{"id":6015,"date":"2011-08-21T13:30:21","date_gmt":"2011-08-21T17:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=6015"},"modified":"2011-08-20T06:14:59","modified_gmt":"2011-08-20T10:14:59","slug":"vivid-rainbow-helps-rural-ozarks-town-bid-farewell-to-fallen-navy-seal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/vivid-rainbow-helps-rural-ozarks-town-bid-farewell-to-fallen-navy-seal","title":{"rendered":"Vivid rainbow helps rural Ozarks town bid farewell to fallen Navy Seal"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_6017\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6017\" style=\"width: 428px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2011\/08\/ratzliff-flag.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6017  \" title=\"ratzliff flag\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2011\/08\/ratzliff-flag.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"428\" height=\"308\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6017\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A large flag is raised in front of First Assembly (Photo by Laura Welch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nestled in the rural\u00a0Ozarks of northwestern Arkansas, little\u00a0Green Forest, population 2,717, bade farewell Tuesday to a native son, U.S. Navy SEAL Tommy Ratzlaff.<\/p>\n<p>A vivid rainbow painted the sky in early morning, as a local tree-trimming service raised an enormous flag in front of the First Assembly of God where services were scheduled.<\/p>\n<p>Ratzlaff was killed along with 38 others in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Local banker Byron Russ remembers him as a remarkable kid who always put everything into whatever he tried. Russ served with\u00a0Ratzlaff&#8217;s mother, Mrs. Nancy Ratzlaff,\u00a0on the local school board where she\u00a0was president.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6018\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6018\" style=\"width: 345px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2011\/08\/tommy-rainbow2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6018    \" title=\"tommy rainbow2\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2011\/08\/tommy-rainbow2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"345\" height=\"542\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6018\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tuesday rainbow over Green Forest&#39;s Tiger Stadium where Ratzlaff played (Photo by Chandra Anderson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Relatives recalled how it was Ratzlaff&#8217;s childhood dream to serve his country.\u00a0 Tommy joined the Navy in 1995 out of high school.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tommy was the epitome of what a soldier should be,&#8221;\u00a0remembered local florist and former chamber of commerce president Tammy Goins, whose son Michael was killed\u00a0a few years ago in action in\u00a0Iraq.<\/p>\n<p>On Facebook, she\u00a0called Tommy\u00a0&#8220;selfless, brave, and determined to do his best to serve his country and to protect his family and all he loved. We are very proud of him back home in his hometown.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We pray for God to wrap His arms around his family and give them comfort.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ratzlaff died\u00a0on a rescue mission &#8212; which would have been one of his last &#8212; at age 34, he was a senior petty officer and had decided to retire from the SEALs and return home.<\/p>\n<p>The Ratzlaff\u00a0family sent a message that Tommy would appreciate the well-wishes his family has received but added, &#8220;Tommy would want the focus of his sacrifice to be on the cause, not on the sacrifice itself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He\u00a0leaves behind a wife, two sons, ages 11 and 6, and a child on the way &#8212; a baby girl due in November. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.<\/p>\n<p>Here is CNN&#8217;s look at Ratzlaff.<\/p>\n<p><object id=\"ep\" width=\"416\" height=\"374\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/i.cdn.turner.com\/cnn\/.element\/apps\/cvp\/3.0\/swf\/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&amp;videoId=us\/2011\/08\/11\/dnt.soldier.lost.ratzlaff.KOLR\" \/><embed id=\"ep\" width=\"416\" height=\"374\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http:\/\/i.cdn.turner.com\/cnn\/.element\/apps\/cvp\/3.0\/swf\/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&amp;videoId=us\/2011\/08\/11\/dnt.soldier.lost.ratzlaff.KOLR\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" wmode=\"transparent\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/wp-includes\/js\/tinymce\/themes\/advanced\/img\/trans.gif\" id=\"ep\" class=\"mceItemMedia mceItemFlash\" width=\"416\" height=\"374\" data-mce-json=\"{'video':{},'params':{'src':'http:\/\/i.cdn.turner.com\/cnn\/.element\/apps\/cvp\/3.0\/swf\/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&amp;videoId=us\/2011\/08\/11\/dnt.soldier.lost.ratzlaff.KOLR','allowfullscreen':'true','allowscriptaccess':'always','wmode':'transparent'}}\" alt=\"\" \/><\/object><\/p>\n<p>Here is what nearby Springfield, Mo.&#8217;s TV station KY3 reported:<\/p>\n<p><object width=\"300\" height=\"450\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"salign\" value=\"l\" \/><param name=\"flashvars\" value=\"&amp;titleAvailable=true&amp;playerAvailable=true&amp;searchAvailable=false&amp;shareFlag=N&amp;singleURL=http:\/\/ky3.vidcms.trb.com\/alfresco\/service\/edge\/content\/18f54d58-1472-4b34-8c41-16038a60e3d2&amp;propName=ky3.com&amp;hostURL=http:\/\/www.ky3.com&amp;swfPath=http:\/\/ky3.vid.trb.com\/player\/&amp;omAccount=tribschurzglobal&amp;omnitureServer=sci.ky3\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"menu\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"devicefont\" value=\"false\" \/><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/><param name=\"scale\" value=\"showall\" \/><param name=\"loop\" value=\"loop\" \/><param name=\"play\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"pluginspage\" value=\"http:\/\/www.macromedia.com\/go\/getflashplayer\" \/><param name=\"quality\" value=\"high\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/ky3.vid.trb.com\/player\/PaperVideoTest.swf\" \/><embed width=\"300\" height=\"450\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http:\/\/ky3.vid.trb.com\/player\/PaperVideoTest.swf\" salign=\"l\" flashvars=\"&amp;titleAvailable=true&amp;playerAvailable=true&amp;searchAvailable=false&amp;shareFlag=N&amp;singleURL=http:\/\/ky3.vidcms.trb.com\/alfresco\/service\/edge\/content\/18f54d58-1472-4b34-8c41-16038a60e3d2&amp;propName=ky3.com&amp;hostURL=http:\/\/www.ky3.com&amp;swfPath=http:\/\/ky3.vid.trb.com\/player\/&amp;omAccount=tribschurzglobal&amp;omnitureServer=sci.ky3\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" menu=\"true\" devicefont=\"false\" wmode=\"transparent\" scale=\"showall\" loop=\"loop\" play=\"true\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.macromedia.com\/go\/getflashplayer\" quality=\"high\" \/><\/object><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nestled in the rural\u00a0Ozarks of northwestern Arkansas, little\u00a0Green Forest, population 2,717, bade farewell Tuesday to a native son, U.S. Navy SEAL Tommy Ratzlaff. A vivid rainbow painted the sky in early morning, as a local tree-trimming service raised an enormous flag in front of the First Assembly of God where services were scheduled. Ratzlaff was&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1420,1419,1418,2201],"class_list":["post-6015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-arkansas","tag-green-forest","tag-navy-seal-tom-ratzlaff","tag-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Vivid rainbow helps rural Ozarks town bid farewell to fallen Navy Seal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/vivid-rainbow-helps-rural-ozarks-town-bid-farewell-to-fallen-navy-seal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vivid rainbow helps rural Ozarks town bid farewell to fallen Navy Seal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nestled in the rural\u00a0Ozarks of northwestern Arkansas, little\u00a0Green Forest, population 2,717, bade farewell Tuesday to a native son, U.S. Navy SEAL Tommy Ratzlaff. A vivid rainbow painted the sky in early morning, as a local tree-trimming service raised an enormous flag in front of the First Assembly of God where services were scheduled. Ratzlaff was&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/vivid-rainbow-helps-rural-ozarks-town-bid-farewell-to-fallen-navy-seal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-21T17:30:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-08-20T10:14:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/files\/2011\/08\/ratzliff-flag.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vivid rainbow helps rural Ozarks town bid farewell to fallen Navy Seal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/vivid-rainbow-helps-rural-ozarks-town-bid-farewell-to-fallen-navy-seal","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vivid rainbow helps rural Ozarks town bid farewell to fallen Navy Seal","og_description":"Nestled in the rural\u00a0Ozarks of northwestern Arkansas, little\u00a0Green Forest, population 2,717, bade farewell Tuesday to a native son, U.S. Navy SEAL Tommy Ratzlaff. A vivid rainbow painted the sky in early morning, as a local tree-trimming service raised an enormous flag in front of the First Assembly of God where services were scheduled. 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