FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Tears from mourners, explosions of artillery guns, the melody of taps and the sad breathing of bagpipes filled a cloud-covered Memorial Park last week as Families, friends and comrades honored 10 Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division (LI) and one Civilian killed in Afghanistan during 2013.
The annual Mountain Remembrance ceremony began with the unveiling of a new memorial plaque inscribed with the names of the fallen. Donated to Fort Drum by the National Association of the 10th Mountain Division, the small memorial stands with many others like it behind the Military Mountaineers Monument as a permanent reminder of the division's sacrifices.
"Why are we here?" asked Maj. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, Fort Drum and 10th Mountain Division (LI) commander. "One word: remember."
Home on leave from eastern Afghanistan where he leads Combined Joint Task Force-10, Townsend stood in front of the colors representing every major Fort Drum and 10th Mountain Division (LI) unit and shared an upsetting story with the hundreds of people gathered June 24.
After a division Soldier was killed on patrol in Afghanistan recently, Townsend said he was scrolling through the specialist's Facebook page one evening when a comment stopped him cold.
"Afghanistan?" a comment appeared. "I thought we were out of there."
Townsend, visibly upset, explained it was the Fort Drum community's "charter" to never forget their Soldiers' sacrifices and to ensure their fellow Americans stayed informed.
"Who does the burden of remembering fall to?" he asked. "It falls to us. That's why we are here today."
Before introducing the guest speaker, Townsend paraphrased the famous words of Gen. George Patton, telling the crowd that when men fall in battle, we should not mourn their loss, but instead thank God such Soldiers lived.
"That's how I prefer to think of it," he said.
Before beginning his prepared remarks, retired Lt. Gen. Michael L. Oates, former Fort Drum and 10th Mountain Division (LI) commander, welcomed special guests in the audience.
"There are a number of very important people attending today's ceremony," he said. "But first and foremost I'd like to recognize and honor our distinguished guests -- the Families of our fallen heroes. It means a great deal to the Army Family and to the North Country community particularly that you have joined us today to recognize your wonderful Soldiers."
Continuing the theme Town-send set out to emphasize, Oates posed the same question.
"Why do we gather here?" he asked. "Why is this important?"
Like Townsend, Oates explained how the burden of honoring and remembering falls to those who know of the sacrifices made in defense of freedom.
"It's important that we never forget them, for they did not fail us," he said. "They -- those on the wall behind us -- all represent what is good in America and our desire to serve and live as free people.
"We are gathered here because it is the right thing to do, to remember their sacrifice made on our behalf and to speak their names in public so they are never far from our consciousness or that of our fellow citizens," he added.
Oates emphasized the individuality of each fallen Soldier, calling them "thoughtful, considerate, dependable, courageous" human beings. He also said the Soldiers died too young.
"We are a large and diverse country, the longest-standing democracy, protected by a small percentage of our citizens, who defend our Constitution and our way of life, often at risk to their own lives," he said. "We know that Soldiers seldom understand the linkage of their individual actions to the larger geopolitical strategies developed by politicians in general.
"But they trust their leaders, and they trust each other," Oates said. "And, so, they willingly deploy, they fight and sometimes they are lost."
The retired general then asked a much harder question.
"It is a very natural question to ask as we seek to make sense of a life lost at a very young age and in sometimes very tough circumstances," he said. "Was their sacrifice in vain?"
At this point, Oates said he could only speak for himself.
"American Soldiers willingly put themselves in harm's way to perform as a member of their unit, to protect their friends, to do their duty," he said. "Their loss is always a tragedy to those who love them. But their loss is not and is never in vain.
"A life lost in defense of friends, the innocent and in service to our great nation is deserving of our highest praise and honor," he continued. "It is not possible for such a loss to be in vain, regardless of the larger political outcome, because Soldiers fight and sacrifice for each other and for a cause much larger than themselves.
"We will miss them every day," he concluded, "but most particularly at holidays and special dates. But we will never forget them. These wonderful Soldiers we honor today are the personification of the motto of this great division: Climb to Glory."
In chronological order, the names of the Soldiers and one Civilian who died in 2013 while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom are Sgt. Derek T. McConnell, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team; Capt. Aaron R. Blanchard and 1st Lt. Robert J. Hess, both from 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade; and Lt. Col. Todd J. Clark and Lt. Col. Jamie E. Leonard, both from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
Also, Sgt. Javier Sanchez Jr., 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team; Joseph Morabito, law enforcement specialist attached to 2nd Brigade Combat Team; Pfc. Mariano M. Raymundo, 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team; Sgt. Anthony R. Maddox, 10th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team; Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team; and Sgt. William D. Brown III, 94th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team.
After a 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, a bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace," a moment of silence and the benediction, loved ones, comrades and friends took turns viewing the new monument inscribed with the names of their fallen warriors.
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