Memorial to Stryker dead unveiled

Names of 88 soldiers who died to be listed on Fort Lewis statue

By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published October 11, 2007

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FORT LEWIS – The soldiers and families of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team had one last, heartfelt task to accomplish before they bring the unit's second deployment to Iraq to a close today.

Readers were poignant in their responses and overwhelmingly appreciative of a special front page The Olympian published Wednesday in memory of 48 Fort Lewis soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq during their brigade's latest deployment.

The men were honored Wednesday at a special tribute at the base. Below is a sample of those comments plus one from a reader who expressed a different view.

So much emotion — too dificult to express! Your front page tribute to the fallen was beautiful and gripping. Even overwhelming.

I have always opposed the war, but I honor all who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. These noble young soldiers on your front page have paid the ultimate price, and my heart goes out to their families.

James Boone

"I welcome your comments..." Well, here is mine. You are extremely disingenuous. Or course your intent is an editorial statement. Yours is a dreadful paper.

Kathy Kelly

Congratulations on your "in memoriam" Story. You helped to put a face to the men and women who served in this war, and are never coming home.

Gary Minerich

Thanks to the Olympian for including these brief biographies. It's important to understand that these soldiers are individuals — human beings, and not automatons.

It makes it especially clear that prominent Bush Administration decision makers must be held accountable for leading us, as a nation, astray.

It is especially sad and grievous to memorialize these deaths because they were lost in an unnecessary, unjustified, illegal and immoral military action.

I want this tragedy to stop.

Robert Whitlock

You have torn open my heart anew. When I picked up this mornings paper, there were "our" fellas.

I own Galloping Gerties (Bar and Grill) at Exit 122 and those fellows we fed breakfast: SOS, Big Foot chicken fried steaks, and, in the case of Salinas, the hottest sauce we could find to top his omelettes. On my desk at home sits the most gorgeous purple pink orchid — I found it at work waiting for me one morning with a note from Santos wife "My wonderful husband is now heaven's hero." When I asked why would she give ME an orchid (I should be sending flowers to the widows) she said it was to thank me for remembering the soldiers (as I do on my reader board since last May) and for taking care of them, making them feel like family.

I once had a reporter ask me if I had any "family" in the war. Altho my dad, uncles fought in the war, no I do not have family now in the war. Then I stopped in my thoughts, looked around the tables and said, let me correct that. I have a lot of family in the war — all these "kids" are like family to us at Gerties.

On my reader board I was putting up names (of casualties) one day and it occurred to me, as I tried to place a face to a new name, that behind every number was a name, and a family. So on a moment's inspiration, I put up "The numbers have names" and somehow that became a catch phrase for the newsfolk, altho it was never done for that purpose. I simply wanted to let the public know that these numbers were so much more than 99 (at that time, now it is 171 from Fort Lewis) and I hoped folks would remember each individual — so easily glossed over when the news just reports casualties as numbers.

There are many places you can go and the war never touches home, much less the heart. You can dine and shop in Olympia and never think about or see the war. But at Gerties, we have been living the war for five years now. As much as some days I simply do not want to think about it, I have to.

The troops come in in uniform, coming and going, we think of the war. We hear from those over there and wait for their safe return. To balance out the losses, these past few weeks we have seen familiar faces coming back thru our door — oh my, big hugs all around, a gladness that is most welcome amid such sadness. My heart feels happier when they tell me "You are the talk of Baghdad. All we talk about is coming back to Gerties for breakfast!"

I understand completely that your page/memorial is not a statement for or against the war — and thank you for remembering these fine young men. (Frankly, I was surprised to see the paper acknowledge the troops given the perceived anti-military attitude of Olympia.)

I hope today that some stop and think of their stories, and their families and the sacrifices made and perhaps reach out when we can. Such handsome heroes — how they are missed.

Susan Rothwell

They gathered Wednesday for the unveiling of a memorial to honor the brigade's fallen soldiers, most of whom have died during its two deployments to Iraq.

To much applause, brigade commanders and Olympia-area sculptor Gareth Curtiss removed a blue cloth to unveil a clay model of an Arrowhead Brigade soldier in full battle gear. The model will serve as the foundation for a 6-foot bronze statue to be completed in November.

In brief remarks, Col. Steve Townsend said the project started three years ago, while the brigade was in the midst of its first deployment to Iraq, with an idea, a few sketches and a few dollars in a bank account.

"All this work was a labor of love" to recognize the sacrifices of the soldiers, he said.

Dozens of family members attended the ceremony, surrounded by soldiers standing at attention.

During the reading of the 88 names that will be featured on the memorial, family members stood close together or hugged one another for comfort, many wiping away tears.

"I'm almost speechless," a teary-eyed Terry Dutcher, a former Lacey resident, said after the ceremony. Her 19-year-old son, Cpl. Michael Pursel, was killed in May. "I think my expectations were not even close to what I saw. It's awesome. I didn't realize there were so many names - 88 names."

The joint project of the brigade and the nonprofit Arrowhead Soldier and Family Fund, which supports the brigade's welfare, will be paid for by private donations of $55,000.

Staff Sgt. Tim English, a supply sergeant assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, said he worked closely during both deployments with several of the soldiers whose names will be on the memorial.

English, who lives in Lacey with his wife, Ginger, is happy that the memorial will be completed before he retires from the Army.

"It's something for me to remember the guys I worked with who lost their lives, made the ultimate sacrifice," he said.

The statue will stand atop a granite base etched with the names of soldiers assigned to the brigade who died in combat or training, as well as those from other units who died while they were under the brigade's operational control.

This silent sentinel will stand watch over a traditional battlefield memorial that features combat boots, an inverted rifle, helmet and dog tags.

The memorial will be near brigade headquarters at Fort Lewis.

Curtiss said the project developed as an "offshoot" to a statue dedicated a year ago honoring the sacrifice of military families. The statue, commissioned by the Rotary Club of Hawks Prairie at Marvin Road and Quinault Drive in Lacey, depicts a soldier reuniting with his wife and child.

For this statue, the resolve expressed through the soldier's stance is contrasted by the names of the fallen, he said.

"You have the strength but you also have the sacrifice," Curtiss said.

The weather matched the mood of the ceremony. As a bugler played taps, a light drizzle fell on the saluting soldiers and grieving families.