Captain Derek Argel, 28, died in the crash of an Iraqi Air Force Plane during a training mission near Diyala, Iraq on May 30, 2005.  Assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Combat Control, Captain Argel was fulfilling a dream that he had embraced since the fifth grade by working in special operations.

“He was very proud to be a member of the Combat Control,” says his mother, Debra Bastian, below left with husband Todd.  His love of the military shone through when he spoke, in his opinion, about “the two things worth dying for: country and family.”  Captain Argel was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.

News

• Each week, Mrs. Bastian participates in a conference call with other Gold Star families. And when another family loses someone in the war, Mrs. Bastian and others call the families. "We've lost not only a soldier, but our child," she said, explaining her involvement. "Sometimes it's very difficult to deal with if you're not on this side of the fence. It's very new to me. These families are on the same page."

  Her main focus this year, in addition to the Iraq trip, is helping create a legacy for her 18-month-old grandson, Logan. She's writing a book called "Letters for Logan," filled with the hundreds of letters she and Derek's widow, Wendy, received after the captain's death. Read more about Mrs. Bastian's work to honor her son's memory in this article from the Santa Barbara News-Press, 1/23/06