Whatever I end up taking away from my first deployment one year or ten or a lifetime from now, I know for certain I will never forget the soldiers of TF Cacti and TF Lethal Warrior that were killed in action during my time in Kunar. CPT Katie Kopp wrote a great column on deployed memorial ceremonies: http://www.gazette.com/articles/don-139222-guest-afghanistan.html
Cacti lost many more before I arrived and the men and women of Lethal Warrior continue to be in my thoughts as they are still in country. There were three soldiers that were killed during my time with them. I did not know any of them personally and only learned of their heroic lives after the fact from the soldiers that had served with them. However, I wanted to write about them briefly so that one day when their children (and all three had children) are seeking to learn more about the lives their fathers lived, they will know how widely their loss was felt.
LT Clovis Ray
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Area-GI-killed-by-explosive-device-3415328.php
LT Ray arrived in Kunar just before I did and had moved forward to his platoon before I arrived and we never met. He was older than the typical LT as he gave up a successful career in the civilian sector to join the Army. I think that is what struck me most about LT Ray since I occasionally run across civilians who think that particularly officers must be in the military because they have not found opportunities in the civilian sector. LT Ray not only had choices but he had success. He had success as an investment banker and then he had success in the Army. I can confirm that the statement MAJ Eastburn made in the article is exactly what everyone around me was saying about LT Ray -- how much he was both liked and respected by both his peers and subordinates.
SSG Christopher Brown
http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/apr/14/funeral-held-fallen-central-ohio-soldier-staff-sgt-ar-1000167/
SSG Brown served multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. His wife is expecting their third child and first son, who will be born later this year. Before he was killed, SSG Brown had decided that his son will be named Carter Christopher Brown.
SSG David Nowaczyk
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8641510
SSG Nowaczyk served multiple deployments in Afghanistan. The thing that hit me hardest about SSG Nowaczyk is that he was from Dyer and Munster, IN, very close to where I lived when I was younger, and graduated from Lake Central High School, where I also would have graduated if my family had not moved to Ohio.
