"Stretch" Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

OReviewer: As there's been no response to my earlier note, I am forced to archive this listing.

If you wish to repair/replace the cache sometime in the future, just contact me email, including the GC Code, and assuming it meets the guidelines, we'll be happy to unarchive it.

Thanks,
-OReviewer

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Hidden : 11/27/2007
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is located in the Watchung reservation. Closest parking is at the Sky Top picnic area. 30 cal ammo box with logbook, pen and pencils and 2nd infantry buttons. Please rehide it as best you can.

**Congrats to IMSpider on the FTF**

“STRETCH”
is the nickname we all gave him. His real name was Stephen C. Benish. He joined the Cranford Fire Department as a fire explorer at the age of 12. A tall, skinny kid who always spent his Friday nights and Saturdays with us. He wanted to learn so much because he knew this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. At the age of Seventeen Steve discovered girls and he didn’t come around that much. But he would still poke his head in and see how the guys were doing. At Eighteen he was eligible to become a volunteer and take the first steps of becoming a career firefighter. He was so excited about this because now he could “go in” and do some real firefighting with the guys and not just stand outside and watch.

The events of 9/11 and the deaths of 343 FDNY firefighter affected him so much that he wanted to join the military and make a difference. We were all proud of his decision but deep down we were scared for him. But Steve always went with his gut. And when he wanted something, he never backed down no matter what. So promptly after graduating from high school in 2002, he enlisted into the army. After going through basic training he came back to visit us one more time and said “see ya guys soon, pray for me”

Steve was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, stationed at Camp Casey in South Korea. There he continued his training until his regiment was deployed to Iraq in the summer of 2004. After about a month of Steve being in country we received a letter at the firehouse from him. He told us how crazy it was over there and how he missed his home, family and his “second” family. He couldn’t wait to get back and tell us about all his adventures. A few days later we were told he was hit by an IED but only received a minor facial injury. We all breathed a sigh of relief and hoped that would be his only brush with death. It was not to be, on November 28, 2004 while on a patrol in Al Ramadi, Iraq he was killed by a single gunshot to his neck just above him body armor. He was only 20 years young.

I was honored to be a pall bearer at his funeral. Unfortunately it was also the saddest event of my life. All I remember was the crying and how cold and miserable it was that day. So to remember him I am deploying this cache on the third anniversary of his death. I visit his grave every year to say Hi and to tell him how much the boys miss him. Whether you are for or against this war please remember the brave men and women who fight for what we have every day..
Honor him by remembering…
Freedom – was his gift to us.

“Second to None”

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