They were five men; five U.S. Army Reserve Command Soldiers.
They served in civil affairs, military intelligence and the quartermaster corps.
The youngest was 26; the oldest 49. They came from Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina and California.
They were fathers, sons, friends and colleagues.
They were five men - five USARC Soldiers - who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. On April 30, USARC paid tribute to these five Soldiers - Spc. Paul E. Andersen, Cpl. Christopher Coffland, Pfc. Alan Newton Jr., 1st Sgt. Blue Rowe, and Capt. Benjamin Sklaver - with a fallen Soldiers' ceremony at USARC headquarters on Fort McPherson.
"We come to this solemn ceremony with pride in our hearts for our fallen Soldiers," said Chap. (Col.) Kenneth Beale Jr., USARC command chaplain. "We are eternally grateful for their sacrifice on the altar of freedom."
Gratefulness was shown through prayers for the fallen Soldiers' loved ones and for USARC Soldiers still deployed, and with a benediction and final salute from all Soldiers and Civilian employees in attendance.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, USARC director of operations, plans and training, also took time to honor the Soldiers, focusing on their similarities.
"They walked upright and served others with honor," he said.
Buchanan stressed how all five Soldiers put the needs of others before their own and embodied the Army value of selfless service.
He challenged those in attendance to reflect on their sacrifice and to walk upright.
Citing the Bible's Book of Isaiah, Buchanan said, "Even the most righteous will perish, but that those who walk uprightly find peace."
That peace, Beale said, will come in the life after death, where he believes God's faithful servants will be allowed to enter God's happiness.
The afterlife, however, was not the subject of the ceremony. Rather, Beale focused more on the lives of the Soldiers.
He said although these Soldiers' lives were shortened, it did not lessen the quality of their lives.
Beale spoke about how on a person's gravestone, the dates of birth and death are God's, but the dash belongs to the individual.
"The dash between birth and death is the shortest but most significant character," he said. "It represents a life. The dates are God's, but the line is yours and mine, a gift to us."
Beale said that since death does not respect time, one must always be ready for the possibility of death, adding it is especially important for those in harm's way to live honorably and upright. Master Sgt. Darryl Perry, USARC casualty operations NCOIC, said the ceremony added a human element to the names.
"At the Reserve command, we see names on paper and send them down range, so it's important that we pay tribute to them here at headquarters," he said.
Perry, who has deployed to camps where some of the five fallen Soldiers served, said the ceremony holds special meanings to those who have also deployed.
"A lot (of Soldiers) have been deployed and have seen in theater when we do something to honor Soldiers," Perry said. "This shows we do give tribute to Soldiers beyond the field."
Buchanan shared similar sentiments, saying the ceremony is a chance to recognize and honor the contributions of fellow Reserve Soldiers defending America and its freedoms.
Those contributions have increased greatly over the past years, he added, stating about 30,000 Reserve Soldiers are mobilized and deployed throughout the world in support of contingency operations.
"We (the Army Reserves) used to be strategic force. Over last several years we've become an operational force," Buchanan said. "The Army can't operate full spectrum operations without the Reserves."
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