Scroll of Remembrance holds memories of fallen soldiers

Published: 2005-12-29

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- The last two months of 2005 were cruel to the 101st Airborne Division and the families and friends at home waiting for the soldiers' return from Iraq. Since the 101st, based at Fort Campbell on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line, deployed to Iraq for the second time last August and September, 31 of its soldiers have been killed. Of that number, 20 died in November and another seven in December. "Immaculate Conception is filled with soldiers and staff from Fort Campbell," said Father Edward Steiner, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksville. "When a soldier dies, it affects our parish deeply." The people at Sacred Heart Catholic Community on post at Fort Campbell are determined that the soldiers of the 101st who die won't be forgotten. Since 1997, the community has kept a Scroll of Remembrance to celebrate and commemorate the lives of soldiers who have died. Rita Payne, coordinator of Sacred Heart, adds the names of fallen soldiers to the scroll "to remember their valor and celebrate their victory over death, to honor their memory whether they were Catholic, Muslim, Baptist or Jew. It didn't matter. They were soldiers who came from our community."

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