Brent words can't tell what I am feeling for you loss. A fellow vet taken
Brent, we are so very sorry to hear of the loss of your precious son. we Know how proud you were that he was serving his country, valliantly. there are no words that comfort the broken heart of a greiving parent. Know that we are praying for you and your family, always, but especially now. EAPFP! Know that you are loved, Brother!
[Edited on 8/29/2015 by willieB69]
So sorry to hear about this - at a loss for words.
Thinking of you and your family
I was thinking of a night in Gadsden, when Bup was still with us, and a private little conversation we had. I dont think he would mind if I shared a bit of it here...
...I remember Bup pulling me aside at a Jam For Duane, he felt compelled to tell me how much he loved Brent and how proud he was of him.
It was a glorious Alabama night, crisp and cool, we had just walked from one venue to another , when Bup grabbed me by the arm, saying he had something to tell me.
At first I felt a bit frightened, he seems so serious, he had an odd look in his eye. I couldn't imagine what he was about to tell me.
Then he blurted out how much he admired Brent, he wanted others to know the kind of man , the kind of family the Sibleys were.
He went on to tell me how Brent had been Daddy and Mama to the children, raising them as a single Father, and what a great job he had done.
I remember Bup waving his arm over the crowd, pointing out how many of the local folks had attended, for the love of the Sibley family.
We laughed together happily watching Brent welcoming a table of elderly ladies , delicate, fine women, with snow white hair.
They clearly had no idea who Duane Allman was, but were glowing while Brent took their frail hands in his , and bent down to kiss each of their cheeks and thank them for coming. They all asked after Forrest, Alabama's hometown hero. Brent was purely beaming with pride and love , as were the little ladies.
At the time it seemed a small, personal thing, but now I cant get it out of my head.
For those who have not had the pleasure of meeting Brent other than online, he is the real deal, as I know you all must imagine .
As I continue praying Brent can find peace at this terrible time, Im remembering how Bup told me Brent was everything to the children, and they were everything to Brent .
[Edited on 8/29/2015 by Carol]
Thoughts and prayers to you and your family.
Prayers to you and your family. Thank you for your son's service to keep us all free. Never taken for granted
From the Pensacola News Journal
Marlette: Love, loss and Staff Sgt. Sibley
Andy Marlette, News Journal Cartoonist 6:49 p.m. CDT August 29, 2015
(Forrest on far left)
It was unthinkable. It was impossible. Not Forrest.
In the dark, early morning, Josh confirmed the devastating news with a call to his fallen friend's girlfriend.
"Forrest is dead."
Unthinkable. Impossible. Forrest was the most alive person he had ever known.
It was 2004 on Pensacola Beach. Working as a bar back and server, Forrest found his band of brothers. After opening the now-legendary Paradise Bar and Grill, they were part of the first squadron of friends whose mission was to open Hemingway's — an undertaking derailed later that year by Hurricane Ivan.
"Like everyone else, we were suddenly out of a job," Josh recalls. No worry. At Forrest's cheerful lead, the group of friends took to roaming Pensacola's hurricane-torn streets. They bargained for minimum wages in exchange for chopping, cutting, clearing and hauling. Forrest reveled in the exhaustion. The evenings without electricity. The dinners of MREs. He wasn't only the guy who smiled all the way through it, Josh says. He was the guy who — miraculously — went out and found beers for everyone.
Eventually, the friends returned to the beach. In those days, they were the boys who made pretty girls laugh late into the night at The Break and The Islander. Forrest could skillfully turn a late night into early morning skinny-dipping in the Santa Rosa Sound — until a good-natured deputy would make everyone put their clothes back on.
"Forrest lived for Pensacola Beach," Josh explains. He was the local guy who would go on a gleeful shopping spree for a tourist's ensemble at Wings — the neon green "Pensacola Beach" tank top paired with the American flag swim trunks. Why? To playfully and sincerely adorn himself with the two places on Earth that he was so proud of.
"He had all intentions to finish his military career and live out his life right here," Josh says. "I think he loved it more than any other place in the world."
And no matter where he was in the world, Forrest was thinking about Pensacola. As a four-time Bronze Star recipient in the 21st Special Tactics Squadron based at Pope Army Airfield in North Carolina, Forrest's duty called him far away from our beautiful beach.
There was Afghanistan — twice. There was Syria. Harrowing deployments dropped Forrest in some of the worst places at the worst times. But Pensacola was always a Facebook message away.
Ever the shepherd, Forrest kept constant tabs on his friends. "He was always checking to make sure we were having a good time," Josh says. "Did you guys go to Blues on the Beach? Did you guys do McGuire's 5k?" He was doing his solemn duty to his country, and he wanted to make sure his friends weren't neglecting their duty to enjoy Pensacola.
"He was the guy who was worried about his friends, even while he was in the places where we should have been checking in on him." Josh says. Such was Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley's capacity to love others.
Perhaps that's the greatest talent of men who go through life as Forrest did — to love.
"With the heart, innocence and spirit of a 10-year-old," Josh describes all that Forrest so energetically adored: He loved the beach and Paddy O'Leary's and the Florida Gators. He loved climbing things — especially things that he wasn't supposed to climb. There also was Halloween. Golfing — especially the potential for a flipped golf cart and the way a gentlemanly afternoon at Osceola or Scenic Hills could morph into a game of bumper cars.
He loved the greeting, "Big boy, where ya at?!"
He loved backyard slip-and-slide obstacle courses. Such a challenge was accepted with gusto — by dressing in 70's garb and afro wig, careening down the homemade slip, sliding into a dislocated shoulder. And smiling all the way, of course.
He loved countering the ruckus of gonzo beachgoing with the serenity of nature. Quiet moments were found at Fort Pickens where the friends would just wander. Other times it was Forrest leading a band of Pensacola brothers and sisters over the Blackwater River and through the woods until they were lost.
And sometimes Forrest would just go get lost by himself. "He'd take off with a few guns and an appetite for venison," Josh says. "He gave nature its due time. He had an intuition. Forrest knew how to dwell in it."
In truest heart and full faith, Josh says Forrest loved his country. At times, when a few beers would stretch into late-night political discussions, Forrest's vision of America was absolute and unshakeable. Our nation's greatness was not up for debate. We were the good guys and Forrest was dedicated to being one of the very best of them.
To those who spoke to Forrest about his service, the potential for violence was something that existed outside his fascination with the special forces. Certainly, he knew the dangers of duty. But his love of the mission was hardwired to the tactics and technology. "He was a born puzzle-solver," says Josh.
As word spread that Staff Sgt. Sibley had been killed in an ambush, lines of communication lit up from the diaspora of crestfallen friends of Forrest. Many old Pensacola friends have scattered over the last decade: New York. Seattle. Atlanta. California. Kansas City. The news spread on Facebook and the sobbing phone calls have been coming in ever since. Every hour, it has seemed, another horrified friend learns the sad, sad news for the first time.
Josh says Forrest had just bought a motorcycle and was planning a coast-to-coast ride. He loved his girlfriend very, very much. They were discussing marriage.
"It feels like someone stole something. It feels like robbery." Josh's eyes well.
"He was supposed to be there for things. He was supposed to be there for the big days, you know? For the weddings. He was a future groomsman in many, many weddings."
"I think that's why this has been so painful," Josh says. "You see a rare soul that's so alive and so vibrant, and just to be around him made you vibrant too — and then it's gone."
"In Pensacola, a lot of people know Forrest. A lot of people love him and miss him."
And so it goes. The treachery of war has stolen a beloved son far too soon. What's left but to mourn and honor him?
On Saturday near Big Sabine, Josh and many of Forrest's friends gathered along the seashore in the soundside waters their fallen friend loved so deeply. May there be solace that through these many souls, Forrest will never be forgotten. And may there be faith that even in this final, tragic deployment, Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley is somewhere smiling and looking in on the people he loved — like he'd done so many times before.
Just horrible. Our collective thoughts are with your family.
🙁 So sad ...
Brent, thoughts and prayers being sent your way and to those who loved Forrest most. May you find the strength you need to get you through these hardest of days and peace and comfort in each other and in your love for Forrest. I've always been touched by your posts here about your son, Brent, and your love and pride for this wonderful man you helped gift the world with. I cannot imagine your pain but hope the displays of love from all over and the knowledge that Forrest touched and made a difference in so many lives in his short time here will bring some soothing to your hurting heart. Thank you, Forrest, and Godspeed...
Thank you for the above post Rusty. Forrest was a heck of a man.
[Edited on 9/2/2015 by StratDal]
A Horrible loss for Brent and our country..
Prayers to Brent at this awful time..
I am sorry for your loss.
Thoughts, Prayers, & Condolences To The Family & Friends, RIP.
For any interested, there is a GoFundMe drive started by friends to help Brent with personal expenses incurred as a result of Forrest's passing. The GoFundMe link is at the bottom of the story.
http://www.com/article/20150902/news/150909957
The Gadsden Times
By Cyndi Nelson
Times Associate Editor
One of the airmen who died Aug. 26 of injuries sustained in Afghanistan has local ties, and friends are raising money to help his father with travel-related expenses as he prepares for a parent's worst nightmare.
Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley, 31, of Pensacola, Fla., was assigned to the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Army Airfield, N.C. He and Capt. Matthew D. Roland, 27, of Lexington, Ky., were deployed in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel when the vehicle they were traveling in was attacked near Camp Antonik.
The attack took place Aug. 25, and both airmen died the next day of their injuries.
Sibley's name may well sound familiar to music fans. His father, Brent Sibley, performs with bands Skydogs and The Zillionaires. Skydogs frequently performs at events for the Humane Society Pet Rescue and Adoption Center.
While his son's burial expenses will be paid by the Air Force, friends have started a GoFundMe campaign for Brent Sibley.
“As longtime friends of (Forrest's) father, Brent Sibley, we would like to assist Brent with his own expenses associated with the loss of his son, to help him during this difficult time,” the page information states. “Funding will be used to offset personal expenses such as lost income, air travel to retrieve his son's truck/personal belongings, lodging, etc. Brent has suddenly had to deal with something that no parent is prepared for.”
To contribute: http://www.gofundme.com/cs3235pc.
Having lost two teenage sons in different accidents I could write a book on this subject and actually have thought about it, to try to help others who find themselves on this path. Can't muster it.... There is a scene in In America where the father sort of comes to a realization about how impacted he is by his child's death , when telling his neighbor, he smacks himself upside the head and says "I'm a fukcin' ghost"..... it is a perspective nobody else, thank God, can "get". I feel for Brent. He has "The Path" ahead and it is hard and tricky. I went very, very astray for many years. Escapism (from pain). Men are the worst, tough it out, bury it. Sooner or later it surfaces. You get, like Brent, a flood of sympathy now. Then people no longer know what or how to say it. It becomes an elephant in the room for you and everyone around you. The Unsaid Thing months later. People bring up their children to you, unthinking, then get a ghostly look, after realizing. You find yourself, weirdly, consoling them. My point, is anyone close to Brent, this is a long road, and acceptance is the final answer, and then you accept a degree of ghostliness in yourself. Help him, don't let him become a numb pain bearer, although that is indeed his role for some time. I'll say a prayer for a bit of healing. Please don't say to him Time Heals. More correct is Time Helps (quite a bit).
Thanks for sharing that bird, well said, thank you.
When I first posted here back in '04, Brent was one of the first to befriend me and we immediatley swapped some music. He and his Family are in my Thoughts and Prayers....joe
He is in our thoughts and prayers. I am sorry to hear this.
My thoughts and prayers are with Brent and his family. No one should ever lose a child. RIP SSGT Forrest Sibley.
Thinking of Brent & Family this Am as I work with some nice Liz Reed playing in the back ground. Keeping Y'all in our prayers Brother. Faith, time, memories and music will bring you thru it! A line my daughter & I always use when something bad happens to either of us - "If you get confused, just listen to the music play!" Hang in there! Keep Jamming! Let it pour out of your soul, thru your hands & your Les Paul!
SSGT Forrest Sibley, USAF will be returning to Pensacola on Tuesday,September 15.
Visitation Tuesday from 2-5.
Service wednesday11:00
Funeral at 2:00.
All ceremonies will be held at the Naval Aviation Memorial Chapel.
The hearse will be leaving Emerald Coast Funeral Home on Racetrack in FWB at approximately 10:00 Tuesday Morning. They will make their way down Racetrack to Eglin Pkway then on to Hwy 98.They will take Hwy 98 through Navarre and Gulf Breeze,across the Bay Bridge and on to Bayfront Pkwy. They will take Bayfront to Barrancas and then on to Navy Blvd. They will go through the Main Gate of NAS and to the Chapel on Moffett rd.
He will be laid to rest on Wednesday at Barrancas National Cemetery will full Military Honors.
Please share this post and get the word out and let's line the entire route from FWB to NAS with flags and Red,white, and blue. SSGT Sibley's dad is an alumni of the very first graduating class from Gulf Breeze High
Peace to Brent and to all who knew and loved Forrest.
May we all keep the Sibley family and their loved ones and friends in our thoughts and prayers this weekend. That was a terrible day two years ago and this has to be a very difficult time for all of them. May they find peace and comfort together.
[Edited on 8/23/2017 by StratDal]
I am so sorry to hear about your loss Brent. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Thank you, SSGT Forrest Sibley, for your service. I will do my best to remember that the freedoms i enjoy in this great country are made possible by people like you and do not come without cost. God Bless you and your family.
[Edited on 8/23/2017 by Billyrock]
Sincere condolences to Brent and his family & friends.
