Be sure to read the comments 12/27/03- 6/8/04 6/9/04 - 3/27/05 5/22/05 - 12/31/06

1.3.07

Dear Karen,

I'm so pleased that I got to meet you in Cabo and at least give you a hug. I think of you and Ken every day and know how never ending the pain of losing him is. I have my fingers and every thing crossed that my son Christopher will be home at the expected time of the end of Jan. I wish there was something we could do to end this horrific, failing mess. We have made Iraq so much worse that it was.......I send you a big hug and please let me know about anything happening that I might take part in.

Fondly,

Jane Gripp

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1.4.07

Costa Rica

Hi, I see your page in the web.

I´m from Costa Rica and is very sad for me see your history and the Ken´s history.

Realmente me entristece mucho y le pido a Dios que te de mucha fortaleza para seguir adelante, y todos sabemos que los que perdieron la vida en la guerra son unos VERDADEROS HEROES, y siempre estarán en nuestras oraciones. Porque dieron sus vidas por otros.

Un abrazo muy fuerte y que Dios te bendiga.

Saludos

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1.14.07

The point, in my opinion, of the Lafayette memorial is to END-THE-WAR...

A memorial alone is useless.

NO MORE DEATHS LIKE KEN'S. no more!

End-the- war....period!

erik beckjord

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5.30.07

Hey Buddy, its your 3 year anniversary since you left all of us. To this
day, it is still as hard to believe that you are not here with us. I miss
you everyday that you are not here yet I am so glad we had a close
friendship, a blood-brother that I am so proud. You keep watching down upon
all of us, and I love ya man.

Trevor

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05-30-2007

Well, here we are again.........another year passed.............another year without you............another year missing you. I told you last year when it was two years it may as well be 2 days/minutes/seconds. I feel the same this year; it seems like a lifetime without you but at the same time the fact that you are not here is so evident it could have been yesterday when you left. Some things have changed............I used to wonder when I would stop missing you so much and now I don't really want to stop missing you. I can think about you now without being sad, instead I can remember how much you made me laugh which in turn makes me laugh in the present......I love that! I can still hear your laugh. The pain of missing you is still there and I am certain it always will be, but I know you would want me to remember the good times. It's hard to do sometimes but I wouldn't want to disappoint you. Even now you make me want to be a stronger person. You will always be a part of my life and I am thankful for that. I miss you buddy!!

Mac

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6.17.07

Monterey, CA

Dear Karen
It was an honor to meet you this past Memorial Day. I wish we would have gotten to meet each other under different circumstances but it was certainly nice to meet you. You must imagine my surprise as I walked through Section 60 to find Ken there, since I thought he was buried at home. I was there for my friend CPT Jonathan Grassbaugh who was killed on 7 April 2007.
I knew Ken when we were both stationed at Ft. Lewis the summer of 02. Ken sure made an impression on everyone he met and for the short time I knew him, he really left me with a great impression of his character and his overall love for life.

Ken and I slammed back multiple Sam Adams Summer Ales in July of that year because it was my birthday and I believe it was his as well. It gave me the nastiest headache the next day, and to be honest with you, I haven’t touched the stuff since then. But I guess he liked it.

I am so sorry for your loss and please know that I have you and Ken in my prayers. I am happy that I had the chance to meet with you. My name is CPT Paul Santamaria, and I am currently stationed at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.

I love this site, it is very fitting for a great American like Ken.

Take care

Paul Santamaria

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6.21.07

Norway

Hi!

My name is Geir and i'm from Norway. I served my country to,in south Lebanon and Balkan.

I was so lucky to not be hurt,but i often think about it. I write some words to you and say,keep up the good work!

(I hope you understand my english.)

Geir Aamodt

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4.11.08

Tom,

I can't believe how much Ken looked like you! You have so much to be proud of and I thank God there are people like you and your son out there to protect this country…even when we're ungrateful and stupid.

You were such a good friend to us when we live in Linda, California and we hope our paths will cross again in the not too distant future!

Respectfully and sincerely,

Maggie O'Malley (Pat's wife)

PS. Halley (1992 - 2008) and Molly (1991 - 2005) have left this world for the rainbow bridge, but I will always remember how you trained us to be good doggie owners. Your kindness and ability to reach out to others is a gift we have been the grateful recipients of many times over.

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6.26.08

I am writing to you from Australia, I wish to say deep sorrow for you and your families, for your losses. Can I please say how PROUD we are of your husband and his colleagues, and the sacrifices that they have made for the freedom of the world. We all hope that this will end soon and more loved ones don't have to suffer anymore, once again thank you very much to LT. Ken Ballard and his fallen comrades, lets hope there are not too many more

Our thoughts are with you

You take care and all the troops in the middle east

God Bless

Bryce

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7.21.08

Buddy- It's your ma. I know you've been hanging around this weekend as we've celebrated your life on the occasion of your 31st birthday. I'm sure the calendar is wrong, I don't think I can be old enough to have a 31 year old child. Saturday, the balloon release was good. We had perfect blue skies and just a hint of a breeze. I thought I tied down the balloons but I guess not well enough. I still like to think that you had something to do with the premature release of those first 31 balloons- I hope that made you laugh.

I spent today alone, thinking of you, of all your birthdays past and that this was the 5th birthday without you. I remember your first birthday when something about the candles scared you. There was a fire truck birthday and so many Star Wars birthdays- that was your generation. On your 18th birthday we went to a fancy restaurant for dinner and I told you to order whatever you wanted and you did- steak and lobster. Yes, you had champagne tastes and I am so glad that you were able to enjoy that in your short life, you earned it and you deserved it. I think it was your 19th birthday that you called from Bosnia telling me about the misfire from a US aircraft, on the ammo dump near your base- what an explosion- happy freaking birthday! On your 21st birthday you had just completed your initial enlistment in the Army, having spent time in Bosnia, Macedonia & Germany and you were so excited about earning a scholarship and attending college at MTSU in Tennessee. We gathered family & friends at Fiesta for your first legal margarita- that was a day worth celebrating, too. For that matter, every day was a celebration to you.

Joie de vivre wasn't a saying for you, it was a way of life. You embraced whatever was thrown at you and handled it with grace and humor. I know you carried the responsibilities of young officer, a leader of your men and while some of your inferior officers didn't always appreciate your style, I'm pretty sure your men did.

All of that stuff was shared with the world. But 31 years ago, we were one, and in some ways will always be. I love being your mom and I still find it hard to think of living the rest of my life without you here by my side. We were a great team. There have been so many times in these past years that I have asked for your strength and there you were and I am always grateful. You'd think after 4 years it might get better, but it doesn't; my heart still hurts more than I could have imagined.

Someone told me that when you go to heaven you get a new birthday, so on this, your earthly birthday, I wish you HAPPY BIRTHDAY, buddy!

love, your fave ma

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