Tribute to Pfc. Robert H. Dembowski, 20

Members of the Airborne Division carry the flag draped casket of Pfc. Robert H. Dembowski, Jr., out of the funeral service. Funeral for Pfc. Robert H. Dembowski, Jr., at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Richboro. Dembowski, a 20-year-old soldier, died in Baghdad, Iraq on May 24, 2007 when his unit came under small arms fire. Video news report

A crisply folded flag stands for Valor and for Honor.Its stripes are not decorations, they represent courage under fire. Its stripes mark the passing of a son, of a daughter.

Pfc. Robert H. Dembowski, 20, of Ivyland, Pa., died May 24 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

The Associated Press

FORT BRAGG - An 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper died of injuries sustained
from enemy small-arms fire during combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq, earlier
this week, the Defense Department said Friday.
Spc. Robert Dembowski Jr., 20, of Ivyland, Pa., was a company radio transmitter with 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
"Spc. Dembowski was a highly dedicated paratrooper," said Capt. Aaron King, the rear detachment commander for Dembowski's battalion. "He was dedicated not only to his profession but also in serving this great nation."
Dembowski, who was killed Thursday, joined the Army in January 2006. He completed infantry one station unit training and the basic airborne course at Fort Benning, Ga., in April 2006. He was assigned to his current unit when he arrived at the 82nd Airborne in May 2006.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.
Dembowski is survived by his parents, Robert Sr. and Frances Dembowski, and his sister, Janice Dembowski, all of Ivyland, Pa.

I went to see the soldiers, row on row on row,

And wondered about each so still, their badges all on show.

What brought them here, what life before Was like for each of them?

What made them angry, laugh, or cry,

These soldiers, boys and men.

Some so young, some older still, a bond more close than brothers

These men have earned and shared a love, that's not like any others

They trained as one, they fought as one

They shared their last together

That bond endures, that love is true

And will be, now and ever.

I could not know, how could I guess, what choices each had made,

Of how they came to soldiering, what part each one had played?

But here they are and here they'll stay,

Each one silent and in place,

Their headstones line up row on row

They guard this hallowed place.