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04/08/02 Jessica, My name is Ron O'Steen. I have known
Juan for about 6 years. We were stationed in Washington together and then at Japan. My
wife and I use
to throw a lot of parties for all the guys and Juan was usually there if he was in
town. My wife Nicole truly loved Juan and still does. She was
incredibly crushed when I came home and broke the news to her. Juan and I were
together in the Philippines 2 weeks before the incident and I can
tell you he was extremely focused. We were also together in Kosovo when he saved the
pilot behind enemy lines. Juan will always be my inspiration
and my hero. I miss him terribly and I am having a hard time letting him go. I
brought him home from the Philippines and it was the hardest thing I
have ever had to do. I stared at his flag covered casket for hours. I felt extremely
humble and proud even to be in his presence again because I
know the sacrifices he has made for his country and there is no greater sacrifice
than giving your life. I am presently working on a painting and
I will give you a copy of it when I am finished. I want to thank you for being such
a phenomenal sister to him because he spoke of you often. I
love him and I will never forget him. If you need anything at all please contact me.
I will send you pictures and some stories of Juan. Thank You,
Ron.
06/17/02
Dear Jessica,
I just wanted to write you a quick note to tell you how
wonderful the web site that you put together for Juan is. I met Juan in Key West almost two years ago. I
was down there for a quick weekend get away with my friends. My friends and his friends all ended up hanging
out together. I have to tell you even though
I only new your brother for just a few hours he left an impact on me. His sense of humor is like nothing I've ever
experienced. He constantly made all of us
laugh. And the way he talked about you and Stacee ....Wow he was so proud of the both of
you! Even to this day my friends and I still
talk about Juan and how completely crazy and fun he was. My boyfriend Glen is also in the
military and in fact just returned from the Philippines. That's how I learned about Juan. Before Glen left I told him if he ran in to a very
funny guy named Juan that was a Pararescueman he should try and get to know him. Glen new of Juan from me
talking about him from Key
West the year before. Your brother and I had a conversation about how
hard it is to have a relationship when you're in the military. I was complaining about missing Glen and he was
complaining about missing Stacee.
When I first learned of the crash of course my first
thoughts were on Glen which absolutely paralyzed me and then he
called to let me know he was OK. But then he
told me that that "cool guy" that I met in Key West was onboard. Jessica, I can't even begin to explain how sorry I
am for your loss. Nor can I even imagine the
Hell it must be for you. Since February I have constantly thought about Juans family and girlfriend who I didn't know. By finding this web
site I have the opportunity to tell you that people are thinking of you and praying for
you. I know that anybody who Juan ever came in contact with even for a moment was touched
by him. He was and is a unique soul, a major
breath of fresh air from a lot of people that you meet these days. Thank you for taking the time to put the web site
together. It was nice to see his smile again. Even though you don't know me, if there is
anything I can ever do for you and Stacee, please let me know. In the mean time, I will be keeping you in my
prayers.
Sincerely,
Patty Gannon