Remembering Major Andrew Olmsted

Flopping Aces ^ | 05-25-20 | Wordsmith

[Starman417]

"Only the dead have seen the end of war." -Plato

This is not a political post.  This is an American post.  About an American soldier.  An outstanding milblogger who some of you may have followed.   Respected and mourned from both sides of the political aisle.

A Babylon 5 fan.

Patriot.

Son.

Father.

Husband.

For this Memorial Day, I'd like to bring attention back to a friend of BlackFive's, Major Andrew Olmsted.  He was the first U.S. soldier killed during the Troop Surge, Jan 3, 2008.  Shot by a sniper in As-Sadiyah, Iraq, while pleading with 3 insurgents to surrender so that his team wouldn't have to kill them.  Olmsted's second in command, CPT Tom Casey, tried to save him and was also killed.

The Associated Press, via MilitaryTimes:

37, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; assigned to the Military Transition Team, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; died Jan. 3 in As Sadiyah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small-arms fire during combat operations. Also killed was Capt. Thomas J. Casey

As reported by hilzoy:

I meant to include this comment from one of the men in Andy's unit, who was with him on his final mission:

"Major Olmsted died while attempting to get the enemy to surrender so we would not have to kill them.Captain Casey could not leave his commander on the ground.

They are the bravest men I have known. They are both heroes. We will carry their example and continue the mission."

He gained some level of attention in more mainstream outlets because of the blogpost he penned to be published posthumously in the event of his death while serving in theater.

Unfortunately, all the links to Rocky Mountain News (from which he also blogged) seem to have gone dark (perhaps in the Denver Public Library archives?).  Even using the Wayback Machine, nothing came up for me.  (His collection of posts can be found in this book).

Boston.com:

The 37-year-old wrote about his unit providing the Iraqi Army with gifts and toys to pass out during a Muslim holiday, in the hopes of creating good will among local residents.

"Handing out gifts is great fun, but in Iraq you always have to be alert for the possibility that the enemy will take advantage of the opportunity to turn such an event to their advantage," Olmsted wrote Dec. 26.

Eight days later, Olmsted, a 1992 graduate of Clark University in Worcester and a 1987 graduate of St. John's High School in Shrewsbury, died from wounds suffered when his unit was hit with small arms fire in As Sadiyah, Iraq, according to the Department of Defense.

Olmsted, of Colorado Springs, and another soldier from his unit were among the first soldiers killed in Iraq in the new year.

An account of the funeral services at Amygdala:

The wall of men dressed in pressed green uniforms - men responsible for the nation's defense - sobbed and crumbled in the presence of the rectangular box draped in an American flag.

The burly men in leather jackets and bushy beards standing along the sides of the chapel wiped away tears as well. The parents of the man in the casket sat in the front row and held each other.

And the dead soldier's wife simply dropped her head and cried.

"Staff Sergeant Salas," 1st Sgt. William Schroeter barked, standing erect in the center aisle.

Salas stood up amid the hundreds in attendance and answered.

"Sergeant 1st Class Parish," Schroeter said.

Parish bolted up and answered as well.

"Sergeant 1st Class Merriman," Schroeter said.

"Here," Merriman answered, standing tall.

"Major Olmsted," Schroeter called out.

Silence.

"Major Andrew Olmsted," Schroeter called again.

No answer.

"Major Andrew James Olmsted," he said, each name echoing throughout the Soldiers' Memorial Chapel.

Olmsted's widow, Amanda Wilson, trembled. She would have given anything to hear him answer. One word would do. But that would be to wish for the impossible.

In front of her, Olmsted's portrait looked back. Above the photo, there was a lone rifle with a helmet on top, emblazoned with the major's last name. His dog tags hung limply around the rifle.

Emptiness filled the Fort Carson chapel. Wilson let out a small, mournful cry. Her husband was less than five feet away from her, separated by a flag, a casket and an eternity.

...News of the 37-year-old's death swept through the blogsphere, where the soldier was an active writer at several sites, including one for the Rocky and one for Obsidian Wings.

He asked Hilary Bok, who runs Obsidian Wings, to post something he wrote in the event of his death. When Bok put it up on the site, it stirred so much interest that Olmsted's father, Wes Olmsted, said it has since been translated into several languages, including Hebrew, Farsi and Russian.

"He touched a lot of people around the world," Wes Olmsted said while stirring, not eating, his soup just prior to the funeral.

He and his wife, Nancy, had flown to Colorado on Saturday to be at Fort Carson for the service and were barely able to eat Tuesday.

Maj. Olmsted's younger brother, Eric Olmsted, tried to string together some happy memories of the two of them growing up. He chuckled quietly at a comment his brother made last year while training at Fort Riley, Kan. Andy, talking about the intellectual heft of his family - father and brother with doctorates, mother and wife with master's degrees - had said he was the "intellectual runt of the family."

"I think we all know that wasn't true," Eric Olmsted said. "He could read before my parents even knew he could read."

The major ("We always just called him Andy," his mom said) was somewhat of a Renaissance man, with interests ranging from philosophy, writing, economics and '80s music to a passionate love for the Boston Red Sox.

"He lived life to the fullest every day," longtime friend Maj. David Willis said. "There was never a challenge he did not meet head- on. There was never anything he saw that was too hard for him to take on."

That included Iraq.

While Olmsted would entertain discussions about the reasons for America's involvement in Iraq, he was fully committed to trying to fix things there. In his blog postings, he talked optimistically about the impact his unit was having and his belief in doing the job well. In his final posting, he asked everyone to not politicize his death.

'We're all going to die'

"We're all going to die of something," he wrote. "I died doing a job I loved. When your time comes, I hope you are as fortunate as I was."

But Olmsted's wish didn't stave off grief and regret at the chapel.

The final post:

[SES1066]

Please read the hyperlink at “The final post:”, It is the least we can do for him!

I strongly commend this excellent YouTube video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47NW7nu9BnU
It combines the West Point Glee Club of the USMA - singing “Mansions of the Lord” mixed with Ronan Tynan singing his own composition. Excellent sound and very moving photos.

[PGalt]

Thanks. (prayer)

[jmacusa]

hank you for my freedom Major Olmstead.

[jmacusa]

‘’hank’’=Thank

[deek69]

RIP

[robowombat]

For a moment I thought it was LT Robert S Olmstead of the Army Air Corps being referenced:

The story of HIA starts in 1917 with the United States Army Signal Corps adding an airfield to the Middletown Facility. The Signal Corp actually had been on the site since 1898. Next to supply depot, a grass field was put in place. By 1918, the first aircraft were landing and taking off at Middletown Airfield. Curtis JN1s or Jennys filled the field. The Middletown facility became a strategic supply depot supporting the U.S. efforts in World War I. Machine shops for engines and woodshops for fuselages. Fabric for wings. A nest for the fledgling air service. The base continued its work post war.

In 1922, the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was formed and one of its most important bases was the Middletown Air Depot. During the thirties, it continued to grow and add more warehouses and storage facilities. Eventually the Middletown Airfield became the Olmstead Army Airfield.

Olmstead AAF was named after 1st Lieutenant Robert Stanford Olmstead who was killed in the line of duty. Olmstead was an accomplished aeronaut, and the U.S. Army entered the Army Balloon S6 into the prestigious 1923 Gordon Bennett Cup. The Bennett Cup was, at the time, equivalent to F1 or NASCAR Racing. The ’23 race was a nightmare due to the weather. Olmstead and his partner, 1st Lieutenant John Shoptaw, launched and were immediately thrown by wind into another unlaunched Belgian Balloon the Ville de Bruxelles. The Belgian’s netting was cut by the S6’s gondola and couldn’t take off. The S6 seemed to be ok, and Shoptaw and Olmstead climbed into darkened thunderclouds on September 23, 1923. After surviving the harrowing takeoff, the S6 and its crew were struck by lightning three hours later. The Balloon and gondola caught fire and crashed near the town of Loosbroek in the Netherlands. Neither Olmstead nor Shoptaw survived the crash.

[Manly Warrior]

RIP, Major.

Lesson Learned: Never ask the enemy to surrender, make him or kill him if he won’t.

[Guenevere]

Thank-youGod Bless you.

Imo, the best way we can support our military.......both in remembrance and those still fighting

...is to support and work to keep our President in office

To not do this.....and let a communist in......is a slap to all

[Guenevere]

.....but the saddest words are ‘I don’t know if there is an afterlife’......