"Names inscribed on black marble, reminiscent of other names on marble halfway across the country. If you quiet your heart and mind, run your fingers over the letters, you can almost feel and hear memories -- stories of lives lost too early."
These were the words spoken Sept. 11 by Chaplain (Maj.) Kenneth Bolin, U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School chaplain, during a monument dedication ceremony for 24 chemical Soldiers who had fallen during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom held in Fort Leonard Wood's Chemical Memorial Grove.
The ceremony took place 13 years after the 9/11 attacks and was attended by Soldiers and civilians of the Chemical Regiment.
"Over the past 13 years, more than 2 million Americans have selflessly raised their hand and said, 'send me' -- all, did not return," Brig. Gen. Maria Gervais, 28th Chief of Chemical and USACBRNS commandant, said to those gathered.
Gervais said, there is no tradition more important than honoring those who gave everything they had in the defense of this country.
"We owe all who paid the ultimate sacrifice a debt of gratitude, a debt we acknowledge that we can never repay," Gervais said. "We offer a very simple, powerful and yet inadequate payment -- a monument in their honor, a place for past, present and future warriors to reflect on the price of freedom."
She added that the 24 fallen Soldiers were young men and women from neighborhoods in cities and small towns across America and served in the Army in the ranks from lieutenant to specialist.
The monument, which is now nestled amongst others showing remembrance of other fallen dragon Soldiers from past wars and conflicts, was dedicated to the following that perished during Operation Iraqi Freedom, or OIF:
Cpl. Mark Bibby, July 21, 2003; 2nd Lt. Benjamin Colgan, Nov. 1, 2003; Staff Sgt. Morgan Kennon, Nov. 7, 2003; Spc. Arron Clark, Dec. 5, 2003; Cpl. Forest Jostes, April 4, 2004; Sgt. Gregory Wahl, May 3, 2004; Spc. Mark Kasecky, May 16, 2004; Sgt. Thomas Rosenbaum, Sept. 18, 2004; Staff Sgt. Robert Johnson, Dec. 21, 2004; Sgt. 1st Class Mickey Zaun, Jan. 28, 2005; Staff Sgt. Stephen Sherman, Feb. 3, 2005; Spc. Lizbeth Robles, Mar. 1, 2005; Spc. Ignacio Ramirez, Aug. 9, 2006; Sgt. Jonathan Lootens, Oct. 15, 2006; Sgt. Marco Miller, Dec. 5, 2006; Spc. Elias Elias, Dec. 23, 2006; Cpl. Jason Nunez, Mar. 25, 2007; Spc. Eddie Tamez, Apr. 27, 2007; Sgt. Jacob Schmuecker, July 21, 2007; Spc. James Gudridge, Jan. 6, 2008; Spc. Arturo Huerta-Cruz, Apr. 14, 2008.
It was also dedicated to the following fallen Soldiers during Operation Enduring Freedom, or OEF:
Sgt. Jaime Gonzalez, Aug. 3, 2008; Staff Sgt. Scott Burgess, Apr. 4, 2011; Spc. Krystal Fitts, July 17, 2012.
Gervais said each of the fallen Soldiers were, and still are, cherished by their Families and that their losses are not easy to bear.
"We also have a wall in Thurman Hall at the CBRN School, dedicated to these fallen Soldiers," Gervais said. "I urge you all to visit the wall and look at their faces and think of these Soldiers -- their service, their sacrifice."
In his closing remarks, Bolin reminded the crowd that chemical Soldiers acknowledge they can die on any given day, from an enemy they can see or one too small to see.
"These warriors, these Soldiers, these heroes that we remember and honor today did not choose the time and manner of their deaths. They are not martyrs," Bolin said.
"Rather, their heroism comes from their agreement to do something the vast majority of our nation would never consider -- they signed a blank check. They wrote it to the nation, to be redeemed only in the presence and like-minded service of others like them," he added.
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