David Sotelo: Rest in peace my brother.
Today, I recieved terrible news. I was informed that a good friend of mine had been killed in a training accident. David Sotelo was a US Navy Hospital Corpsman assigned to 3rd LAR in 29 Palms. I met Dave when he was just an HA (Hospitalman Apprentice E-2) back in 2002. I was truly inspired by his enthusiasm for the Navy. He was always going out of his way to make himself a better Corpsman. He attended advanced classes, rifle and pistol rages, and served as a safety Corpsman for other units on his days off. Because he showed so much motivation, I took every opportunity to help mold him into the "Green Side Doc" he eventually became. Dave's ultimate ambition was to be a SEAL. I knew without a doubt that he was going to do it. He had every single attribute I imagine a SEAL would need. He made me want to be a better Doc. A few days before I left for Iraq, he and his girlfriend stopped by my home and we were able to catch up. He showed me photos of his deployment to Iraq and one of he and my self at his graduation from Field Medical Service School.
I am proud to have known David, I am also proud that we were brothers as Corpsmen, but I am most proud to call him a friend.
We will miss you brother. Take care of our Marines up there!
posted by Joseph "Doc" Fallon at 6:30 PM
5 Comments:
Really sorry to hear about the loss of your dear friend.Our prayers are with his family and loved ones.
The ultimate payment. It is an unfortunate loss for america. It is hard to find those who have the courage to devote their life to ensuring the freedom of America. It is men like Setelo that I commend for their courage to do so. I am truely sorry for the loss and I pray everyday for the safe return of all of our brave men and women who have the courage to support the cause.
In my prayers daily
Adam
Joe: So sorry to hear about your friend; you and all of our brave troops have the support of many people here at Cal Poly. I have all of your blog pictures up on the wall in my office, and countless staff/faculty have come in, seen the pictures, and expressed their appreciation, support and prayers. Thank God we have men and women who are willing to sacrifice so much (here and abroad) to protect the USA!
We're counting down....Pebble Beach awaits!!!!
Dear Mr. Fallon,
David Sotelo was my nephew. My name is Jane Downs and I live in Boston, Ma. We just saw David before Christmas for a visit in CT with my parents (his grandparents). My brother Nicholas Downs was his "step-dad", was married to David's mom and, unfortunately, passed away about 8 years a go. My brother, Nick, was a Marine.
David was a wonderful person, we saw him in the summers in CT with his sister, Kim. Although David and I were not "blood" relatives, he was a lot like me and the closest to me. I knew David was very motivated, caring, considerate, thoughtful...you name it.
It is a great loss for my family and I appreciate what you wrote here.
I will miss him very much.
Jane Downs
Boston, Ma
jd12622003@yahoo.com
1/15/06
I still think about this guy a lot. He used to carry this log book - the puke green military logbooks - You know the type.
He once showed me what he had written in it, and I nearly died laughing. Over the course of long deployments and training bouts in the desert, he had written down all of the incredibly off the wall, but seriously retarded questions that marines would ask him about medically related stuff.
I would mention the ones i remember, but they are questions that marines think up, so most of them probably aren't appropriate to post here. Only corpsmen and God have the slightest idea of what goes through the minds of marines...
Anyways, I always wondered what happened to that book...I always wondered if somebody carried it after him.
I always thought, and so did other people, that it should be published.
Just a thought
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