On May 31, around 150 people gathered before VFW Post #10209 located on Edward R. Noll Dr. in Spring Hill, Florida, to honor a man they call a hero. His name was Staff Sergeant Michael Wayne Schafer, but to Karen Barr “he was my son.” Schafer was born to Karen and Mark Schafer in Spring Hill, Florida on Aug. 16, 1979. A year after graduating from Springstead High School in 1998, Shafer enlisted in the United States Army. After completing basic training and airborne school in Fort Benning, Georgia, Schafer joined the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was a paratrooper of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne, a member of the so-called Chosen Company, and one of the first American soldiers to touch the ground in Kirkuk, Iraq. On July 25, 2005, Schafer was killed during combat in Afghanistan. He was only 25 years …