Michael Romain, 48, wasn’t a soldier anymore, but he did give his life for his country.
The communications technician, who was working in Iraq for General Dynamics, was killed instantly on Monday when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the vehicle he was riding in.
The numbness has yet to wear off for Romain’s family in Morgan’s Point Resort.
His youngest son, Ryan, arrived from Houston on Tuesday to be with the rest of his body to return home.
“He was a really good dad,” Ryan said. “One of the greatest lessons that Dad taught us was to try to be successful in life and try your best at everything.”
Michael Romain’s children remember the man who was the epitome of not only trying his best, but succeeding at everything he’d ever done.
Ryan remembers his father’s last words to him as he left for Iraq in September.
“He told me that he loved me and that he’d see me before Christmas,” Ryan said.
Jason Romain, Michael’s oldest son, also had a close relationship with his father, and is feeling the loss of the man who not only taught him so much, but will never have the chance to know his two young grandsons.
“We were really close and he was really loved by a lot of people,” Jason said.
The greatest lesson he could pass to his children, Jason said, was encouraging them to follow their dreams, but to also follow their faith.
There is a sadness that has become all too common among families who’ve lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But it is a sadness that has yet to sink in completely for the Romain family.
“I just don’t believe that this happened to him,” Jason said. “I have not accepted this. I just think that it’s an accident and I think they have the wrong guy. This is just hard for me.”
Romain’s mother, Joan Romain of Morgan’s Point Resort, who learned of the tragedy from Michael’s wife, Mona, is still numb with the denial that comes with a life taken so early.
“She never thought in a million years that her son would go before her,” Jason said. “She has taken this pretty hard.”
Mrs. Romain described a nearly perfect son, who never gave his parents any trouble, and who took the lessons that he learned from them and passed them down to his children and grandchildren.
“He was a loving son. I don’t know how else to put it,” she said. “He was always good.”
