Carson honors 15 killed in Afghanistan - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Carson honors 15 killed in Afghanistan

Fort Carson paid somber tribute Wednesday to 15 of its soldiers killed in Afghanistan last month, the worst single month for combat deaths the post has endured since the Vietnam War.

Eight soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division were killed in a single battle on Oct. 3, and seven soldiers from the 4th Engineer Battalion were killed in three separate incidents.

They were honored in two services at Soldiers’ Memorial Chapel on the post outside Colorado Springs. The 550-seat chapel was nearly full for both.

Chuckles rippled through the chapel as soldiers recalled their comrades’ lives and praised their bravery and friendship.

Spc. Kimble A. Han, 30, of Lehi, Utah, called home after every mission to tell his family he was safe and would beam an “ear-to-ear smile” after hanging up, one said.

Spc. Jesus Olar Flores Jr., 28, of La Mirada, Calif., “always had the ability to freestyle rap on about anything,” another said.

Letters about the soldiers were read from troops still serving in Afghanistan.

“I would have followed that man straight to hell if he thought it was a good idea,” one letter said of Sgt. Joshua T. Kirk, 30, of South Portland, Maine.

Another said Sgt. Michael P. Scusa, 22, of Villas, N.J., will be remembered for a smile that “never left his face.”

Across the front of the chapel, each fallen soldier was represented in the Army tradition with his portrait, a pair of boots and an M-4 rifle, standing muzzle-down with a helmet resting atop it and dog tags dangling from the pistol grip.

A first sergeant or sergeant major called the roll at the end of each service. About a dozen soldiers in the chapel stood and shouted “Here!” when their names were called. The sergeants paused silently after repeatedly calling out the name of each man killed.

A soldier sobbed quietly at the back of the chapel during the roll call for the 4th Infantry soldiers.

Outside the chapel at the end of each service, seven riflemen fired three volleys in a 21-gun salute, and a bugle played taps.

Army Secretary John McHugh attended both services but didn’t speak. Afterward, he said he told the families of the slain soldiers their loved ones were heroes.

The 4th Infantry soldiers killed in the Oct. 3 battle were Staff Sgt. Justin T. Gallegos, 27, of Tucson, Ariz.; Staff Sgt. Vernon W. Martin, 25, Savannah, Ga.; Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, 24, Applegate, Calif.; Spc. Christopher T. Griffin, 24, Kincheloe, Mich.; Spc. Stephan L. Mace, 21, Lovettsville, Va.; and Pfc. Kevin C. Thomson, 22, Reno, Nev.; Kirk; and Scusa.

The 4th Engineer Battalion soldiers killed were Staff Sgt. Glen H. Stivison Jr., 34, of Blairsville, Pa.; Spc. Kevin O. Hill, 23, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Spc. Daniel C. Lawson, 33, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.; Spc. Eric N. Lembke, 25, Tampa, Fla.; Pfc. Brandon M. Styer, 19, Lancaster, Pa.; Flores; and Han.

Fort Carson says 32 soldiers from the post have been killed in Afghanistan and 255 have been killed in Iraq. Officials said they did not know the exact month and year when the post had more soldiers killed in combat but said it was in Vietnam.

The post usually conducts a single monthly service for its soldiers killed previous in the month, but it held two this time because of the number of dead and because they were from two units.