Article for the Gazzette

Meagan is a member here on OH and lives for now at Fort Hood, Texas. Carson lays to rest another 'American angel' By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD THE GAZETTE A cavalryman is always on patrol, and the people who knew Staff Sgt. David R. Staats saw this journey as one last long patrol. It began in the Iraqi city of Taji two weeks ago, and it brought him home to stay. "Your tour of duty is over. Your tour of duty is done," Staff Sgt. Julian Whatley said to Staats on Saturday. "Rest in peace, bro." Staats, 30, a scout vehicle commander with the 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, was killed Dec. 16 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee. He had lived in Colorado Springs for three years and considered it home. His funeral was held here Saturday. "If everyone that loved David could be here, the entire state of Colorado would be standing room only," said Judith Jenkins, the wife of a soldier at Fort Hood. A longtime soldier, Staats came to Fort Carson in 2001 and met his wife, Meagan, a Palmer High School graduate, through letters while serving his first tour of duty in Iraq. They were married in 2003. "My husband touched people in profound ways," Meagan Staats said during Saturday's memorial service. He was described as a leader who always put the soldiers under him first, and a father of two and a husband who made sure his family would be cared for when he left for Iraq. "The first things I noticed about David was his genuine respect for others and how he always had a smile on his face," Whatley said. "I knew we would be friends for life." Other soldiers said he never said anything negative about another soldier, was always looking for someone he could help and never complained, no matter what the job. And he always had a practical joke up his sleeve. He left the Army in late 2004, but re-enlisted in 2005 because he felt he hadn't finished the job. "I knew David was scared to go back to Iraq but with the values and beliefs he had, he was proud to put on his combat gear," Whatley said. Meagan Staats said one of the hardest things about his death is the fact that two of his men, including Pfc. Seth M. Stanton, 19, of Colorado Springs, died from the same blast. "I was so sad to know other people had lost at the same time as me," she said. While he was in Iraq, he used to end his e-mails to her with a promise to be home for dinner, a joke they shared. "I told my husband before he left I was going to be OK, but he promised he was going to be home for dinner," she said. Now he is. "You're home now, baby, safe. No harm can come," she said. His 7-year-old stepdaughter Katie asked to speak to the audience. Her mother lowered the microphone. In a small voice, she said, "What I call my daddy is my 'American angel' and I love him very much." Then she put her arms around the flag-draped coffin that had borne him home.