101st Artillerymen Say Goodbye to Fallen Brother

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Cpt. Vincent Generoso, Commander of C. Battery , 1-320th Field Artillery, mourns the loss of Sgt. Michael S. Hancock during a memorial service Oct. 28 at AO Glory in Mosul, Iraq. Hancock was killed by looters Oct. 24.

101st Artillerymen Say Goodbye to Fallen Brother

By U.S. Army Pfc. Thomas Day / 40th PAD

MOSUL, Iraq, Oct. 28, 2003 – On Oct. 5, Sgt. Michael S. Hancock reported to the Battery C, 1-320th Field Artillery Regiment, in Mosul, Iraq, where he would begin his new assignment with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Hancock was in his tenth year in the Army and, along with his wife Jeannie, and children Amber, Jamie, Ashley, and Christopher, was entering his second tour with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky.

His section leader would be Sgt. Joshua Forbess; the two hit it off immediately.

“My section had just got back from a patrol, my platoon sergeant told me I had a new NCO (non-commissioned officer),” Forbess recalled. “Shortly after that we had to go out on another patrol and he was rolling with us.”

Forbess lost his friend Oct. 24, just 19 days after Hancock reported to his new unit. Hancock was on a patrol in Mosul when he and a group of soldiers engaged gang of looters. Forbess was at a nearby position when he heard the gunshots.

“We heard the gunfire, the guard force was out there, and I reacted to it. We approached the place where the gunfire was coming from, and that’s where we found him.”

Tuesday at Hancock’s memorial ceremony, Forbess stood in front of several hundred 101st Airborne Division soldiers, including Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the division’s commanding general, and praised the friend he knew for such a short time.

“On 24 October, 2003, I lost a soldier, a peer, a comrade, a friend and a brother. I know you (Hancock) are with the angels right now, trying to break that 10-minute two-mile barrier,” Forbess said.

Every one of Hancock’s soldiers, peers, and commanders identified him as an avid and voracious runner.

First Sgt. Mathew Nagel, C Battery first sergeant, knew Hancock from his tour at Fort Stewart, Ga. Hancock was only a specialist at that point but exhibited the promise of a soldier destined for greatness, especially at physical training.

“His battery was taking an APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test). It was a large battery, so the command decided they would split up the APFT into two days – Michael’s day was chosen to be the first. At the end of that day, when he had taken that PT test, when the results were tallied up, Michael scored an impressive 299 (out of 300).

“Being the caliber soldier that Michael was, he decided he hadn’t done his best. So the very next day he retook that PT test with the other half of his battery and this time he scored a 300,” Nagel said.

Hancock was given a full, traditional military memorial ceremony complete with a 21-gun salute and ceremonial role-call, conducted by Nagel.

“Your family loves you, your battery loves you, your section loves you,” Forbess told his departed friend, “and I love you. I’ll see you on the high ground.”

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