she said.

In the weeks before he left for his second tour in Iraq, Spates would try to talk to his wife about the possibility of dying.

“He would hear a song on the radio and say he wanted it played at his funeral. I told him I didn’t want to hear those things,” she said. “He did tell me if he died he didn’t want the full military funeral. He said the Army controlled his life, he didn’t want them to control his funeral.”

He told his family members he never felt like a hero - he felt like he was just doing his job.

Communication continued when Spates headed back to Iraq in November. He phoned his wife regularly, sent e-mails to his parents, postcards to his grandmothers.

Since word of his death, family members have pulled out their last moments, their last e-mails, their last conversations with Corey Spates. They have told each other what he said, where he was, what pictures were on their postcards.

He told his wife that every night he looked at the moon and sent a kiss and a prayer to her side of the world.

He told his father, Steve Spates, that the tight end that decided not to accept University of Georgia’s football bid would regret that decision.

Two weeks before his death, Spates sent his wife roses for her birthday.

A week later, he sent a second dozen roses to celebrate their anniversary.

Five days after his death, she received his Valentine’s Day gifts - including a box of chocolates from the place where they honeymooned.

Celebrating Corey

Spates’ body won’t come home until later this week. Waiting for his return, his family has gathered from house to house, family to family, to celebrate and remember his life.

His mother stood in the little office that was his first bedroom. She showed visitors where his crib stood when they brought him home from the hospital.

She talks about Legos and little cars and about “those blue eyes that would just pop at you.”

His father grins when he talks about the weeks they spent together rebuilding a truck. He tells of fishing trips and teaching his son to play golf. He remembers his pride while watching his son run on the football field with his Troup High teammates.

His grandmother, Sandra Simpson, talks about taking Corey and his brothers to Corey’s favorite place, a soda shop in a nearby town. She remembers the night, years ago, when the family was playing a game and he was too young to play. She gave him a stack of stickers and moments later he came jumping into the room, face and chest covered in stickers, yelling “I’m sticker man!”

They all talk of the change they saw in the boy they loved when he fell in love with Celeste.

“When Celeste came on board, it was even better. She was a wonderful fit into our family,” Steve Spates said.

His mother saw him change his priorities, taking on more responsibility when he married the love of his life.

When Spates returned to Iraq, his wife moved back to Hogansville to live with her mother, Cyndi York. The young couple saved almost all their paychecks, making plans to buy land and build a home in the country when he came home in 2009.

Instead, his family waits for Corey Spates to come home

 Read now the words of a hero:

“Well, as far as today (Friday, July 29, 2005) goes, it’s been about normal. Wake up early and run missions till there are no more. The weather wasn’t that bad either, about 125 degrees in the shade.

“ I’m Pfc Corey Spates with the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, stationed at forward operating base Gabe, northeast of Baghdad. Being in a tank battalion, there isn’t alot of us here, maybe 500, but we do it all - route recon and clearance, search houses, set up traffic checkpoints, even guard a television transmission tower in our sector.

“As for my opinion of this place, I like it in Iraq. I like what I’m doing here. I’ve been in-country since January, so I’m pretty much accustomed to the place. After a while, the days start to mesh together, then the weeks, and before you know it another month is gone.

“The day is a lot better though when you get a letter, or have an e-mail from someone at home. There are phones and computers here for us to talk to folks at home. I haven’t used a phone since I left America though. That would just make things harder for me, I think. I get on-line as much as I can though, talk with people back home and read the paper.

“I just got through reading the story on Richard Ingram (a LaGrange soldier who lost his arm in an explosion in Baghdad). It’s terrible when it happens to any soldier, but it hits a little closer to home this time. We had a guy get killed on a mission I was on, on the 4th of July, and I’ve got to say that was one of the worst days of my life.

“We figure that we’re around the halfway point with our deployment, so just maybe, I’ll be able to make it back to LaGrange before the end of January, the would be great.

“Well, it’s about midnight here and I have a mission in three hours, so I’m going to close. I’ll write again soon.”

Every soldier killed is one too many. But in Troup County, the loss of Corey Spates feels very personal, even to those who never met him. He walked the same streets we walk, lived, loved, worked and worshiped among us.

He was ours.

“Our task now is to honor and hold this fallen soldier’s memory in highest respect, honor and support his family in their painful journey.

Honor and remember Sergeant Corey Spates, a hero.

Spates' decorations and awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat Action Badge, Driver Mechanic Badge and Driver Wheeled Vehicle.

==Additional story==

Sir, tonight our hero tribute is in honor of Army SGT Corey E. Spates.

Corey was born and raised in LaGrange, Georgia. His mother still remembers him as a little boy, playing
with cars and Lego's and his big, blue eyes looking up at her. His father chuckles as he remembers
fishing trips with Corey, playing golf and the weeks they spent together rebuilding an old truck.
In middle school he played the saxophone in the band, but by high school his interests were more
athletic. He was a letterman on the school swim team and played football as a defensive back, even
making it to the state playoffs in the Georgia Dome.

However, after graduation Corey wasn’t quite sure where he was headed. His mother said, “he was
going through some trying times and he was looking for purpose in his life. He talked to recruiters
several times. He really thought through his decision.” Recently he said that he enjoyed serving in the
Army, he stood by his decision and said the Army had been good for him.

This was SGT Spates’ second tour in Iraq. He had just celebrated his first wedding anniversary on
February 3rd.

During his first tour in Iraq, Corey was struck by the poverty of the Iraqi children in his area. He enlisted
the support of his church back home and collected hundreds of pounds of school supplies. When he
went back home on leave he brought pictures and stories of grateful, excited children to share with his
family and his church. They all called him a hero, he told them he was just doing his job.

Sir, tonight our hero tribute is in honor of Army SGT Corey E. Spates.