Second Glendoran dies in Iraq
By Alison Hewitt
Staff Writer


GLENDORA - Marine Pfc. Blake Howey of Glendora died in Iraq on Sunday at age 20, becoming the second person from Glendora to be killed in Iraq.

Howey was only a few weeks into his first deployment when his convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in Fallujah, said family friend Karen Butterfield. Howey's family asked her to speak for them after they were notified of his death Monday.

"They're just not ready to talk yet," she said. "Even for me it's like losing a family member. It's awful."

Howey is survived by his parents, stepfather and younger half-sister.

He and several close friends joined the Marines directly out of high school, Butterfield said. He followed Butterfield's younger brother, Marine Cpl. James Eckels, from Glendora High School to Whitcomb High School so they could graduate early together and join the Marines as soon as possible. Eckels graduated early, and Howey and a few other friends soon joined him after a June graduation.

"They were a good group of kids," recalled Whitcomb Principal Marc DuBois. "Howey was the quiet one in that group that was going into the service. This guy was great - and funny, too."

He was never in trouble and made the honor roll as well,

DuBois said. His former science teacher, Tom Paegel, said Howey was an extremely determined student. Whitcomb will post a tribute to him on the school's marquee, Paegel said.
The city is also working to arrange a small ceremony in Howey's honor, said Councilwoman Karen Davis.

An impromptu memorial to the Marine has already appeared beneath his banner north of the Grand Avenue and Foothill Boulevard intersection, Butterfield said.

Because of Howey's friendship with her brother, Butterfield said Howey was like another little brother to her.

"He was kind of quiet, kind of shy, always a real sweet kid," she said. "He loved paintball and snowboarding."

Eckels and Howey's other friends were practically adopted by Howey's mom, Audrey Nichka, Butterfield said.

"She's an amazing lady," Butterfield said. "She calls them all her sons, and they call her mom.

"The biggest thing she wants now is to have the other boys come home," she continued. "It's scary, knowing that my brother's still over there."

The Department of Defense had not yet confirmed Howey's death late Tuesday, but Butterfield said the explosive killed Howey while he was traveling in a Humvee from Fallujah to Baghdad.

Nichka plans to have a memorial service for her son Sunday or Monday at Oakdale Cemetery in Glendora. She is setting up a fund in Howey's honor to send helmets, flak jackets and other necessities to soldiers in Iraq. "Her boys have helmets and flack jackets, but there's things they don't have, like magazines for their guns or cold weather gear, and we've sent that stuff," Butterfield said.

"To know that someone can just be taken - Howey wasn't even in combat - it's crazy," she said. "I wouldn't take a bit of support away from my brother, but I wish they gave them all the things that they need."

alison.hewitt@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2730

Copyright © 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group

I would have rather been killed while in the military than to have been subjected to the tortures and exclusion by the war criminal and fascist dictatorship in power in the USA that is FORCIBLY INJECTING AND DOING FORCED EXPERIMENTS ON VETERANS.

I was also jailed and labeled a felon for owning a legal gun after an attempt on my life after working for the federal banking regulator , the FDIC, where one man was killed in his office and labeled suicide in the early 90s in San Francisco.

That young man who died should have been warned not to serve the beasts in power in the USA.

We should applaud when the regime is killed, those at the top who order good young and NAIVE young men and women to wage war for them and IT, the beast.

Never again serve the regime. Never again trust the regime. Applaud when they are killed.

Iraq is not the only place common Americans are being killed.


Maywood is not the only place where police are abusive. I was injected at the LA VA Westwood facility for parking on federal property and jailed for a long time.

I was beaten in Alabama and jailed for attempting to attend a Mobile City Council meeting open to the public.

I was injected at the Flagstaff Arizona medical facility when I reported a burn on my neck and hazardous material crews on the I-40 in New Mexico.

I was questioned by Police in Tiburon in Marin County California one night when I left my rental to go to a store. The Sheriff's deputy allowed me to get into an alley way, charged toward me, made me get down on the pavement, and acted as if he was going to shoot me.

Maywood is not the only place with problems in the USA. It is everywhere. It is my hope to leave the USA and get a foreign citizenship. Then I hope to join forces with an international militia, come back and slit the throats of those who abuse our people in the United States. But I feel I will have to go overseas and into space to do the job right.

G-d damn the regime in power. make a profit destroying them or "IT" as I call it what it is, a inhumane beast.

search for Mobile Audit Club. It is under the angelfire domain.

http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/democracyordeath/index.html

I made a mistake serving the USA military. We can not trust those fascist dictators in power.