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FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Streets, buildings, monuments, and barracks
are some of the many structures that make up the 82nd Airborne
Division footprint on Fort Bragg. Each structure holds a name that
honors the history of the “All American” Division.
The 82nd
Abn. Div. war memorial museum is the core center of the Division`s
remembrance with artifacts and memorials that honor those who
sacrificed their lives in conflict.
Veterans, Gold Star
Families, and Paratroopers slowed down the fast pace of All American
Week to remember those who gave their full measure of devotion for
their country, not at the hands of the enemy, but in preparation for
combat operations.
“Training for combat is an inherently
risky and dangerous business,” said Brig. Gen. Brian Winski, deputy
commanding general of the 82nd Abn. Div. “Paratroopers that perish
during training are no less significant than those lost in combat.”
On May 25, 2016, a new memorial recognizing those lost
during training joined the other shrines of Paratroopers who have
given their lives in nine different conflicts.
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May 25, 2016 - Maj. Gen. Richard Clarke and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Green, 82nd Airborne Division commanding general and command sergeant major, and 82nd Abn. Div. Association leaders unveil a new monument dedicated to the Paratroopers who lost their lives while conducting combat training during a memorial ceremony at the 82nd Abn. Div. War Memorial Museum on Fort Bragg, NC. Families, friends, and veteran Paratroopers paid their respects and honored their fallen comrades. The new monument featured more than 220 names, all training casualties. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel Schroeder)
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“Last year, a mother of a Paratrooper [Sgt. Shaina
Schmigel], who was at Sicily Drop Zone, inspired me as she
was planting a rose where her daughter had died during an
Airborne operation,” said Maj. Gen. Richard Clarke,
commanding general of the 82nd Abn. Div. “I hope today that
this monument will help us remember all those lost during
our division`s training history.”
Before the crowd
sits a symbolic parachute canopy draped over a memorial
wall. The 82nd Abn. Div. band plays traditional harmonies
for the color guard to march to while nine representatives
and descendants of historical conflicts walk the path
honoring those who have served, fought or fallen.
The parachute is lifted and unveils the new granite wall,
engraved with more than 230 Paratrooper names from the last
75 years.
The wall bears the names of those lost in
training fatalities, so they will not be forgotten.
Gen. (Ret.) Dan McNeill, a former Division commanding
general, and guest speaker for the ceremony, recalled the
events that transpired at Pope Air Force Base in 1994 known
as the Green Ramp Tragedy. A mid-air collision and
subsequent ground collision cost the lives of 24
Paratroopers. Sgt. Daniel Price, a Paratrooper with 2nd
Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade
Combat Team, sacrificed his life to save a Paratrooper he
had never met before.
Spc. Estella Wingfield, an
information systems operator with Headquarters and
Headquarters Detachment, 525th Military Intelligence Brigade
at the time, recalls in a report, “He looked me in the eye,
grabbed me by the shirt, threw me several feet in the air
and jumped on top of me.... An instant later, I heard the
blast, felt the extreme heat from the explosion and the
debris falling on us.... After the explosion and the rounds
stopped going off, he whispered in my ear, ‘Crawl out from
underneath me.' I did and took off running. He saved my
life.”
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May 25, 2016 - The 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade
color guard salutes for the National Anthem during a memorial
ceremony to unveil a new monument dedicated to the Paratroopers who
lost their lives while conducting combat training at the 82nd Abn.
Div. War Memorial Museum on Fort Bragg, NC. Families, friends, and
veteran Paratroopers paid their respects and honored their fallen
comrades. The new monument featured more than 220 names, all
training casualties. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Anthony Hewitt)
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More than just Family attended to see the names of their
loved ones. Friends that have served with those lost made
the trip to All American Week to honor their ‘jump buddies.'
Peter Forthofer, a former staff
sergeant with the 307th Engineer Battalion, attends All
American Week to pay his respects to his friend, Staff Sgt.
Michael Moore, who was lost during a mass airborne operation
in 1982 at Fort Irwin, California.
“The winds were
extremely high that day, but it`s still what we do,” said
Forthofer. “ You would be lucky to get three words out of
him, but he loved the 82nd [Airborne Division] and would`ve
been upset if he did not get to jump that day. So he was
still doing what he loved until the end.”
Clarke says
that this memorial is important because it`s a part of the
Division`s history. Paratroopers, Families, and careers will
move on. However, the memorial will always be here. “This is
something we can always come back to.”
By U.S. Army Sgt. Anthony Hewitt
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
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