Clint Gertson

Clinton R Gertson

Houston, Texas

February 19, 2005

Age Military Rank Unit/Location
26 Army Spc 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment

Fort Lewis, Washington


Died in Mosul, Iraq, from injuries sustained from enemy forces small arms fire.



SPC. Clint Gertson
Jan. 30, 1979 - Feb. 19, 2005

From Susan Gertson 05/27/05:
Thank you for honoring our family members ( our heroes). My mom, Esther Phillips, sent this to me after she signed the guestbook. I am forwarding a web page to you so you can read about my son, Army SPC Clint Gertson, from Eagle Lake, TX. Feel free to use any info in his tribute and if you need any further info, please email me.

Go to www.elc.net for info on Clint Gertson and click on his name, which is located in the middle of the page near the bottom.

Thank You,
Susan Gertson

CLINT GERTSON MEMORIAL/ SCHOLARSHIP FREEDOM FUND
C/O First National Bank of Eagle Lake
P. O. Box 247
Eagle Lake, TX. 77434

Any Questions Call: Barbara Struss 979-758-1399

Area soldier's luck runs out in Iraq
09:12 AM CST on Monday, February 21, 2005
By Jeremy Desel / 11 News

Click to watch video
The flags and ribbons have been flying proud around the Gertson property for what seems like forever.

They have never meant more than they do now. "From under the truck I was working on, I saw a car I didn't recognize. Then I saw their uniforms and I thought, 'Oh God', " says Gayle Gertson.

KHOU-TV

Spc. Clint Gerson was killed in Mosul, Iraq, by a sniper last Saturday.

The Army had come to Gayle and Susan Gertson that their son, 25-year- old Specialist Clint Gertson died Saturday from a sniper's bullet in the Iraq town of Mosul.

This family had heard from the Army six months before, but that time, it was a phone call to their home in Eagle Lake, in Colorado County.

"We thanked the good Lord and figured that if that was his time, that's when he would have taken him. We didn't know it was just a warning," says his father.

That warning was the suicide bombing of the Army mess hall in Mosul.

Clint took shrapnel through his back and the men all around him were killed. His Captain had been sitting right next to him and two Sergeants were sitting across the table.

"We thought 'whew, that's it, he is gonna be fine'. So when this happened, it just knocks the breath out of you. You don't understand because they are so young. He had his whole life ahead of him," says his mother. Just like his brother Matt, who served a year near Baghdad.

"I came back and my brother didn't make it. It's kinda tough you know. Knowing what he was going through. But it was all for the better cause," his brother says.

The Gertsons' reminders are everywhere, inside and outside.

But this family hopes others see what Clint would want them to see in the yellow ribbons, and the red, white and blue all around.

"He said 'Dad, you just tell everybody that freedom is not free', " says his father.

To the Gertsons, it was a price worth paying.

The family has had a steady stream of support from friends and family since they were notified of their son's death.

From Esther Phillips 05/27/05:
Clinton Gertson believed strongly in what he was doing. We are proud of him and know that he is indeed a hero, but we miss him.