Robert Augustine Seidel III

West Point, 2004

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Frederick News Post on February 23, 2007:

Frederick News Post Editorial - May, 2006 The local community has lost another of its sons, U. S. Army 1st Lt. Robert Seidel III was killed last week in Iraq. The circumstances of his death were not unusual for that war-torn part of the world. He was killed by an IED, an improvised explosive device, while riding in an Army Humvee. By all accounts, Lt. Seidel was an outstanding soldier and person. He was well liked and respected by those who knew him?friends and their parents, coaches, teachers. He was an athlete, scholar and young patriot. He graduated from Catoctin High School in 2000 and from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point four years later. It?s difficult to make sense out of the death of any young person, especially someone as special as Lt. Seidel. When that death comes as a result of military duty it may give rise to conflicting feelings about the brutality and senselessness of war, but also about sacrifice and devotion to one?s country and fellow Americans. Of the more than 2,450 deaths of American service personnel so far in the Iraq conflict, there have been many Robert Seidels?outstanding young men and women who came from loving families, stable backgrounds and whose happy lives had been filled with achievement and honors. There have also been many who came from broken homes, poverty-stricken environments and whose histories are lacking any remarkable academic, athletic or other traditional achievement. Despite this wide range of backgrounds, all these individuals made the ultimate sacrifice for their fellow servicemen and women, and their country?and none of these sacrifices can ultimately be judged greater than another. Yet for each family, circle of friends and acquaintances, and communities that have suffered the loss of a young man or woman in this war, that loss is personal, special and grievous. So it is with Lt. Seidel, a youthful soldier of great substance, courage and devotion. Ensign Ryan Rippeon graduated with Lt. Seidel from Catoctin High and went on to service in the U. S. Navy after graduating from the Naval Academy. Contemplating a photograph of the two young men, standing together poised and confident in uniform at the 2002 Army-Navy game, gives rise to a multitude of thoughts and emotions. How can a family and community sort out such a perplexing and hurtful revelation such as the crushing news that Lt. Robert Seidel III had been killed in combat? We were struck by the comment of Ensign Rippeon?s mother, Victoria Rippeon of Lewisdale, as she contemplated Lt. Seidel?s passing. ??I hope through all this, through such a loss, that some good will come out of our sons and daughters being over there. I really hope they?re making a difference, because they?re everything to us.? No matter what one?s feeling about the American presence in Iraq, the humanity of Ms. Rippeon?s sentiment goes to the heart of the matter.

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