News

July 27, 2008

‘Hometown hero’ celebrated

Memorial service salutes U.S. Army Sgt. Douglas J. Bull, a Meyers grad who died in Afghanistan on July 8.

SHERRY LONG slong@timesleader.com

More than 150 family and friends remembered an Afghanistan war hero Saturday afternoon at Meyers High School in South Wilkes-Barre.

U.S. Army Sgt. Douglas J. Bull, a 1997 graduate from Meyers, was seriously wounded when a bomb exploded near his vehicle on July 8 as he was on a routine patrol in Chow Kay Valley, Afghanistan. The 29-year-old soldier died later that day at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, and was buried July 17 at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen.

Known to his friends as Doug, his wife, Tera, wanted him remembered for his love of life.

Calling their love “the greatest love of all time,” she wrote her husband a poem in July 2006 stating, “she knew when they met he was the one.”

She described his strength and their unbreakable bond in the poem.

“You can see it in his eyes how strong he is … She never leaves his heart. He never leaves her thoughts,” she wrote.

Everyone said Bull always was happy, but people could not hold back their tears as “Amazing Grace” and Toby Keith’s “American Soldier” played while a streaming collage of photos of a smiling Bull with friends and family was projected onto a large video screen.

Bull might not be able to be seen in physical form, but he will always be near in spirit, said Gino Mercadante, Bull’s childhood friend.

“Show no fear because no matter what he is always here,” Mercadante said.

Bull, 29, was remembered for his dedication to serving America in the military. He joined the military nine years ago as a career military man, said the Rev. Kevin Straka of the Second Welsh Congregational Church on Hazle Street

Bull was a “hometown hero” whose actions on that July day saved the life of other men in his unit, Straka said. He didn’t elaborate on what Bull’s actions were, but said Tera informed him that her husband is credited with saving the lives of the other men in the vehicle.

Straka shared another insight he learned from a recent conversation with Tera.

On July 8, 2006, Bull was serving in Iraq. His entire squad was killed by a roadside bomb, but because he was being treated for a spider bite, Bull’s life was spared. At the time, his son, Jaden, was only a year old.

Bull died two years later to the day.

“The Lord gave him two years more with his family, especially so his son Jaden would be able to know something about his daddy. Tera said she felt that God had given them two more years with the family. So instead of being angry with God she was thankful that he was spared to have two more years with the family,” Straka said.

Bull’s heroic actions will always be remembered because a building will be named in his honor in Texas at Fort Hood.

A combat engineer, Bull was deployed to the war zone in June with the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Hood.

He served in Iraq in 2006 for a year and in Germany.

He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously.

Bull is survived by a wife, Tera, children Arianna and Jaden, and parents Mary Rambus of Edwardsville and Chris Bull of Wapwallopen.

“You can see it in his eyes how strong he is … She never leaves his heart. He never leaves her thoughts.”

Tera Bull,

from a July 2006 poem she wrote about her husband, Douglas

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