LaGrange GI Dies in Iraq
From staff reports  LaGrange Daily News - Monday - February 11, 2008
An Army sergeant from La-Grange has been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Sgt. Corey Spates, 21, died Sunday morning in the Diyala province. His wife, Celeste, and his parents, Steve Spates and Joy Thomas, were notified by the Army on Sunday evening. The family said they were told there were multiple casualties in the blast, but that the Army would not release details until the next of kin of all victims had been notified. Spates, who attended Troup High School, had left for his second deployment in November. He and his wife celebrated their first anniversary last week. Arrangements will be made next week.
More Than a Hero
Family Mourns Death of Son, Husband in War
By Sherri Brown - Staff Writer LaGrange Daily News - Sunday - February 17, 2008
His wife was working on their taxes. His mother was at Wal-Mart looking for a hot plate to send to her son. His father was doing repairs on a house.
Late Sunday afternoon, just before dark, phones rang out as, one by one, uncles, grandmothers, cousins, neighbors, pastors and friends were told that Corey Spates was dead.
His family came together in the coming darkness, holding each other in their grief, desperately trying to make sense of a family tragedy that had happened a half a world away.
A life long resident of LaGrange, Spates enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating from Troup High School in 2004. It wasn't a quick decision, said his mother, Joy Thomas.  “He was going through some trying times and he was looking for purpose in his life,” she said. “He talked to recruiters several times . He thought through his decision. He reasoned it out.”
It wasn't long after he enlisted that Spates was shipped out to Iraq. He served there from January to December in 2005. Within months of his arrival in Iraq, Spates wrote to his mother and asked for her help.
“Everywhere his platoon went, they saw children who had nothing. They had no soccer balls, no school supplies, nothing to occupy them, ” Thomas said. “Originally he wanted me to collect soccer balls for the children, then after he thought about it, he decided he wanted school supplies for the Iraqi children.”
Thomas sent the word out to members at Western Heights Baptist Church and with in weeks collected more than 100 pounds of crayons, paper, scissors, pencils and other supplies.
“I divided it all up in big baggies and we sent him 168 bags of school supplies,” she said.
When he returned home on his first leave, Spates brought pictures and stories of grateful, excited children to share with his family and his church.
During that same 30-day leave, Spates ordered a pizza and fell in love. While eating dinner at Pizza Villa, the soldier met a brown -haired waitress that captivated his heart. His first date with Celeste Burke was just two years ago this month. With in months they were engaged. A year later, on Feb. 3, they were married.
The newlyweds began their life together in Temple, Texas, while Corey Spates was stationed at Fort Hood. His wife found a job as a veterinarian’s technician. The two found a small church where they worshiped on Sundays. They made friends with other Army couples.
On his way home, he would stop and pick wildflowers for his bride.
An animal lover, Celeste Spates brought home every stray she found, and the two collected two dogs, two cats and two rabbits. At one time, she recruited her husband to help her provide physical therapy during the evenings for an injured cat.
“He really didn't like that cat,” she admitted.
Back to Iraq
His family was devastated last year when they received word that he would be deployed a second time to Iraq.
“I was a wreck the day I found out he was leaving,” his mother said. “I just thought it wasn't fair. He’s been one time, he shouldn't have to go again. I went to church just an emotional wreck, but I still remember the sermon that day. I knew I had to give my fears to God.”
His wife had panic attacks when she thought of him leaving her again. It was her faith as well that kept her at peace.
“I had a hard time before, but when he actually left, we both had a peace about it,” she said.
In the weeks before he left for his second tour in Iraq, Spates would try to talk to his wife about the possibility of dying.
“He would hear a song on the radio and say he wanted it played at his funeral. I told him I didn't want to hear those things,” she said. “He did tell me if he died he didn't want the full military funeral. He said the Army controlled his life, he didn't want them to control his funeral.”
He told his family members he never felt like a hero – he felt like he was just doing his job.
Communication continued when Spates headed back to Iraq in November. He phoned his wife regularly, sent e-mails to his parents, postcards to his grandmothers.
Since word of his death, family members have pulled out their last moments, their last e-mails, their last conversations with Corey Spates. They have told each other what he said, where he was, what pictures were on their postcards.
He told his wife that every night he looked at the moon and sent a kiss and a prayer to her side of the world.
He told his father, Steve Spates, that the tight end that decided not to accept University of Georgia’s football bid would regret that decision.
Two weeks before his death, Spates sent his wife roses for her birthday.
A week later, he sent a second dozen roses to celebrate their anniversary.
Five days after his death, she received his Valentine’s Day gifts – including a box of chocolates from the place where they honeymooned.
Celebrating Corey
Spates’ body won't come home until later this week. Waiting for his return, his family has gathered from house to house, family to family, to celebrate and remember his life.
His mother stood in the little office that was his first bedroom. She showed visitors where his crib stood when they brought him home from the hospital.
She talks about Legos and little cars and about “those blue eyes that would just pop at you.”
His father grins when he talks about the weeks they spent together rebuilding a truck. He tells of fishing trips and teaching his son to play golf. He remembers his pride while watching his son run on the football field with his Troup High teammates.
His grandmother, Sandra Simpson, talks about taking Corey and his brothers to Corey’s favorite place, a soda shop in a nearby town. She remembers the night, years ago, when the family was playing a game and he was too young to play. She gave him a stack of stickers and moments later he came jumping into the room, face and chest covered in stickers, yelling “I'm sticker man!”
They all talk of the change they saw in the boy they loved when he fell in love with Celeste.
“When Celeste came on board, it was even better. She was a wonderful fit into our family,” Steve Spates said.
His mother saw him change his priorities, taking on more responsibility when he married the love of his life.
When Spates returned to Iraq, his wife moved back to Hogansville to live with her mother, Cyndi York. The young couple saved almost all their paychecks, making plans to buy land and build a home in the country when he came home in 2009.
Instead, his family waits for Corey Spates to come home one more time, escorted by U.S. soldiers, draped in an American flag.
Sherri Brown can be reached at sbrown@lagrange news.com or by calling (706) 884-7311, Ext. 240.
Celeste and Corey Spates on their wedding day in 2007.
Celeste and Corey Spates share a light-hearted moment before he left for Iraq, while Corey’s younger brother Jacob looks on.
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‘I was a wreck the day I found out he was leaving. I just thought it wasn’t fair. He’s been one time, he shouldn’t have to go again .’
– Joy Thomas, mother
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Cousins Shared Love of Country, Service
By Sherri Brown - Staff writer
Army Sgt. Zach Harrison is on leave in LaGrange, waiting for his cousin’s funeral.
Harrison was able to leave his Army base in Alaska when he was notified that his cousin, Corey Spates, had been killed in Iraq.
“The Army does its best to prepare you to deal with this.
But no human is really prepared for this,” Harrison said.
He and Spates had talked about their decisions to join the Army in the midst of a war.
“We chose this. We knew there could be a negative outcome,” said Harrison , who was shot in combat last year. “Some people join the Army to get away from things, some join to run away from home. We joined because we love our family, our country, our freedom.”
In his 15-month tour in Iraq, Harrison saw a country that is familiar with war.
“They’ve been fighting over there for hundreds of years. It was unbelievable to see people shooting at each other and kids in the middle of it kicking a soccer ball. This is their life.”
Over time, people have forgotten the horrors of Sept. 11, he said.
“In the beginning (of the war), people supported it. Then you have guys losing their lives and people want to neglect the war. At least support the troops. Keep the main focus on these guys who are defending everything that stands for America.
“This is an honorable war.”
Fallen Soldier’s Mom Attends Funerals to Honor Her Son
By Sherri Brown - Staff Writer
When final funeral arrangements are made for Army Sgt. Corey Spates, Betty Ardron will be making plans to attend.
Ardron has never met Corey Spates, nor does she know any of his family. However, she knows some of what they are feeling this week.
Ardron is the mother of Daniel Ardron, the 100th soldier from Georgia killed dur ing Opera tion Iraqi Freedom. He was killed May 21 when his vehicle was hit by two explosives.
“So many people showed up at his funeral. When it was over I told my husband I will go to every funeral of every soldier in Georgia that I can. Thank God there haven’t been too many,” Ardron said from her home in Ballground.
She attends the funerals as a way to honor and show respect to soldiers who have given their lives in the war.
“Daniel always said he’d rather be over there fighting them than have them over here fighting us,” she said.
During her son’s funeral, Ardron was amazed and comforted by the support from her community.
“People lined the roads holding flags as his body passed by on the way to the graveside. That support meant a lot. It was a salute and a farewell to a true hero,” she said.
“So if I can, I’ll be at Corey’s funeral. I want to show my respect. I want to meet Corey’s mother, hold her hand and tell her how much her son was appreciated.”
Corey Spates poses for a photo with his older brother Michael.
Corey Spates walks through the woods with his brother Patrick near his Grandparent’s home in Adairsville.
Corey Spates and his brother, Jacob, sip on sodas in Fairmount. The soda shop was a favorite spot to visit when the boys visited their grandparents, John and Sandra Simpson.
Corey Spates poses for a picture in his senior prom finery at the fountain in Lafayette Square.
Sherri Brown can be reached at sbrown@lagrange news.com or by calling (706) 884-7311, Ext. 240.
Salute Hero With Colors, Commitment
People across Troup County have been asking how, as a community, we can show support for the family of Sgt. Corey Spates, a local soldier killed Feb. 10 in Iraq. With the family’s blessing, allow us to suggest several ways.
The 21-year-old Spates was a big Georgia Bulldog fan. Mourners are being asked to wear red and black to his funeral later this week.
Why not, then, display red and black all over town in honor of Spates and in tribute to his ultimate sacrifice? Red and black can make a powerful visual statement of the sorrow, pain and respect Troup County people are feeling.
Red and black clothing and lapel ribbons, red and black bows on doors and mailboxes, on cars and business windows, on Lafayette Square. At Troup High, where Spates attended, blue and gold should give way to red and black and at other campuses, the same salute can be made. Our churches and veterans groups could take the lead in spreading the word - and perhaps in making the bows.
Along with the red and black, fly or display the U.S. flag. If you don’t have one, consider buying one or take markers and paper and create your own personal memorial in red, white and blue.
Another appropriate tribute is to lower flags to half-staff communitywide. Some local businesses have already done so. We urge others, along with public institutions, to follow suit.
For five years, American soldiers have been fighting in Iraq, and about 4,000 of them have died. Local families have been touched in various painful ways by other Iraq war deaths and by the grievous injuries sustained by several local service members.
But this is the first time our community has buried one of its own as a casualty of Iraq.
We have a solemn obligation – and responsiblity – to do all we can to honor Spates’ sacrifice and be supportive of his loved ones. We cannot walk their walk, but we can be the shoulders they lean on along the way. We can’t take away the weight of this terrible loss, but we can get up under it with them and help them bear it.
As soon as appropriate, leaders should consider perpetuating the memory of Sgt. Corey Spates by placing his name on a building, road or some other fitting place. Perhaps the creation of a scholarship or a community award in his name might be a positive way to remember his caring spirit and honor his commitment and sacrifice.
Whatever is done, the most important way to honor Sgt. Corey Spates is to recommit ourselves, individually and as a community, to the ideals he stood for and the nation he served so gallantly.
Wear red and black, display an American flag and re-commit yourself to your country. Let us stand together as a community as we bid a sad farewell to a fallen hero.
Wonderful Young Man
Dear Editor:
I wanted to express my sympathy to the Celeste Spates and the Spates family (in the death of Sgt. Corey Spates in Iraq.) Corey and Celeste visited our church a few times while they were living here in Temple, Texas. I wanted them to know that he seemed to be a wonderful young man. My heart goes out to them during this time. I met Corey during a Chili Cook Off to raise funds for our youth department. He was tasting all the Chili entries and having a good time. We love our service men and women and try to minister to them and their famlies any way we can. Please let them know that our church is praying for them. Mary Sanders - Temple, Texas | 
