First Team dedicates OIF memorial

FORT HOOD, Texas (Army News Service, April 5, 2006) – Despite several days of rain leading up to the dedication of the 1st Cavalry Division’s Operation Iraqi Freedom Memorial April 4, when the dedication began, even the weather cooperated.

As the ceremony began, Gold Star families (families of fallen troops), community members and hundreds of current and former First Team Soldiers reverently stood on the south side of the memorial.

After the memorial was officially presented to the division by the 1st Cavalry Division Association, Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, who commanded the division during its deployment to Iraq, told the crowd of the significance of April 4 and the memorial.

“Two years ago to this day, members of the First Team engaged an enemy in the streets of Sadr City,” said Chiarelli, who is now commander of Multi-national Forces-Iraq. “In our one-year tour it was one of our most costly days as we lost seven young Soldiers and had nearly 50 more wounded. It would not be our last hard day, but like all days that followed our Soldiers persevered.”

April 4 was also significant because it was the first time during the deployment that Soldiers from the division had lost their lives, he said. It was 11 days before the Cav. officially took over control of Baghdad.

“Heroism on a scale most of us can only imagine was seen by our Soldiers as a simple matter of doing a job,” he said. “None of us here today will forget the sacrifices of these Americans. I see their young faces in my mind’s eye everyday of my life. That will never change. Pride is not a powerful enough word to describe how I feel about each of them.”

As Chiarelli returned to his seat, surrounded by the families of the 168 Soldiers whose names are etched on the polished black granite, Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, Jr., the division’s commanding general, spoke about the memorial’s place on Cooper Field.

“When Lt. Gen. Chiarelli spoke at this monument’s groundbreaking ceremony here last fall, he said, ‘For a First Team trooper, Cooper Field is hallowed ground,’” Fil said. “This place endears a sacred feeling in our hearts. And today, it is even more special with the addition of this wonderful memorial. It is, therefore, fitting that this memorial occupies a portion of this hallowed ground, standing as a lasting tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation. “

Fil said the memorial was also a tribute to all the Soldiers who had served with division in Iraq, and all they accomplished.

He said that although we may see them as heroes, the fallen Soldiers would only say they were doing their jobs.

“Years from now, we can stand on this spot and remember these brave men and women for who they were – American heroes who gave the last measure for their unit, their army and their nation,” he said. “Today we honor them on behalf of all parents who have lost a son or daughter, and all children who must grow up without a parent. We honor them for the millions of lives they helped to better with their service”

As the dedication concluded many in the audience expressed their appreciation of the ceremony.

“The ceremony was beautiful,” said Staff Sgt. Eldred Stewart, Company A, 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Stewart was there as an escort for the family of Cpl. Forest J. Jostes, a Soldier he had served with in Iraq. “From talking to the families it has more or less given them some closure. I think the families appreciate this more than anything.”

Although Stewart said he had seen the memorial while it was being constructed, the dedication was the first time he had seen it up close.

“I didn’t really know what it would look like, but … wow!” he exclaimed.

Ann Comeaux’s son Kurt died on Jan. 6, 2005. He was a sergeant first class with the Louisiana Army National Guard’s 256th Brigade Combat Team. Ann came all the way from Raceland, La., to witness the dedication.

“It means a lot to me that everyone still thinks about the Soldiers who got killed,” she said. “I’m hoping that it helps the Soldiers who came back home to know that they’re appreciated.”

Stewart and Comeaux weren’t the only ones seeing the completed memorial for the first time. Finishing touches were still being added just a few hours before the ceremony.

Maj. Brian Davis, one of the engineers who had supervised much of the construction of the memorial, had not seen the finished memorial because he had recently left the division.

The memorial is made of black granite panels outlining the 1st Cavalry Division patch. The patch is made of tan bricks and black granite, and the statue is mounted on a pedestal in the middle of the patch.

The granite panels contain several different engravings, including the names of the 168 Soldiers killed during the division’s deployment and an engraving of the J. Dietz print, “Turning the Corner.”

“It went from dirt and concrete and rocks on the ground to being complete,” Davis said. He said he was pleased with how the memorial turned out and with the dedication ceremony.

After the ceremony ended, Gold Star families, and later members of the audience, were able to go into the memorial and take photos and trace the names of their loved ones onto special paper as another remembrance.

(Editor’s note: Spc. Joshua McPhie writes for the 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs Office.)

Soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division Honor Guard present the Colors at the "First Team's" Operation Iraqi Freedom Memorial dedication ceremony at Fort Hood, Apr. 4. The names of 168 Soldiers killed during the division's deployment to Iraq are engraved on the panels. Photo by Pfc. Jeffrey Ledesma.

From left to right: Monica Velez, Lorin Davila and Nickie Velez listen as Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commander of Multi-national Forces-Iraq, speaks at the 1st Cavalry Division’s Operation Iraqi Freedom Memorial dedication April 4 at the Division’s Cooper Field. Photo by Pfc. Jeffrey Ledesma.

A-Le-Lu-JAH! What a Beautiful memorial and ceremony!

And Thank-You, Lord Jesus, for every Man & Woman who ever served in the 1st Cavalry Division..

And Thank-You, Father GOD, for all of those 168 men & woman who gladly answered the call for Fredom to, Oce More, March on...for their COuntry & for a Land they gave their lives for.

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