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TF Paladin Honors Fallen EOD Comrades
(April 16, 2011) | 
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U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Lauren Larson, Combined
Joint Task Force Paladin operations sergeant major, and a native of
Cumberland, Md., places the identification tags of one of 20 Paladin
service members who were killed in combat over the past 12 months,
onto the pistol grip of the fallen warrior memorial during a
remembrance ceremony here April 5, 2011. Photo by Pfc.
Michael Syner |
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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- Combined Joint Task Force Paladin
remembered and honored fallen comrades who had made the ultimate
sacrifice during the past 12 months during a ceremony here April 5.
The lives of 20 Paladin service members, which included 10 soldiers,
eight Marines and two airmen, were honored in the CJTF Paladin 6th
Annual Fallen Comrade Memorial, a memorial which coincides with the
annual Explosive Ordinance Disposal Memorial, held at Elgin Air
Force Base, Fla., each spring.
“The memorial is important for
two reasons,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Hockstedler, CJTF
Paladin command sergeant major, and a native of Warroad, Minn.
“First, it begins the healing process for friends and family
members; and second, it provides closure.”
The fallen heroes
had come to Paladin from all over the United States; from Alaska,
the West Coast, the Northeast, the Midwest, the Great Plains, and
the South. They were husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, and friends.
They were Eagle Scouts, star athletes, hunters, outdoorsmen and
extreme sports enthusiasts.
Honored were:
U.S. Army Spc. Wade A. Slack, 21 of Waterville, Maine, assigned to the
707th Ordnance Company, 3rd Ordnance Battalion, of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord,
Washington, died of combat wounds inflicted by the enemy May 6, 2010 in
Wardak province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Adam L.
Perkins, 27, of Antelope, Calif., assigned to 1st Marine Logistics
Group, 1st EOD Company, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., died on May
17, 2010, at Forward Operating Base Edinburgh, Afghanistan, while
supporting combat operations |
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in Helmand province, Afghanistan. |
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U.S. Army
Staff Sgt. Shane S. Barnard, 38, of De Smet, S.D. , assigned to 53rd
Ordnance Company, based at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, died of
combat wounds inflicted by the enemy on May 19, 2010 while supporting
combat operations in Zabul province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Marine
Corps Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Eastman, 28, of Moose Pass, Alaska,
assigned to 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer
Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, based at Camp Pendleton,
Calif., died July 18, 2010, while supporting combat operations in
Helmand province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Derek J.
Farley, 24, of Nassau, N.Y., assigned to 702nd Explosive Ordnance
Disposal Company, based at Grafenwoehr, Germany, died August 17, 2010,
while supporting combat operations in Farah province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Daniel L. Fedder, 34, of Pine City,
Minn., assigned to 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer
Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, based at Camp Pendleton,
Calif., died August 27, 2010, while supporting combat operations in
Helmand province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt.
Floyd E. Holley, 36, of Casselberry, Fla., assigned to the 1st Explosive
Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine
Logistics Group, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., died August 27, 2010,
while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Matthew J. West, 36, of Conover, Wis., assigned
62nd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, based at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord,
Washington, died of combat wounds inflicted by the enemy on August 30,
2010 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Capt. Jason T.
McMahon, 35, of Mulvane, Kan., commander of 744th Explosive Ordnance
Company, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., died September 5, 2010, at Bagram
Air Field of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with
indirect fire in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Air Force
Senior Airman Michael J. Buras, 23, of Fitzgerald, Ga., assigned to 99th
Civil Engineer Squadron, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight, based at
Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., deployed with 755th Air Expeditionary
Squadron, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight, died September 21, 2010,
while supporting combat operations in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Daniel J. Johnson, 23, of Schiller
Park, Ill., assigned to 30th Civil Engineer Squadron, Explosive Disposal
Flight at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and deployed with 755th Air
Expeditionary Squadron, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight, died October
5, 2010, while supporting combat operations in Kandahar province,
Afghanistan.
U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Cullins, 28,
of Simi Valley, Calif., assigned to 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group,
based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., died October 19, 2010, while conducting
combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Marine
Corps Staff Sgt. Jordan B. Emrick, 26, of Hoyleton, Ill., assigned to
1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion,
1st Marine Logistics Group, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., died
November 5, 2010, while supporting combat operations in Helmand
province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jason T.
Smith, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colo., assigned to the Explosive
Ordnance Disposal Branch, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine
Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Marine Corps Bases Japan, Iwakuni, Japan, and
attached to 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer
Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, died November 19, while
supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Justin E. Schmalstieg, 28, of Oceanside,
Calif., assigned to 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th
Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, based at Camp
Pendleton, Calif., died December 15, 2010, while supporting combat
operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Spc.
Joshua T. Lancaster, 22, of Millbrook, Ala., assigned to 723rd Explosive
Ordnance Company, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., died January 19, 2011,
from injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect
fire in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant
Chauncy R. Mays, 25, of Cookville, Texas, assigned to 705th Explosive
Ordnance Disposal Company, 184th EOD Battalion, based at Fort Polk, La.,
died February 28, 2011, while supporting combat operations in Wardak
province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Spc. Christopher G. Stark, 22,
of Monett, Mo., assigned to 705th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company,
184th EOD Battalion, based at Fort Polk, La., died February 28, 2011,
while supporting combat operations in Wardak province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Mark C. Wells, 31, of San Jose, Calif.,
assigned to 74th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 303rd Battalion,
45th Sustainment Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, based at
Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, died March 5, 2011, while supporting combat
operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Staff
Sergeant Eric S. Trueblood, 27, of Alameda, Calif., assigned to 720th
Explosive Ordnance Company, 391st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion,
16th Sustainment Brigade, based in Mannheim, Germany, died March 10, of
wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised
explosive device.
Each spring, EOD members past and present
gather at Elgin Air Force Base, Fla., to commemorate those who have made
the ultimate sacrifice. Twenty names will be added to the 238 that
currently enshrined on the memorial's wall.
“It's a special breed
of [service member] who does what we do,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Larry
Cushing, Task Force Paladin South and 63rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Battalion command sergeant major, and a native of Gadsden, Ala. “We
accept the inherent danger to protect others.”
The guest speaker
at BAF memorial, Col. Thomas Langowski, CJTF Paladin commander, and a
native of Port Edwards, Wisc., asked attendees to ponder what it is that
makes someone a hero. He then named each of the 20 fallen EOD service
members, when and where they were killed, and a personal message for
each one.
“I submit to you, that all of these men are without a
doubt, heroes,” said Langowski. “They all displayed a special courage,
not a courage that is absent fear; but a courage that each of them came
by as they all judged that something else was more important than fear,
and they lived their lives in control of that fear as they rendered safe
explosive hazards designed to harm and injure others indiscriminately.
And courage is a faith in something worth dying for. And fear is nothing
more than our faith on trial.”
“So honor the sacrifice of these
20 heroes tonight by living your life to the fullest, but when you
refelect on the freedom that you enjoy, remember their sacrifice. We
Remember.” | |
By Army SSgt. Todd Pouliot
10th Combat Aviation Brigade
Copyright 2011
Provided
through DVIDS
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