A senseless loss creates selfless act

As is so often the case, last July, when 23-year-old Sgt. Nathan Barnes was buried in the American Fork Cemetery after being killed in a firefight in Iraq, his family and the community that poured out to show its support didn't quite know what to do next.

Slug walls? Go back to bed? Curse the crazy war?

None of it seemed to fit with what Nathan, a friendly, easygoing type, would have wanted.

So Nathan's family and an American Fork-based service organization that is so selfless it doesn't even have a name, collaborated to do something as anti-war as it comes.

They started collecting donations in an 8-foot-deep, 8-foot-wide, 40-foot-long shipping container — and when it was full of everything from sewing machines to medical kits to children's toys, they shipped it off to the very place in Iraq where Nathan met his fate.

To Rushdi Mullah, Iraq, with love.

When the container arrived in Rushdi Mullah this past week, members of the Iraqi Army distributed its contents while an Iraqi general, Ali Jassim Muhammad Hassen Al Frejee, recognized the source of the humanitarian aid.

"A soldier who came from thousands of miles away and was killed here — his family spends money to rebuild this area. We have to respect that," the general was quoted in "The Dog Face Daily," a U.S. Army publication.

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It hasn't been an easy winter for Nathan's parents, Donna and Kevin, and the rest of the extended Barnes family, but at least the latest news from Iraq has brought them a measure of comfort.

Nathan, his mom said, would have been thrilled to see all that good going back to Iraq — especially the toys for the children.

"He really loved the Iraqi children," she said. "He told us that after he got out, one of his goals was to go to these Third World places where the children are in need and help."

The Barnes family contributed money and time to the project in Nathan's honor, but they are quick to deflect credit for its overall vision and organization to longtime American Fork do-gooder RoseAnn Gunther, who for years has spearheaded a nameless grass-roots service group in the community.

Not long after Nathan's burial, RoseAnn telephoned Kevin and Donna Barnes.

"I'd watched as they brought his body through Main Street, and it was such a touching sight," RoseAnn said. "I realized how much we owe that young man. I called the family and asked if there was anything we could do."