Soldiers Magazine - May, 2009 - Full Issue

8/14/2019 Soldiers Magazine - May, 2009 - Full Issue

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[ On the Cover ] Sta Sgt. Paul Laird poses or anhonor guard poster project, Dec. 3,2008. (Photo illustration by Sta Sgt. Cody J. Earl)

[ Coming Next Month ] June 2009 - Year o the NCO

2nd Lt. Melissa Stockwell, injured in Iraq in 2004, is ftted with a new prosthetic leg at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. See storyon page 38. (Photo by Michael Dukes)

MAY 2009 VOLUME 64, NO. 5Soldiers


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Defense Media Activity-Army | Soldiers magazine| 2511 Jefferson Davis Hwy , Box 31| Arlington, VA 22202-3900| (703) 602-0870| DSN 332-0870 | Fax (703) 602-8314| http://www.army.mil/soldiers

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Soldiers encounter erce resistence andtreacherous terrain at an insurgent strong-hold in A ghanistan.

04 Nightmare in the Shok Valley

An Army combat cameraman attached tospecial orces earns the Silver Star.

10 Te fghting combat cameraman

A Vietnam veteran honors allen warriors with sketches he donates to the amilies.

19 ributes to the allen

A ormer paratrooper brings recogni-tion to sacri ces made by World War IISoldiers in Europe.

34 Remembering our own

Contents

Soldiers who died in Europe duringWorld War II are honored. See storieson pages 34 and 47.

(Top) Afghans read coalition newspa-pers while awaiting humanitarian aidin Paktika Province, June 26, 2008.See story on page 10. (Photo by Spc.Michael D. Carter)

Wounded warriors and others with illnessor injuries receive premier medical care.

38 Walter Reed turns 100 years old

Reserve Soldiers get valuable training andguaranteed civilian employment.

43

Casualty assistance ofcer helps soothe thehurt o amilies.

46 A Soldier's duty

Keeping a special date with a allenSoldier.

47 Remembering with love

Employer Partnership Initiative

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Secretary of the Army: Hon. Pete Geren

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Defense Media Activity-ArmyCommander: Col. Ricky R. Sims

Print Communications StaffEditor in Chief: Carrie McLeroyManaging Editor: David Vergun

Soldiers Magazine Writer/Editor: Elizabeth CollinsSoldiers Magazine Writer/Editor: Jacqueline M. Hames

ARNEWS Editor: Gary Sheftick

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Nightmarein the shok valleyStory by Janice Burton

THERE are no roads leadinginto the Shok Valley. The vil-lage, which stands sentinel over

the valley, is home to one o the fercestinsurgent orces in A ghanistantheHezeb Islami al Gulbadin, or HIG.

On April 6, 2008, a daring raidinto the stronghold by A ghan com-mandos and their special orcescounterparts, tested the mettle o the A ghan orces and urther orgedthe bond between them and their SFbrothers.

In December 2008, Lt. Gen. JohnF. Mullholland, commander o the U.S. Army Special Operations Command,pinned Silver Stars on the chests o 10o the men involved in the raid and theensuing six-and-a-hal -hour frefghtthat saw more than 150 insurgentskilled. It was the largest ceremony o its kind since the Vietnam era. Butor the members o Team 3336, o the3rd Special Forces Group, it was never

about the medals. When you ask them to use one

word to describe April 6, their wordspop, much like the gunfre that raineddown on them.

A nightmare.Baptism by fre, said Sta Sgt.

Daniel Plants, it was my frst fre-fght.

Cli hanger.More words ollowed as the team

went back in their minds to that day.The team was assigned to take out

high-value targets within the HIG. Theinsurgent group was entrenched in thevalley and was guarded by a numbero highly trained oreign fghters. Thesheer number o weapons and amounto ammo used by the insurgents led theteam to conclude they had been stock-piling the weaponry within the ortress-like village since the Soviet occupationo the country during the 1980s.

A group o A ghan commandos

accompanied the team that day. Wehave such a big rapport with the com-mandos weve trained, said Sta Sgt.Luis Morales, the teams intelligencesergeant. They have such a loyalty tous. They try as hard to protect us as wetry to protect ourselves.

We eat, sleep and train with thesecommandos, said Capt. Kyle Walton,the detachment commander. We die

with them, too. These guys are closeriends to us. At the outset o the at-tack, I lost my interpreter, and we wereas close as anyone.

The interpreters hold a specialplace within the team. They are

just like a member o the team, saidMorales. One o our interpreters hasseen as much combat as any o us. Hehas six years o combat experience. Hesbeen with six SF teams and been inhundreds o frefghtsbut he doesntget the six-month break.

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(the commandos) knowledge o thelocal populace, terrain and customs, wecan truly become a orce multiplier,said Walton. Thats what SF does. We bring things to the ght that they dont have, such as close air supportand weaponry. But in the end, its an A ghan ght, and we are part o it.

The commandos who accompa-nied the SF team on the mission havedeveloped something o a reputationthroughout A ghanistan. The Talibancalls them the wolves. When they hearthe wolves are coming, they know they are in trouble. The commandos arepretty eared. Everywhere we go, they identi y us with the commandos, andthe act that this group o insurgents was prepared to sit and ght us to thedeath was indicative o an enemy orceyou dont see every day, said Morales.

Eighty percent o the guys on theground that day had been in re ghtsbe ore, said Walton. We eel airly

com ortable in a re ght anytime.But that day was di erent. The

team was going into the unknown. TheSoviets, during their occupation o thecountry, never made it into the Shok Valley. To date, no coalition troopshave been there. This was a rst. To getinto the valley, the team had to fy.

I eel com ortable with my eet ona ground, said Morales. I dont eelcom ortable in the helicopterwe cantcontrol what happens there. But on theground, we have a plan, we go in anddo it, and the rest alls into place.

We knew this was going to be adi cult mission. We expected thereto be a number o insurgents becauseo the high-value targets we were a ter,but we really thought the terrain wouldbe the greatest di culty, explained Walton.

That thought proved correct. Asthe helicopters settled over the valley,the pilots couldnt set the birds down,

so the soldiers had to jump about10 eet o the bird. Many o themlanded waist-deep in an icy river. With temperatures in the low 30s, theclimate immediately began to take itstoll. Then they aced a climb up themountain.

Walton explained the idea was togo into the village unannounced, withthe plan to take the ght to the insur-gents in the village. We didnt want toght uphill, he said, adding that thevillage is at an altitude o 10,000 eet.

The team decided to use switch-backs, which were actually terracedarm plots, as a means to get up tothe village. The team was divided intothree maneuver units, with members o the SF team paired up with about sixcommandos and their interpreters. Thevillage itsel is situated on a nger o the mountain. The team would have tohead up a draw to the village.

The buildings in the village are

Members of Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 of the 3rd Special Forces Group recon theremote Shok Valley of Afghanistan, where they fought an almost seven-hour battle with terroristsin a remote mountainside village. Patches and insignia may be altered for security reasons.

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Background photos for this article are of a valleywith treacherous terrain, negotiated by Soldiersin eastern Afghanistan, but not the Shok Valley.


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built one on top o the other on topo a slope thousands o eet in the air,said Walton. So we started the climb.The insurgents waited until the leadelement was within a couple hundredmeters o the compound be ore they initiated contact. As soon as the shoot-ing started, we realized that they hadtheir de ensive positions dug in, andthey were occupying buildings 360degrees all around us.

As soon as the opening salvo wasred, the interpreter standing beside

Walton in the command-and-controlelement was killed. Moments later,Sta Sgt. Dillon Behr was shot in theleg. Behr, a communications sergeant,stayed in the ght and sustained an-other wound be ore he became unableto continue the ght.

We knew we needed to regainthe initiative, so we started initiatingdanger-close air runs, said Walton.

Sta Sgt. David Sanders was in

the lead assault orce. I had approxi-mately 10 commandos with me, and we got into the village be ore we startedreceiving re. We couldnt move any arther orward, he recalled. Throughthe radio tra c, we heard some o theteam had gotten shot, so we startedtrying to identi y the buildings wherethe re was coming rom. We hoped toneutralize the threat.

Walton said Sanders was the rstperson he thought o who might beable to identi y where the insurgents were. I was standing next to thecombat controller, and when we got toa place where we could talk, he calledin close-air support, and the F-15srolled in immediately. I knew my guys were up there, and I know that whenyou call in danger-close air, you areprobably going to get injured or killed.I called back to Sanders and askedi he was too close. He said, Bringit anyway. Bombs started exploding

everywhere. When I called to see i he was still alive, all I could hear him say-ing was, Hit them again.

Walton said that it is rare to callin danger-close air even once during are ght. Throughout the a ternoon,the team called it 70 times.

We did take some casualties romthe danger-close air, said Sta Sgt.Seth Howard. A lot o the commandosgot injured rom alling debris. Thebombs were throwing ull trees andboulders at themthey were fyinghundreds o meters.

At one point in the battle, when itlooked as i the C2 element would beoverrun, Sanders called or the bomb-ing to come closer. They dropped a2,000-pound bomb right on top o ourposition, said Walton. Because o the elevation, the bomb blew upwardrather than down. It just didnt seemlike we had much o a decision. Ourguys were wounded, and we couldnt

Afghan National Army commandos from the 203rd Kandak board a coalition forces helicopter before conducting security operations in KhowstProvince, Afghanistan, Feb. 7, 2008.

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go back the way we came.We knew we might get hurt, but

we really didnt think about it, saidSanders.

The insurgents were so dug in,so well, that even the close-air sup-port wasnt enough. It helped, but it was by no means a magic wand, saidHoward. You would think when thebombs start dropping they would stopshooting at you. Thats the thoughtprocess, and you know it might killyou or somebody else, but when thereare so many pieces o hot metal fyingall around you constantly, youve got tolet it go.

With bombs alling and heavy gun-re coming rom every side, the teamreturned re. Team members recallgoing through masses o ammo, in ad-dition to the bombs that were droppedand the rounds the aircra t were ring.

The teams re was controlled,though, said Walton. Cloud cover was

coming in, and there was no certainty that we would be able to get out thatnight. So we didnt waste our ammo. We really didnt re unless we had ashot or when we needed to lay suppres-sive re to allow people to move.

The insurgents, likewise, wereshooting in a controlled manner. Thegun re was heavy, sustained and ac-curate. Team members recall that eveni the bullets werent kicking up besidethem or hitting them, they de nitely heard them crack near them.

The only break in the battle was when a bomb was dropped on a three-story building. The building explodedoutward. Good guy or bad guy, youregoing to stop when you see that, saidMorales. It reminded me o the videosrom 9/11everything starts fush-ing at you, debris starts allingandeverything gets darker.

I was totally in the cloud o black smoke. I couldnt see an inch in ront

o my ace, said Howard.Plants recalled hearing the call

or re and wanting to see where thebomb was going. I was staring at itand saw the building go up, he said. Iremember looking up, and then all o this stu starting coming down. All Icould do was roll up tight and hug thecli wall.

The battle started to turn whenHoward, a trained sniper, startedpicking the insurgents o . Howard was not in the lead element, and hehad to ght his way up the mountainto come to the aid o his team. Theght was not easy. He and the team o commandos he led up the mountain were under intense insurgent re. They were getting hit with rocket-propelledgrenades, small arms and machine-gunre. We knew some o our guys werehurt and that we had to get to them,said Howard.

We were pinned down, said Wal-

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Members of Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 of the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne)recon the remote Shok Valley of Afghanistan, where they fought an almost-seven-hourbattle with terrorists in a remote mountain village. Patches and insignia may be altered forsecurity reasons.

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Afghanistan National Army commando ca-dets graduate from the commando trainingcourse at Camp Morehead, Kabul Province,

Afghanistan, Oct. 10, 2007. Cadets enduredmonths of training to achieve the commandostatus and earn the coveted maroon beret.

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ton. When the re became so intense, we moved out onto a ledge against thecli to protect our wounded. Whatturned the battle was Seth (Howard)and his element.

Howard directed the A ghan com-mandos to re on insurgent positionsso that he could get into place with hissniper rife and his recoiless rife. They had been hunting us, and now they were getting hunted, too, said Walton.We had been trying to return re,but we couldnt nd them. They werering in a very disciplined manner.They were not hanging out windows orrunning at us.

As Howard and his element en-gaged the enemy, Walton knew time was running out. Reports rom the airsaid more insurgents were moving intheir direction.

Everyone on the team had sus-tained some sort o injury, our o themcritical, and the commandos had theirshare o injuries, as well. Everyonekept ghting, but there was a window closing on us, said Walton. We knew

we had to get out.Our higher command told us we

had to get out o there, said Walton.The weather conditions were clos-ing in, and the window to be on theground was rapidly closing. Most o the objective was gone at that point,but our casualties were mountingwe were in a mass-casualty scenario at thatpointand they became our priority. We never thought o retreating. That was never an option.

The weather was a deciding ac-tor, continued Howard. When the weather rolled in we could be stuck there at least overnight, possibly ordays. They couldnt fy in to get us, and we would have been stranded in com-pletely hostile territory. That was nota plan or success, especially with thepilots observing another 200 insurgentsmoving in on us.

With their backs literally against a wall, and recognizing that they couldntgo down the same way they came up(the switchbacks they had climbed up were the primary ocus o the insurgent

re), they began assessing an alternateexit route.

We knew we couldnt go back the way we came, so our only option wasgoing down the cli , said Walton.

Had the team been healthy, that would have been a di cult scenario.But with the number o wounded andthe re raining down, it seemed impos-sible. Walton knew he had to take thechance.

We were completely pinned down.There was intense re all around us. We couldnt leave the casualties. We were prepared to sit there and die withthem, but we decided we were going toget them out o there, he said.

Sanders made the rst climb downthe mountain by himsel . When heclimbed back up the sheer ace o thecli , Walton had one question, Doyou think we can make it down?

Sanders reply put the climb in per-spective, Does it matter i they havebroken necks or backs?

My question was, will they live?said Walton. With Sanders assurance

Afghan National Army commandos from the 203rd Kandak search a village during security operations in Khowst Province, Afghanistan,Feb. 7, 2008.

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that they would live, the team beganthe treacherous climb.

Master Sgt. Scott Ford, the teamsergeant, set up the medical evacuationand had the less seriously woundedcarry the more critically injured down. While organizing the commandos,Ford was shot in the chest plate by sniper re. He immediately got tohis eet and continued to lay downsuppressive re. One o the insurgentsnipers had Ford in his sights, and heshot him in the upper le t arm, nearly severing it. With a tourniquet aroundhis arm, Ford climbed down themountain and continued to organizethe medevac.

Morales said that the team madeits way down the cli hanging ontobranches and rocks. Near the bottomo the cli , most made a 20- oot drop,he said. I remember seeing John(Walding) carrying his leg down Waldings leg had been amputed by sniper re.

As the wounded made their way down the cli , Howard, Walton and

Spc. Michael Carter, a combat camera-man assigned to the unit, remainedbehind to lay down suppressive re andretrieve equipment.

There were a lot o guns around where everybody had been shot, saidHoward. It kind o became an issuethat there were too many guns upthere, and we didnt want to leave themin enemy hands.

Carter ran through a hail o re toretrieve guns and other equipment. Hisown cameras had been shot up duringthe initial hours o the battle. He gath-ered equipment and began throwing ito the cli , while Howard continuedto pick o enemy combatants.

The stars really aligned, said Wal-ton. Bullets were coming down romthe side and behind us, and we couldhear guys yelling above us. An elementthat came to rein orce the team that was on the ground stepped out intothe open and started ring and gave usthe chance to get out. Seth was crazy enough to stay up there and cover us while we made the climb down.

Alone, with less than a magazine o ammunition le t, Howard covered histeam as they made their way down, andonly a ter they were sa e, did he leavethe mountain.

We didnt go into this missionhoping to make history. For us, it was just a regular missionjust like theone we had done the week be ore. Ourgoal is never to get into a ght. Wedrather sit down and drink some chai,said Walton. We were hoping thismission would be the same, but we gotinto a big ght, and some o us got hit while trying to save each other. Thats what we do.

We think we sent a pretty bigmessage to the insurgents. We let themknow that we could penetrate theircom ort zone. We told them theresnowhere you are sa e that we arent willing to come in and go a ter you,concluded Walton. v

Janice Burton works for the U.S. Army John F. Ken-nedy Special Warfare Center and School.

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Afghan National Army commando cadets clear a vehicle during an ambush training missionat Camp Morehead in Kabul Province, Afghanistan, Oct. 8, 2007.

Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland awards Sgt. 1st Class Luis Morales the Silver Star at FortBragg, N.C., Dec. 12, 2008, for actions in

Afghanistans Shok Valley.

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The Fighting

Story by Elizabeth M. CollinsPhotos by Spc. Michael D. Carter (unless otherwise n

cameraman


Spc. Michael D. Carter poses in ront o his combat camera unit at Fort Meade, Md. Carter received the Silver Star or saving several special orcesSoldiers during an operation in A ghanistans Shok Valley on April 6, 2008.


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OMBA cameraman Spc. Michael D.Carter is an ordinary Soldier who didsomething extraordinary. In a horri cbattle in A ghanistan last year, he trad-ed his camera or a ri e and heroically saved the lives o several Green Berets,some o the Armys toughest and mosthighly trained Soldiers. oday, he wearsthe Silver Star as a result.

A so t-spoken, clean-cut young Sol-dier, Carter is like many servicemem-bers Ive had the privilege to interview:humble and reluctant to brag about oreven discuss his accomplishments. He was too polite to say so, but I quickly realized that he was doing me a hugeavor by opening up about what hadto have been one o the worst days o his li e.

According to Combat Camerashistorical records, he is the rst Army

combat cameraman to ever be awardedthe Silver Star, and his story and thato eam 3336 o the 3rd Special ForcesGroup to which he was attached, is oneo sel essness and heroismone thathas amazed even the most hardenedand battle-scarred o generals and com-bat veterans.

Growing up listening to his grand-athers and uncles who had served inthe Army and Marine Corps, Carteralways wanted to join the Army. Heitched with impatience a ter he wasrst assigned to a non-deployabletraining unit in Germany. As soon ashis two years were up, he requested are-assignment to a unit he could deploy

with, but when he arrived at the 55thSignal Company (Combat Camera)at Fort Meade, Md., he ound they

werent expected to go anywhere.

When I rst got here, I waspumped and everything else untilthe day I signed in, he remembered.Teyre like, Yeah, were on a hiatusright now. Were taking a break. Imlike, Huh? Teyre like, Yeah, werenot going to deploy or a little while.I got a little bit mad. Ten I was like,Okay, whatever. It happens. Ill get my time.

So when Special Operations Com-mand Central came knocking a ter hehad been there a ew months, lookingor someone to document missionsin A ghanistan, Carter eagerly vol-unteered. He was in country abouta month later in June 2007, withouteven undergoing additional specialoperations training.

Most special orces Soldiers rotatein and out o theater every six months,


A ghan National Army commandos rom the 203rd Kandak enter asuspected insurgent sa e house during security operations in KhowstProvince, A ghanistan, Feb. 7, 2008.

A ghan commandos deliver school supplies and humanitarian aidto A ghan citizens, while at the same time working with coalitionorces to provide security near the Tag Ab Valley, Kapisa Province,Nov. 14, 2007.


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but Carter spent almost a year in A ghanistan, going out an average o three to our times a week and partici-pating in and documenting a variety o missions, such as snatch-and-grabs,cordons and humanitarian aid.

In act, he was supposed to bedone; he had completed his nal mis-sion and was ready to go home. But on April 6, 2008, his sergeant had pink eye, and couldnt go on an operation with eam 3 336 and A ghan comman-dos to a remote mountain village in theShok Valley. He asked Carter to takehis place. Neither o them could haveimagined the horror to come.

Tings went south almost immedi-ately when the helicopters were unableto land and the Soldiers had to jumpabout 10 eet to the ground into icy water be ore beginning a grueling up-

hill trek on oot to the village, which was about 10,000 eet above sea level.

Tey only made it partway, andmuch o the six-and-a-hal -hour battlethat ollowed remains a blur to Carter.

What was it like? I havent really been asked that question yet, he toldme. Ive sort o been hiding away romeverybody and doing interviews. What was it like? It was just a bad situation.

When it all happened, when itall kicked o , I dont know what wasgoing through my mind. I had a lot o people who asked me that when I cameback. I didnt have time to think about what was going on. I just reacted.

I dont remember thinking aboutanything. I was just sitting there, goingo and doing stu , helping those guysout, he continued, leaning orward inhis seat, pausing requently and shak-

ing his head as though he still couldntbelieve what went down that day.

A ter our interview, he gave mecopies o his award citation and swornstatements rom the units commanderand noncommissioned ofcers thatdetailed his story. Te documentsare both chilling and awe-inspiring.

About 13 Americans and 80 A ghancommandos con ronted an insurgentorce almost twice their size. Tey weretrapped between the enemy above,more insurgents closing in rom below,a sheer 60- oot drop on one side and a

weather ront moving in.Te enemy de nitely occupied

the high ground, as Carter said, andoverwhelming sniper, rocket-propelledgrenade, small arms and machine-gun re rained down on the Soldiers.Carters video camera was destroyed

Sta Sgt. Cynthia Bartlett, rom 242nd Explosive Ordnance Disposal, helps Soldiers rom Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-A ghanistan load a palletwith 155 mm howitzer rounds or a bundle drop on Bagram Airfeld-A ghanistan on June 14, 2007. This is just one o the steps taken to resupply troops.


(Right) Soldiers rom Combined Joint Special Operations TaskForce-A ghanistan, prepare 155mm howitzer rounds to bestrapped down or a bundle drop on Bagram Airfeld, A ghani-stan, June 14, 2007.


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as a bullet ripped through the pack onhis back and through his Camelbak o water. Feeling the liquid seep down hisback, Carter thought it was blood andthat hed been shot.

I thought, Youve got to be (exple-tive) kidding me. Ten I was like, Oh,never mind. Im good. Ten I threwmy bag down and I didnt even think about it. I just started per orming rstaid and doing whatever needed to bedone, Carter recalled.

Teir interpreter had been killedless than two eet rom him and atleast six other Soldiers ultimately were wounded. According to his Silver Starcitation and Capt. Kyle M. Walton, thecompany commander, Carter exposedhimsel to the enemy, immediately began returning rekilling severalinsurgents in the processand helped

cover Walton rom a protected nook inthe side o the cli as Walton retrievedthe interpreters body.

When Sta Sgt. Dillon Behr wasshot in the arm and thigh, Cartercharged 15 eet into the open whileunder re to drag Behr to sa ety

while Walton grabbed Sta Sgt. LuisMorales, who had been wounded whiletrying to help Behr. Carter then le t hiscovered position again and ran back to retrieve Behrs radio. Te antenna

was shot o as he carried it back, but Walton was able to use it to reachheadquarters.

With bombs rom airstrikes explod-ing all around them, and the insurgentsgetting closer, Carter both continuedsuppressive re and provided li e-savingaid to Behr, Morales and other Soldiers.

When the insurgents were about

40 eet away, Walton could hear their voices and knew the unit was about tobe overrun. Tey couldnt go back the

way they came, and they were backedup, not against a wall, but a cli . Teonly way out was down.

Walton asked Carter and Sta Sgt.David Sanders to see i they could nda way down without ropes or any repel-ling gear. Carter remembered that it

was a sheer drop or about 60 eet withonly one or two small breaks.

It wasnt impossible, Carter said.It could be done. It was just goingto be hard getting the wounded guysdown. Really hard.

Carter and two other Soldiershelped at least six wounded men downthe mountain, searching or hand andootholds in what Walton termed aheroic and daring rescue.

A ghan citizens wait or a truck to be unloaded with humanitarian aid supplies in Panow, Paktika Province, A ghanistan, June 27, 2007. This humanitarian as-

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Id climb downrst and then I wouldtell them, Climbdown as ar as youcan get, and then justdrop on me. Ill catchyou. I did that with

Sergeant Morales and Sergeant Behr,Carter recalled.

He then le t the comparative sa ety o the wadi (riverbed) at the bottomand climbed into harms way onceagain to help cover the rest o theescape and throw weapons and equip-

ment over the side o the cli , because

although they believed approximately 150 insurgents had been killed, no one

wanted to leave the remaining terrorists with any extra weapons.

In the most desperate o situa-tions, and under the most intense en-emy re, Spc. Carter per ormed moreheroically than anyone could have everasked him to do, especially consider-ing he was the most junior Soldier onthe mission, and an attachment to ourteam, wrote Walton. Tis was themost intense re ght that I have everbeen involved in. For a junior Soldier

to per orm in the manner which he

An A ghan child walks to her village a ter receiv-ing medical treatment and humanitarian suppliesduring a medical engagement provided by A -ghan National Army commandos and coalitionorces near the Tag ab Valley, Kapisa Province,

A ghanistan, Nov. 14, 2007.

An A ghan girl waits or a truck with humanitarian aid supplies to be unloaded inPanow, Paktika Province, A ghanistan, June 27, 2007.



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didwas nothing short o amazing.He is one o the most courageousSoldiers I have ever met and I person-ally credit him with saving my li e, andseveral other detachment members.

Carter doesnt remember how longthey had to wait to be extracted a terthe battle, only how tired he was. Heslept or about 15 hours straight thenext day, nally waking up at about5 p.m. His main concern was ndingout i his wounded comrades were stillalive. Tey were, and he was later ableto visit them at Walter Reed Army

Medical Center in Washington.

Carter called his amily inexas a ew days a ter the bat-tle, a ter he had decompresseda little. Tey were very proudo course, but Carter said they

were also a little stunned. Andhis aunt was angry. Didnt heknow that he was supposed to runaway rom bullets, not toward them?

When he received the ofcial wordthat he would be awarded the nationsthird-highest honor last Halloween, hecouldnt quite believe it. He was serving

with Green Berets and they thought

that he deserved an award? He said all

An A ghan girl pumps water in Panow, Paktika Province, June 27, 2007. A ghansoldiers built the water pump to help their ellow A ghans.

A ghan children wait to get humanitarian aid sup-plies in Panow, Paktika Province, A ghanistan,June 27, 2007.



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Soldiers May 2009 17 Soldiers May 2009 17


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Story by Jacqueline M. Hames

Coming home:

Tributes to the fallenHERE are many types o memories, and many waysto record them. Our lives are

lled with the sounds, images andbelongings o those we have met,be riended or lost. With the inventiono the digital camera, we can now pre-serve in crisp, high-de nition clarity every moment we desire. But there issomething no camera can capture, novoice recorder can grasp: the essence o a person.

Michael Reagan, an artist basedout o Seattle, provides ree, hand-drawn portraits to amilies who havelost a loved one in the war on terrorthrough the Fallen Heroes Project.His portraits have the ability to do what the camera cannotcapture andhold the spiritual aspect o the persondepicted.

Eric Herzberg, a ormer Army cap-tain, is one o many recipients o Rea-gans work. Herzbergs son, a Marine, was killed in action in October 2006. A ter hearing about Reagan, Herzbergasked the artist to do a dual portrait o himsel and his son.

We had a personal connectionright awayhes ormer military, Imormer military. But when I receivedthe portrait that he drew o Eric andmysel it was just so absolutely stun-ning, Herzberg said.

I had a reaction I didnt expectbecause it meant way more to me than just the image on canvas, on art board,that he had been able to do. It was likethere was a spiritual component toit, that, you know, hes bringing parto my son back to me and I was justalways struck by that.

Te connection that he and Reaganshared prompted Herzberg to o er his

help about a year a ter receiving theportrait o his son, while visiting Seattleon a business trip. He discovered thatReagan had been operating all aspectso the project entirely on his own.

So I said Michael, I dont knowhow youre even standing up a ter threeyears. Youve got to be able to just dodrawing and let someone else do therest. And he looked at me and saidWell, whos going to do that? And Isaid Well, you know, why dont you

just let me take a crack at it. You dontknow me very wellwe just met. Butyoure going to nd out that Im a per-son that does what he says hes going todo, Herzberg explained.

Since then, Herzberg has helped or-ganize and run the business aspects o the project. By working with the FallenHeroes Project, he eels he is honoring

his sons memory.Its been truly a blessing or me,

Herzberg says. Tis is more liketherapy or me than anything else. I I

wasnt helping him, Id probably be do-ing something unhealthy to numb thepain or deal with the loss o my son.

Reagan, a Vietnam combat veteran,drew celebrity portraits or 30 years,donating the proceeds to charity, priorto starting the Fallen Heroes Project. A nationwide news network aired a clipo him speaking about his portraits,and be ore he knew it, he had a re-quest. A woman who saw the broadcastcalled him and asked i he could do apicture o a allen Soldier or ree.

Unable to deny a ellow veteran,Reagan readily agreed to draw theportrait.

o be real honest with you, I had

Soldiers distribute soccer balls to children in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, in 2007. One o the allen Soldiersappearing in a Michael Reagan sketch, Sgt. 1st Class John Scott Stephens, loved giving Iraqi childrensoccer balls and playing the game with them. Photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Maria. J. Bare, converted toan illustration.


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hours to complete one portrait, and henishes two a day, Herzberg said. Teproject is a 501(c) 3 non-pro t organi-zation, and as such, it is totally depen-dent on donationsReagan receivesno compensation except the thanks o grate ul amilies. Art-supply manu ac-turers donate art board and pencils tohelp Reagan continue the project.

You have a very talented man whohas set aside his own li e because his

no idea what it was about to do tomy li e, he said. When the womanreceived the portrait, she called Reaganto thank him. Te woman had notslept through the night or a year, sinceher husband died in Iraq; the portraitallowed her to reconnect with her allenhero, and she nally slept.

From that moment on, Reagan elthe was called to provide solace to theamilies o the allen.

Im supposed to do this, he said.Te project has been distributing

portraits or ve years, and providespictures or every branch o the mili-tary. o date, more than 1,600 portraitshave been given away, all or ree,including postage. He considers thisproject more important than his previ-ous career as an artist.

Reagans work on the Fallen HeroesProject is a ull-time job. It takes six


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li e now is doing these portraits, 12hours a day, seven days a week. Andhe has essentially given up his li e todraw those who have given up theirs,Herzberg said.

Once, Reagan had the dad o aallen hero call and accuse him o getting something out o the project,though Reagan reiterated he was doingeverything or ree. Te man insisted he was being rewarded.

I got a little upset with himand said Well, no Im not, Reaganrecalled, and he said Sure you are,Mike, youre getting to come homerom Vietnam. And he was right. Ikept wondering what was happening tome, what was changing inside o me,and what was changing was a ter 40years I was being able to come home.Tats my reward.

I didnt know I hadnt come

home, Reagan added, but a ter com-pleting the rst portrait, somethingchanged. Reagan said he was able toeel love in a di erent way.

Some amilies are skeptical at rst, waiting or Reagan or the project to ask or money. But once they discover thatthese portraits are gi ts and tributes tothe allen, the amily is greatly relieved,Herzberg explained.

Tis is more than the image o their allen hero on art board. Its theidea that somebody could love them somuch without ever having met them togive them a gi t like this. And at somepoint that kindles some spark, whetherits hope or aith or just the idea thatthere is goodness le t when it seemsthat most o it has been stripped away,Herzberg said.

Gene and Eva Jo Stephens receiveda portrait o their son, Sgt. 1st Class

John Scott Stephens, rom Reagan and were stunned by the resemblance.

I couldnt believe how much this

Im up sed to o thi .

(Small photos) Michael Reagan shades portraitsin his home studio.

(Le t sketch) Portrait o Sgt. 1st Class John ScottStephens, allen Soldier. Stephens was a combatmedic who loved sports. His parents, Gene andEva Jo Stephens, fnd great com ort in this pictureand have it placed prominently in their house.

(Right sketch) Sgt. Joshua Brennan, allen hero.Michael Reagan said he is driven by love to pro-vide drawings like this to amilies o the allen.

Images courtesy o Michael Reagan


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picture looks like my son, Eva Jo said.Scott, as his parents re er to him,

was an Army medic or 21 years andloved his job.

He was a medic, a combat medic.Tats what he was doing when hegot killed, Gene explained. Scott wastouring the region training Iraqi med-ics. He was killed making one o thetours.

Scott, who loved sports andrequently requested equipment orthe children in areas he was stationed,started his career with a bang.

On his rst assignment in Ger-many, Scott was undergoing on-the- job training when a young private gotstuck in the breach o a gun and hadhis leg torn o , Gene recalled. Scottssupervisor panicked, and Scott jumpedin and took care o the private. Hesaved his li e.

Scotts commanding ofcer wrotea letter telling us all about it and whata ne young lad he was. So apparently Im not the only one that thinks he wasa pretty good man.

Te Stephens amily nds greatcom ort in the portrait o their son.Te picture hangs near the kitchen;Gene and Eva Jo pass it on a daily basis.

Tis picture is so wonder ul. Every time I look at it, its like hes looking atme, telling me get with it mom, likehe always did, Eva Jo laughed.

Having the picture is kind o likehaving him here, Gene added.

Reagan spends time getting toknow every ace that crosses his desk,paying care ul attention to amily descriptions and anecdotes. He believesthat each portrait has some sort o messagehe doesnt know what it is,but he knows when a amily opens thepackage and sees the portrait, they willknow.

A lot o this is very spiritual to me,and beyond my understandingbutI dont need to understand, he said.Reagan explained that love drives himto continue the project, and gets himthrough the more difcult emotionalaspects involved in the process.

I need these people to understandthat I appreciate them, Reagan em-phasized. I love and respect this lossand I will never orget the sacri ce o the deceased, he said. Te care he takesin creating a portrait and delivering itto a amily is evident to most recipi-ents.

Mr. Reagan wrote us the nicestletter that came with this picture, (es-pecially) not knowing my son, and heseems like a very great guy. He seems tocare about other people, and thats hardto nd much anymore, Eva Jo said.

Reagan hopes that this project willhelp heal the amilies o all those lost,as well as the country as a whole.

Te country has a broken heartits not just the amilies, he explained.

He estimates that 95 percent o theallen rom the war in Iraq could crosshis desk eventually, and hell be able tonally send them home. v

If you would like to learn more about Michael Reagan and the Fallen Heroes Project please visit:

www.fallenheroesproject.org .

M i c h a e l ,I r e t u r n e d r o m a t r i p j u s t o v e r a w e e k a g o a n d

y o u r p a c k a g e w a s w a i t i n g h e r e o r m e . I i n s t a n t l y

o p e n e d i t a n d w a s s o t a k e n b a c k b y t h e d e t a i l i n t h e

p h o t o o m y s o n , S g t . J o s h u a B r e n n a n . I w a n t t o

t h a n k y o u s o m u c h o r y o u r g i t t o o u r a m i l y . I

t h a n k G o d o r y o u r g i t s t h a t y o u h a v e s h a r e d w i t h

a l l o t h e a m i l i e s o t h e a l l e n . I w i l l h a v e i t p r o e s s i o n a l l y r a m e d a n d

p r o u d l y d i s p l a y i t i n o u r h o m e a s a m e m o r y o m y

s o n J o s h . W e h a v e h a d s o m a n y g i t s c o m e o u r w a y

l a t e l y . L a s t w e e k m y a m i l y a n d I w e r e i n v i t e d t o

t h e W h i t e H o u s e a l o n g w i t h a e w o t h e r a m i l i e s o

a l l e n S o l d i e r s t o m e e t w i t h P r e s i d e n t B u s h b e o r e

h e l e t o f c e . I c a n t h e l p b u t b e s o b l e s s e d w i t h s o

m a n y g i t s t h a t h a v e c o m e o u r w a y s i n c e t h e l o s s o

o u r s o n . T h a n k y o u a g a i n a

n d G o d b l e s s y o u o r t h e

w o r k t h a t y o u d o .

M i c h a e l B r e n n a n

Letters from families:

Mi c h a e l , We wa n t t

o t h a n k y o u s o

m u c h f o r o u r p i c t u r e

o f Sg t .

1s t C l a s s J o h n Sc o t t S t e p

h e n s ,

o u r b e l o v e d s o n . Y o u r p i c t u

r e

l o o k s j u s t l i k e h i m a

n d g i v e s

u s s o m u c h c o m f o r t

. We s t i l l

m i s s h i m e v e r y d a y a

n d wi s h

s o m u c h t o h u g h i m

. He wa s

a wo n d e r f u l s o n , m

a n a n d

So l d i e r . He wa s a d e

d i c a t e d

m e d i c f o r 21 y e a r s a

n d l o v e d

b y a l l w h o k n e w h i m

. W h a t

y o u a r e d o i n g f o r t h

e f a m i l i e s

t h a t l o s t a l o v e d o n e

c a n t b e

d e s c r i b e d i n

wo r d s . T h a n k

y o u Mi c h a e l wi t h a l l o f o

u r

l o v e !L o v e , Ge n e & Ev

a J o S t e p h e n s


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The Army in Action

On Point



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Soldiers April 2009 25Soldiers May 2009 25

AfricaGen. William Ward, commander, U.S. Africa Command, meets withthe northern Uganda program coordinator for Malaria Consortium atthe Te-Tugu Camp for internally displaced persons near the town ofGulu in northern Uganda.

Navy Cmdr. Denise Shorey


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army news


THE Purple Heart Outdoors ouris now in its second year o spon-soring hunting and shing expeditionsto help wounded warriors get back ontheir eet.

Te tour was dreamed up by Army Reserve Lt. Col. Dan Hammack,owner o Southern Wilderness Planta-tion, a game preserve about 60 milessouth o Fort Benning, Ga.

Hammack has hosted two quailhunts and a turkey hunt or woundedveterans and servicemembers who havereceived commendations or valor inIraq and A ghanistan. Other highlightso the tour included an elk hunt inSaskatchewan, Canada.

Te outdoor events are designed tobuild sel -con dence and morale orthe wounded warriors while exposing

Wounded warriors getback in the hunt Two shooters and their guideapproach a covey of quail

after the lead dog goes pointin the Purple Heart Outdoors

Tour Bobwhite Quail Hunt inGeorgia.

SOME military amilies are ndingthemselves in a precarious situation

when it comes to selling their houseand relocating, said housing experts.

Some bought their homes at theheight o the market and now, becauseo permanent-change-o -stationorders, are trying to sell in todayslower market, said Edmond Hackett,housing management specialist, FortBelvoir, Va. Te good news is that the

Help available for military hit by housing market

them to di erent activities. Ham-mack said the events also result inoverwhelming public support or thetroops.

Local residents were extremely supportive o this years quail huntFeb. 13-15, he said. Members o thecommunity served as guides andhelped with the hunt. Some broughttheir dogs to fush out the quail, oth-ers served as cooks at the barbeque. A

number o local businessescatered meals, ree o charge, or donated und-ing or the event.

Local amilies housedmany o the sevicemembers. Locallandowners across our counties inGeorgia opened their property orhunting and servicemembers camerom as ar away as Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

Future events include a blacktaildeer hunt scheduled or northernCali ornia in August, and an elk huntscheduled or Colorado in October. v OCPA-Southeast

L t .

C o l . M i k e K i s e r

new economic stimulus package hasprovisions to help military homeown-ers and Army Emergency Relie is alsohelping those hit by the crunch.

Renters are not immune to theefects o oreclosure either.

In the past couple o months,approximately ve Army amilies havehad to deal with losing the homesthey were renting when the ownersaced oreclosures, said Shawn Wal-ters, housing management specialist,Fort Belvoir.

An attachment to the Joint Fed-eral ravel Regulations added in late2008 authorizes a short-distance moveo household goods or servicemem-bers orced to relocate because thehome they were renting oreclosed.

Although there are no speci cprograms to help Soldiers when they are behind in their mortgage, Army Emergency Relie is an avenue orassistance in this tough market, saidDennis Scott, assistant secretary o

administration, AER.Since the housing market

crashed, we are looking at housingdiferently, said Scott. Multiple-home ownership used to be considereda business venture and AER doesntassist in that, but now we realize itmight be because o an inability to sellin one location.

Te new economic stimuluspackagethe American Recovery andReinvestment Act o 2009includesprovisions to help servicemembers ac-ing losses in the housing market. Tegovernment will cover 95 percent o the amount lost when servicemembersare orced to sell due to permanentchange o station moves.

Te provision does have somelimitations. Te program only appliesto servicemembers who purchasedtheir homes be ore July 1, 2006, whichis roughly the time when the housingmarket started to decline. v ARNEWS/Carol E. Davis

C a r o l E

. D a v

i s


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From the Army News Service and Other Sourc


TRAINING technology develop-

ment in Cali ornia has Soldiers walking through virtual environmentsthat contain both real-world objectsand simulated characters.

Te FlatWorld Wide Area MixedReality demonstration was a 3-Dgaming environment that didntrequire Soldiers to wear a visor that

would tether them to a computer.

B A LEFIELD events in Iraq and A ghanistan compelled the Army to rebuild an electronic war are capa-bility that it had allowed to slip, saidLt. Gen. William Caldwell IV, com-mander o the U.S. Army Combined

Arms Center.His remarks were in conjunction

with the rollout in February o the Armys newest eld manual, FM 3-36,Electronic War are Operations.

We encountered a threat we werenot prepared or and we must learnrom this lesson to ensure that ourorce is agile enough to deal with uturecontingencies, Caldwell said.

Upon announcement o the Armysnew Field Manual 3-36, Caldwell

warned that the military services andother agencies o government shouldbe keenly aware o the rapidly devel-

oping threat posed by technological

Army releases new electronic warfare manualadvances in the realm o cyberspace.

Caldwell went on tosay the Army is movingrapidly to build a cyber-space orce, while updat-ing its legacy electronic

war are capabilities.Te impetus to rebuild

the Armys electronic war are capability came as a result o radio-controlled improvised explosivedevices, said Lt. Col. Fred Harper, akey analyst or the RADOC Capa-bilities Manager Computer Network Operations Electronic War are Divisionat Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Te Army leadership has thrownthe weight o its ull support behind aninstitutional commitment to rebuildEW as quickly as possible into a core

Army military capability.

Soldiers and civilians participate in electronicwarfare training at the Fires Center of Excellenceat Fort Sill, Okla.

In conjunction with re-establishingEW, the Army is also taking steps todevelop and integrate computer net-

work operations and cyber-electronicsinto the broader Army suite o capa-bilities to ensure that cyberspace isoptimally exploited by Soldiers o theuture. v

Combined Arms Center

Immersive technology melds Hollywood, warrior training

It melds concepts o stagecra t rom

Hollywood (including real-worldprops) with technology and projec-tion screens, to make a virtual worldSoldiers can interact with.

We have walls where the outsideis projected inwhere you can have

virtual humans interact with you inthe spaces, or where you can projectbullet holes onto the walls, said Dr.

Randall Hill Jr., executive director o

the Institute or Creative echnologiesin Los Angeles.Te Institute is, said Hill, a

nexus between the entertainmentindustry, academia and the Army.

Many projects at IC are people-ocused, Hill said. One o the most

visible, now being used by Army Accessions Command, is the Ser-geant Star program. Sergeant Starrst appeared on the goarmy.com Website as a non-animated character thatanswered questions or site visitors.Te IC team was asked to turn himinto something more.

Now, the virtual NCO is avail-able in person at Future Farmers o

America events, NASCAR races andother venues where the Army reachesout to audiences or recruiting. Ser-geant Star is projected at ull size on a screen and can interact with potential

Army recruits, answering questionsabout li e in the Army. v ARNEWS/C. Todd Lopez

In the FlatWorld Wide Area Mixed Reality, ICT demonstrates a 3-D gaming environment that doesntrequire Soldiers to wear visors or tether them to computers. It melds concepts from Hollywood,including real-world props, with technology and projection screens, to make a virtual world Soldierscan move around in and interact with.

I n s

t i t u t e f o r

C r e a

t i v e

T e c

h n

o l o g

i e s


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D YINGit is the last thingon earth we want to do,and it is usually the lastthing we are prepared or.

Tis is evidenced in part by the actthat more than hal o Americans donot have a written will. In the military,the Judge Advocate Generals Corps will readily assist servicemembers todraw one up, and servicemembers areasked i they have a written will priorto deployment.

However, because it is not a re-quirement, many do not take advan-

tage o this ree service. Tat may bebecause wills have to do with dying,and dying is not a topic with which we are com ortable. Ernest Becker, inhis Pulitzer Prize-winning book, TeDenial o Death, suggests that death isthe primary concern o the living, butthat we cope with it by denying it willever happen to us.

How do you like that introduc-tion? I start out talking about death,and ollow that with an assertion thatit is something that we do not like totalk about. You may already be eeling

squeamish, but you have no need oralarm. Tat is because the topic, ratherthan being dismal and macabre, is un-alarmingly practical. Someday you willdie, and something will be done withyour remains. Have you considered theoption o being interred in a military cemetery?

National cemeteries were intro-duced at the beginning o the Civil War, when in July 1862, President Abraham Lincoln obtained autho-rization through legislation enactedby Congress, to purchase cemetery

Story by Sgt. Maj. Cecil Edwards A lasting me& testame

A Soldier rom the 3rd U.S. In antry Regiment,The Old Guard, positions the Army ag be ore aceremony at the Tomb o the Unknowns in Arling-ton National Cemetery. Although Arlington is oneo two national cemeteries maintained by the De-partment o the Army, the VAs National Cemetery

Administration maintains the other 128 nationalcemeteries in 39 states (and Puerto Rico) as wellas 33 Soldiers lots and monument sites.

D .M

y l e s C ul l e n


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grounds or Soldiers who shall havedied in the service o the country.

In that rst year alone, 14 nationalcemeteries were established. oday there are more than 10 times thatnumber: 125 are located in 39 statesand Puerto Rico (not to mention 33Soldiers lots and monument sites),and maintained by a ederal govern-ment agency known as the NationalCemetery Administration ( www.cem.va.gov/cem/cems/listcem.asp#DE); theDepartment o the Interiors NationalPark Service maintains an additional14; and the Department o the Army maintains two more, to include Ar-lington National Cemetery. Tis doesnot include the almost 90 state-runveterans cemeteries that can be oundin 42 states and two territories, 71o which are unded by the Veterans Administration ( www.cem.va.gov/cem/scg/lsvc.asp); and, new military cemeteries are being established on anongoing basis. As or the number o Americans that have been so interred,to include veterans rom as early as theRevolutionary War to our present-day con icts, the total is estimated to bemore than 3 million.

Criteria for burial eligibility o be buried in a national ceme-

teryand this criteria would apply tomost state veteran cemeteries, par-ticularly those that are unded by theVA (i.e., they generally must agree toollow the same rules, guidelines andstandards as the national cemeteries,though they may also have an addition-

Portland, Oregons Willamette National Cemetery hosts a contingent o the Oregon National Guard, as-signed to the cemetery to per orm ull military honors on a frst-assigned, frst-served basis.

Fort Smith National Cemetery in Arkansas is on the National Register o Historic Places, and the fnalresting place o Brig. Gen. William O. Darby, best known or his organization o the First Ranger Battalionduring World War II.

Because I could not stop for Death,He kindly stopped for me:

Te carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality.

Emily Dickinson


L AST W ILL A ND

TEST A ME NT OF

Se r g ea n t Joh n S m

i th

I, Se r g ea n t Joh n S

m i th, a re s ide n t o

A rl i n g to n, V i r g i n

ia, be i n g o so u nd

a nd d i s-

po s i n g m i nd a nd

me mo r y a nd o ve r

the a g e

o e i g h tee n (18 ) y

ea r s o r la w ull y m

a r r ied

o r ha v i n g bee n la

w ull y ma r r ied o r

a me m-

be r o the a r med

o rce s o the U n i t

ed S ta te s

o r a me mbe r o a n

a u x il ia r y o the a

r med

o rce s o the U n i ted S ta te s o r a

me mbe r o

the ma r i t i me se r v

ice o the U n i ted S ta te s,

a nd no t be i n g ac t

ua ted b y a n y d u re s s, me n-

ace, ra ud, m i s tak

e, o r u nd ue i n f ue

nce, do

make, p ubl i sh, a n

d decla re th i s to b

e m y

la s t W ill, he reb y

e x p re s sl y re vok i n g

all W ill s

a nd Cod ic il s p re v

io u sl y made b y m

e.

S t a f J u d g e A d v o c a

N a t i on

a l C

e m

e t e r y A

d mi n i s t r a t i on

N a t i on

a l C

e m

e t e r y A

d mi n i s t r a t i on


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servicemembers in ormation goes onone side, and the in ormation o thespouse or dependent(s) interred in thesame grave is written on the reverseside); a burial ag; and a PresidentialMemorial Certi cate.

Even i the veteran is buried in aprivate cemetery, a standard headstoneor marker can be obtained or ree by completing VA Form 40-1330 andmailing it to the VA (see www.military.com/ orms). For a description o whatcan be inscribed onto headstones and

markers, seewww.cem.va.gov/cem/hm_hm.asp. Advantages of national/state veterancemetery burial

One advantage has to do withexpense. When interred in a military cemetery, the gravesite, the grave mark-

er and their perpetual care and mainte-nance, are provided all at no cost to theamily. Given that the casket, owers,transportation and uneral service canrange rom $5,000 to $11,000 (theseuneral expenses are not covered by theVA), the cost or a uneral and burialcan be quite high. Another advantagehas to do with security.

In military cemeteries, it is o tenmuch tighter. It is not unusual orthem to be equipped with electronicsurveillance, as well as guards that openand close the gates. In addition, it isa ederal ofence to de ace a military cemetery headstone, or to carry outany other kind o destructive activity or vandalism on the property, and aederal investigation is automatically initiated i it happens. Conviction orsuch a crime carries a one-year manda-tory sentence. A third advantage is thato exclusivity. One cannot simply buy his or her way in. Burial in a military cemetery is a bene t that is earned.

Additionally, the aesthetics o thecemetery are well maintained. Nationalcemeteries receive very high marksregarding upkeep, according to annualsurveys distributed to amily memberso the deceased. Statistics show thatnational cemeteries consistently obtainan A rating, which is unheard o inthe non-military sector.

Furthermore, i the cemetery isexpanded, the aesthetics are not com-promised, due in part to the ederalgovernment, which pays or those ad-ditions and ensures that guidelines areollowed and maintained. Also, keep-ing up with the Jonesescompetitionby amilies to have the largest head-stone, or example, does not occur. It isdress-right-dress, because the overallefect o the appearance and placemento the headstones is as meaning ul asthe individual gravesite.

A military cemetery is a nationalshrine that memorializes veterans

perpetually. Long a ter the veteran andhis or her loved ones have passed on,the U.S. government ensures that thecemetery is maintained, and that theveteran is never orgotten.

Another advantage is that it is areminder to citizens o our nation o

the sacri ces that have been made ortheir reedoms. As such, it becomes aocal point by which Americans canshow their patriotism and appreciation,particularly during Memorial Day, FlagDay, Independence Day and VeteransDay celebrations.

Now that you have read thisin ormation, what will you do withit? Your choice may be to do nothing,intentionally or unintentionally, sinceprocrastination is still choosing to donothing. At a minimum, let a trustedloved one know your wishes. Surveyscarried out by the National Cemetery Administration consistently show thatthe most common reason a amily inters their veteran loved one in a mili-tary cemetery is to honor his or her wishes. Visithttp://www.cem.va.gov/cem/cems_nmc.asp or in ormationand view photos o particular military cemeteries that may interest you.

You may also want to personally visit some national or state veterancemeteries in your area, and even meet with the cemetery director. He or shecan amiliarize you and your amily with all aspects o the interment. Many state veteran cemeteries will le andmaintain your documentation, such asyour DD 214, that proves your burialeligibility.

Americas national and state veterancemeteries are a military bene t thatprovide not only a nal resting placeor our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen andMarines, but a lasting memorial andtestament to their service. Dont keepthis in ormation to yoursel . Share it with those who are serving, as well as with those who have served and theiramilies. Tey, too, will be orevergrate ul. v

Sergeant Maj. Cecil Edwards is training to be aresearch manager in Human Terrain Systems at theForeign Military Studies O fce, Fort Leavenworth,Kan.


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LEAVE NO SOLDIERS STORY UNTOLDOperation Tribute to Freedom wants to tell your story.

Were looking for Soldiers whove served or are currentlyserving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Nominate yourself, a friend or another Soldier in your unit.Stories will be featured in Faces From the Front or OTF Soldier Story.

Send an email with your nomination [email protected] .

Operation Tribute to Freedom is a program of the U.S. Army Ofce of the Chief of Public Affairs designed to share with the American public the stories of Soldiers who have or are currently serving in OperationEnduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. OTF works in partnership with PAOs throughout the Army to tell the Army story.

Faces From the Front is a weekly news productdistributed to national, local and social media.OTF Soldier Story is a weekly newsletterdistributed to Army communicators.


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he Netherlands AmericanCemetery, nestled in the smallvillage o Margraten, is an

extraordinary place. One glance at itsregimented and precise appearanceconjures up an ethereal ormation o Soldiers standing at attention be ore

their headstones.But thats just a small sample o what these departed Soldiers have incommon. First, they voluntarily servedtheir country in time o war. Second,despite their diverse backgrounds, they quickly discovered it didnt matter with whom they shared a last pair o socks,cigarettes or a sleeping bag in a oxhole:they just needed to stay warm and tellstories o home. More importantly,these Soldiers stood bravely togetheracing horri c situations, orging a last-ing brotherhood.

So its appropriate theyre stilltogether, said Sgt. 1st Class SteveMrozek, a ormer 82nd Airborne Divi-sion historian. Tis is the de nitivemeasure o Soldier camaraderie.

As a servicemember who hasdedicated much o his li e to helpingveterans reconstruct their World WarII pasts, Mrozek understands the im-portance o the Netherlands Cemetery.Tis landmark was one o the rsthe included on the must see list o battle eld tours or veterans returningto visit the Operation Market Gardenand Battle o the Bulge areas.

Its so rewarding to escort a veter-an to a place that had so much impacton his li e, said Mrozek. Especially when theres an emotional attachmentbecause its hallowed ground or them.

As the only American military buri-al ground in Holland, stateside visits atthe Netherlands Cemetery were rare,and Mrozek was determined not to letthat happen on his tour.

A skilled paratrooper with 95 jumps and a recipient o wings romGreat Britain, Canada and Holland,Mrozek also possesses a deep afectionor the airborne GIs buried overseas. Asa Soldier he elt it his duty to pay hisrespects to GIs who werent just statis-tics, but courageous young men deniedthe chance or long lives.

Mrozeks passion or Operation

Market Garden began with a re-enact-

ment jump on the 55th anniversary o the Holland invasion. Flyingover the Netherlands in a C-47escorted by a British Spit re,Mrozek wore the standard

World War II paratrooperuni orm and even carrieda Tompson subma-chine gun. As thedesignated squadleader, he sat inthe middle o

the stick eagerly waiting the ap-proach to the drop zone marked

at 1,000 eet.Te second the green

light appeared, Mrozek made his jump. A ter

landing, he quickly discarded his chute

and headed to hisrally point.

Tat hasto be the

The Mourning Woman overlooks the refecting pool at the American cemetery at Margraten. Theinscription on the tower behind the statue is rom a ree translation o Pericles oration as recorded byThucydides.

The Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten is the only American cemetery in the Netherlands.


A m e r i c a n

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Mrozek elt a power ul quiet as hepassed the headstones that representedevery state in the union, the Districto Columbia, England, Canada andMexico. Te stillness intensi ed whenhe reached the 106 graves belongingto the unknowns and the 40 instances

where two brothers lie side by side.Each headstone provides rank,

name, unit, state o origin and the Sol-diers date o death. Just simple acts,but all Mrozek needed to identi y withthe allen GIs in a small way.

Ten, a chance look at the Regis-trar Roll in the Visitors Building thatstores in ormation about the Soldiers inthe Netherlands Cemetery presented astartling revelation.

Private 1st Class, Paul G. Stin-son. Plot K, Row 1, Grave number15, read Mrozek eagerly. Company

most incredible experience Ive everhad, grinned Mrozek, reliving themoment.

A carillon atop the 101- ootmemorial tower chimed God Bless America and America the Beauti ulthe day Mrozek arrived at the Neth-erlands Cemetery. He paused to look at the le t and right walls where thenames o the signi cant battles ought were commemorated:

MAAS RIC *EINDHOVEN*NIJMEGEN*ARNHEM*JULICH*LINNIC*

GEILENKIRCHEN*KREFELD*VENLO*RHIENBERG*COLOGNE* WESEL*RUHR

Examining the Court o Honor,Mrozek discovered 1,722 names withrank, organization and state o origin;men killed in action in the region, but

whose remains were never individually identi ed. Above the names, this mes-sage was carved:

HERE ARE RECORDED HENAMES OF AMERICANS WHOGAVE HEIR LIVES IN HEIR SERVICE OF HEIR COUN RY AND WHO SLEEP IN UNKNOWNGRAVES

A chilly breeze accompaniedMrozek to the entrance o the burialsite. Just beyond were the 8,302 Sol-diers who had given their lives, mostly in the airborne, ground and air opera-tions to liberate eastern Holland andadvance into Germany over the Roerand Rhine rivers. He silently praisedthe mixture o Stars o David or the Jewish aith and Latin crosses or theothers, arranged in parallel arcs thatstretched over 65 acres.


Sgt. 1st Class Steve Mrozek visits Pvt. Paul Stinsons grave at the Netherlands American MilitaryCemetery. Mrozek became interested in learning about Stinson when he acquired the Soldiershelmet several years ago. (Photo by Renita Foster)


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H E saw the improvised explo-sive device just be ore theexplosion.Sta Sgt. Brian Shar, a team leader

on a convoy moving between basesnear Baghdad, saw what looked likea giant cartoon rock, about 18 inches wide, 11 inches tall.

Te explosion removed both o Shars legs above the knee, caused nervedamage in one arm and serious internalinjures. Advances in battle eld medi-cine helped him survive, and 100 yearso experience caring or wounded war-riors helps Walter Reed Army MedicalCenter provide Shar and other patients with the best health care and rehabilita-tion technologies available.

WRAMC celebrates its 100th an-niversary this month. From its start asan 80-bed hospital, Walter Reed hasgrown to a 247-bed medical center with 60 outpatient clinics and 16operating rooms. It is the only Depart-ment o De ense medical-treatmentacility with a clinic dedicated solely to

wounded warriors and their amilies. As one o the worlds premier military medical acilities, it combines patientcare, teaching and research. For Sol-diers like Shar, that expertise means thechance to walk again.

Shar arrived at Walter Reed Sept.23, 2007, a ter being medically evacu-ated rom Iraq via Landsthul Regional

Medical Center in Germany. Woundslike his o ten require multiple surger-ies, as doctors remove debris, bacteriaand dead esh in a li e-or-death battleagainst in ection. Shar endured severalo these wash-outs and was releasedrom in-patient care a ter about onemonth.

Soon a ter his initial release, he su -ered a setback, when severe back painled to a trip to the emergency room.He was in ormed by a sta memberthat his wheelchair was leaking. In act,the pain came rom uid collecting inhis back due to shrapnel wounds. Teuid was owing out o a wound anddripping to the oor. He was rushedto surgery, where part o his colon wasremoved.

Tey could have given me a co-lostomy bag and let my body heal, butthey didnt, Shar said. Tey removedthe damaged organ tissue and hand-sewed me back together or six hours.

Shar spent another month as anin-patient recovering rom his in-testinal injuries, and was released inlate November. His goal was to walk by Christmas. Tey had me up and walking within three months o beinginjured, when I was only out o bed orone o those months. Te treatmenthere is great.

Shar walks into the Walter Reedorthopedic clinic on prosthetics called

C-Legs, tted and ne-tuned. DanielCarroll, a WRAMC-certi ed pros-theticist, rotates the threaded post o a three-legged stand that looks like aminiature swivel stool. Te plat ormrises and Shar rests the stump o hisright leg on the stand.

Tey are in an examining room in

Capt. Ingrid Pacowski, Sta Sgt. Brian Sharsprimary care physician, goes over his medicationlist in a Warrior Clinic examination room.

D. Myles Cullen

Walter Reed turns


Providing a century of warrior care:

Story by Craig Colemanand Kristin Ellis

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90-degree turns. Te nal ocused onpolishing up to give the men smooth-ness o motion. Tey were taught todance and practiced getting in and outo a mock streetcar built specially ortheir therapy.

Advancements in (physical andoccupational therapy) have been real-ized during and immediately a ter eachmajor war o the 20th century, saidDr. Je rey S. Reznick, ormer seniorcurator o the National Museum o Health and Medicine and director o the Institute or the Study o Occupa-tion and Health. Fortunately or un-ortunatelydepending on ones pointo view, o coursewar can be goodor medicine in the sense that it pushesnew innovation, and speeds innovationthat might already be underway be orea war begins.

Like prosthetics, the rehabilitationmethods used with amputees are evolv-ing, and Walter Reed continues to seek the best treatments and technologies

or its patients.Te Warrior Clinic, with its Ameri-

cans with Disabilities Act-compliantrestrooms, doublewide doors and lowerexamining-room tables, was speci cally designed or wounded warriors andtheir amilies. Its com ortable seating, warm amber lighting, and 50-inch at-screen televisions invite relaxation.

Shar is here to see his primary carephysician, Capt. Ingrid Pacowski. Inthe examining room, Pacowski calls upShars electronic medical record usingthe Armed Forces Health Longitudi-nal echnology Application. She goesthrough routine questions, askingabout his recovery and looking or any new problems.

Any allergies?Yeah, I.E.D.s, he replies.Pacowski is part o the riad o

Care, a concept initiated by the Army Medical Action Plan. It calls or aprimary care physician; a nurse casemanager, who handles the administra-

The process o making prosthetics is an essentialpart o helping patients return to their normal lives.In this World War I-era photo, technicians areshown re-creating limbs lost in battle.

National Museum of Health and Medicine

(Below and two right photos) Cristin Loe fer, a Walter Reed physi-cal therapist, monitors Sta Sgt. Brian Shars walking motion inthe Military Advanced Training Center and uses an elastic bandto put Shar through resisted abduction.


uneven ground went through di erentmethods o physical therapy.

Be ore World War II, amputeesused an obstacle course, where patients were required to jump rom box to boxand climb clumsily over obstacles. It was eliminated once therapists oundpatients would see better results by receiving instructions and practice oneveryday tasks they would ace in civil-ian li e.

War changes everything inthe military, said Sherman Fleek, WRAMC command historian. Tedoctors realized we have to do morethan just heal these guys. Lets givethem a skill.

Te new method ocused on easy- walking gaits, balance, turns, sittingand picking up objects. Te rst stepin the new three-step program requiredexercises in balance, climbing stairs,and 180-degree turns. Te secondpracticed sitting, getting up, bending, walking around curves, and 45- and

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tion o their medical care; and a squadleader, who works with the chain-o -command to solve military issues.

Its good or them to have a gen-eral doctor who can be like their amily doc who then helps all the specialists,bringing all their care into one place,Pacowski said. (Tey have) someplace they can go to sick call; and adoctor they know they can bring theirproblems to.

Pacowski acts as a medical liaison,delivering medical in ormation to thecase manager and chain o commandto avoid gaps in treatment.

Te Soldier is getting a compre-hensive kind o care in all aspects o their lives, Pacowski said. Teir ami-lies are taken care o , their administra-tive and military stu is taken care o ,their medical side o the house is takencare o , and theyve got a nurse casemanager whos helping to bring all thatstu together.

Te teamwork approach used today

originated at the outbreak o World War I, when the resources o WalterReed surgeons, prosthetists, nursesand therapists were consolidated, andpatients were treated by a team toprovide consistent and comprehensivetreatment.

Large-scale combat led to a sharpincrease in the number o Army nurses,and a new ocus on patient rehabilita-tion and therapy. Te growing need orspecialized therapy led to the evolu-tion o the Occupational Terapy andPhysical Reconstruction departments at Walter Reed.

Te wounds they came back with, what we saw at Walter Reed, was a re-sult o what happened in Europe. Tey were out to save lives, ensure surviv-ability. Te idea o how much o a limbor muscle mass to take wasnt realized,Fleek said. In World War I we had alot o amputees. It was like the openingo modern medicine.

Colonel Norvel Van Coots, com-

mander o the Walter Reed HealthCare System, said many o WalterReeds recent improvements werebrought on by Operations EnduringFreedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Each o these improvements oc-curred because we rose to the challengeo sparing no expense (and) no e ortin taking care o these deserving menand women, Coots said. While eachrequires constant monitoring and e ortto ensure we are meeting the needso our warriors in transition, I believethese developments have made theHome o Warrior Care a reality, andnot just a slogan.

Hundreds o thousands o peoplehave passed through those gates andhave been healed, Fleek added, andnot just the patients, the sta toothese guys are doctors and nurses be-cause its in their blood.v

Craig Coleman and Kristin Ellis work at Walter ReedAMC public affairs.

A nurse massages the leg o a World War Iamputee in preparation or the attachment o aprosthetic limb.

National Museum of Health and Medicine

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L AS year the Army Reservecelebrated its 100th anniversary.Reserve Chie Lt. Gen. Jack C.Stultz and INOVA Health SystemsChie Executive O cer Knox Single-ton signed a rst-ever agreement thatallowed the Army Reserve to recruitand train medical specialists not only or the Reserves, but or guaranteedemployment with the largest healthcare-provider in the Washington area.

Coined the Employer PartnershipInitiative, Stultz came up with theidea as a way to help ul ll Reserveunit needs and also employment needso the civilian sector, in such eldsas medical, transportation and lawen orcement.

In the case o INOVA, the agree-ment provides new citizen-warriors

with opportunities or employmentat one o six health care centers a ter

Soldiers have learned military occupa-tional skills in critical clinical supportareas such as radiology, respiratory therapy and surgical occupations.

A year a ter that rst initiative wassigned, the EPI program has mush-roomed to include more than 153businesses, as well as local and stategovernments who are looking to lltheir ranks with Reserve Soldiers.

We want you to join the Army

Story by J.D. Leipold

Employer Partnership Reserve, corporate Americthrou gh


Sgt. Alicia R. Root of the 672nd Engineer Company inspects anew overhead lighting system that her unit installed.

Sgt. Claude Flowers

Sgt. 1st Class Roy Spain and Pvt. Crystal Stillsmoking, fromthe 672nd Engineer Company, repair an electrical system. Theirskills have relevance in the civilian job market.

Sgt. Claude Flowers


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Reserve, but we also want to get youa civilian skill set at the same time, so what I want is a success ully employed Army Reserve Soldier, said Stultz.What I dont need is an unemployedReserve Soldier, because what he makeson his weekend drill pay is not going topay the rent.

When the Army Reserve rstlooked into the viability o the partner-

ship, leadership looked at where thebiggest opportunities and needs were inthe civilian sector and matched them with the Reserves needs. Te civilianopportunities that popped right up were law en orcement, medical tech-nology and long-haul trucking.

Te American rucking Associa-tion told us they had an aging work-orce that they were going to have to

replace and that they already had a loto shortages in nding quali ed drivers,so we thought we could help where weshare the same skill sets, Stultz said.We already have those skills in ourorce; we have transportation units,medical units and military policeunits.

Te general pointed out thatConway Freight, a partner in Ann

Arbor, Mich., visited a Reserve unitseveral months ago looking or driversand hired six Soldiers on the spot to llsome immediate needs.

So, rom the standpoint o theSoldiers, theyre very excited and happy and saying its because the Army Re-serve just helped them get better jobs,Stultz said. And, Conway, theyre very excited because theyre saying, Hey, the

Army Reserve just helped us ll someneeds, so this is a win-win situation orboth o us.

Shortly a ter INOVA HealthSystem signed on, the word was outand other organizations and businessesstarted calling, waving their hands and

wondering i they too could partici-pate, Stultz said. J.B. Hunt and Snyderrucking have signed on, as have IBM,GE, Sears, ExxonMobil, Wal-Mart,Home Depot and the WashingtonMetro Police.

When Ive talked to some o theseCEOs and vice presidents theyll tellyou they employ a lot o veterans andthey employ a lot o Reserve Soldiers,Sailors, Airmen and Marines because o their integrity and work ethic, Stultzsaid. Veterans and Reservists under-stand teamwork and leadership; they understand ollowership; they show upon time and they take responsibility.

Stultz relayed a story about a con-

We want you to join the Army Reserve, but we alsowant to get you a civilianskill set at the same time, sowhat I want is a successfullyemployed Army ReserveSoldier.

Staff Sgt. Ron Burrous, with the Army Reserve's 688th Engineer Company, replaces a leaf spring on avehicle at Camp Liberty, Iraq, Oct. 21, 2008. Burrous is working with the Mississippi National Guard's890th En