A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....01-26-04.... Military Monday

Bountiful raid leads to prime seat
January 23, 2004

Staff Sgt. Joey Wommack
Spc. Lorie Jewell

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Army News Service, Jan. 23, 2004) – A little more than a month after helping secure the area where former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured, Staff Sgt. Joey Wommack was sitting with the first lady as President George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union address.

Wommack, a scout platoon sergeant with G Troop, 10th Cavalry, was invited to hear the annual speech in person as a representative of the U.S. military. The president lauded service members several times for their performance in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism, drawing enthusiastic clapping and standing ovations from Democrats and Republicans alike.

While Special Forces Soldiers were pulling Hussein out of his spider hole, Wommack and his platoon were keeping watch on the area a short distance away. After the deposed dictator was flown away by helicopter, the platoon took over security at the scene before the media arrived.

Wommack said he’s proud he had a role in the historic event, and feels honored to have been invited to the Jan. 20 speech. He was home near Dallas, Texas on R&R before coming to Washington, D.C. for the event. Wommack said he was most touched during the address by the strong support for Soldiers, especially the letter the president read from a young Texas girl who asked him to tell the troops “Ashley Pearson believes in you.”

“People were coming out of nowhere to thank me, to shake my hand,” said Wommack. “It was overwhelming. The guys that are over there are doing a really good job, they deserve all the support they can get.”

Jan. 26, 2004

Fort Worth soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

FORT HOOD - An infantryman killed in the war in Iraq was identified Monday as a Fort Hood soldier from Fort Worth.

Fort Hood officials announced the death of Pfc. Ervin Dervishi, a native of Albania.

Military officials said attackers in Baji, Iraq, fired a rocket-propelled grenade late Saturday at the Bradley Fighting Vehicle in which Dervishi was riding.

The soldier died of his injuries after being evacuated to a combat support hospital.

Dervishi was with Company B, 1st Battalion of the 22nd Infantry Regiment.

The attack is under investigation.

Wounded soldiers to get rodeo welcome

FORT WORTH - About 25 U.S. Army soldiers recuperating from serious injuries suffered in Operation Iraqi Freedom are coming to the Stock Show Rodeo.

The soldiers are scheduled to arrive at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Fort Worth Naval Air Station, and organizers of the event "would like to see thousands come out" to greet them.

"We want as many people as will come out here with banners and wave flags," said Mike Bevill, a retired master chief, in his office at the joint reserve base.

"This is an opportunity to get their minds off their depression and get their minds back on life," Command Master Chief Howard Daniel said. "They're heroes."

Westworth Village Acting Police Chief Glenn Lipperdt said through a spokesman that those wanting to greet the caravan can "pull over to the side" and park along Texas 183 near the main base gate on Pumphrey Drive or park at Mervyn's and Lowe's on each side of 183 near Ridgmar Mall.

"They can park and get out and wave them along the highway," the spokesman said.

The soldiers will stay at the joint reserve base. They will tour the Stock Show grounds before the rodeo. That evening they will be guests at a private reception and dinner at the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, said Dennis Shingleton, chief of staff of the University of North Texas Health Science Center and a retired Army colonel. All of them are ambulatory, he said.

Their names and hometowns have not been released, Shingleton said.

The visit was organized by former Army surgeon general and Health Science Center President Dr. Ronald Blanck, Shingleton said.

Rodeo tickets were donated by the Stock Show, and many others are rallying to greet the group, including area children who are making posters for their rooms, the Longhorn Council of the Boy Scouts, which is preparing food gifts and thank-you letters, and a local American Legion post that is fixing up fruit baskets and flowers. Sponsors include the city of Fort Worth, the chamber, Lockheed Martin and Thomas F. Byrne Construction, Shingleton said.

The group returns to the hospital Saturday.

For their trip home, Bevill said Friday that he was working on getting a special treat for the soldiers. "I want to make sure they get some Krispy Kreme doughnuts to take with them on the bus," he said.

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