Elijah J Rao

Lake Oswego, Oregon

December 5, 2009

Welcoming Home Our Hero. Click photo below

December 12, 2009

For Memorial Service Snapshots, Click photo below

December 15, 2009

Remembering Our Hero, Click photo below:

December 5, 2010

The words... "I regret to inform you..."

The words you never want to hear from a military officer or policeman. We heard them today.

We were informed by the military today our older son, Specialist Elijah Rao, was killed by an IED earlier today in Afghanistan. His convoy was stopped at the site of an explosion. Elijah stepped out of the humvee and within moments, another IED was detonated, taking Elijah out. Something we have feared for years, but hoped would not come to pass. Elijah survived two tours in Iraq and then Afghanistan. He was scheduled to come home in January on leave and then come home for good in May.

He was an incredible, gentle, bright, loving person and this hits really, really hard. He has a wife and 1 year old. The coming week will be very difficult. We were visited by two incredible Army officers earlier today and spent most of this evening with another. We have a lot of grief and ceremony to move through this week, and beyond.

We've cried about all we can cry today, I think, and now about all we know to do with ourselves is to let people know about our beloved Elijah.