MOTSU firefighter remembered for service to country

By Staff Sgt. Robert Jordan, NCNG Public AffairsMarch 28, 2011

MOTSU firefighter remembered for service to country
Army Capt. Christopher Padgett addresses friends, family, fellow Soldiers and firefighters at a fire station dedication ceremony Mar. 25 honoring Sgt. 1st Class Edward Kramer, a firefighter at the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point and N.C. National... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Friends, family, fellow Soldiers and firefighters came together Mar. 24 at the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, N.C., during a special ceremony honoring one of their own, Sgt. 1st Class Edward Kramer, a North Carolina National Guard Soldier who was killed while serving in Iraq during 2009.

Kramer was also a full-time Department of Army civilian firefighter at the MOTSU before his deployment.

This ceremony honors Kramer and the naming of the Sunny Point firehouse as the "SFC Edward C. Kramer Fire Station."

"He was special to all of us and to find someone like SFC Kramer is a rarity," said Army Col. Joseph E. Calisto, MOTSU installation commander, as he addressed attendees in front of the station.

Behind Calisto, two firefighters stood at attention next to a tarp covering the sign on the building's front. On cue, a quick tug on the rope, and the tarp fell free, revealing Kramer's name.

"Kramer was someone you wanted to be around. Everyone respected him - a good man," said Army Capt. Christopher Padgett, Kramer's former commander in Iraq.

Kramer served with the N.C. National Guard's Jacksonville-headquartered Co. A, 120th Combined Arms Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. He was killed when his Humvee hit a roadside Improvised Explosive Device south of Baghdad in June 2009.

Several Guard leaders who served with Kramer attended the ceremony including Maj. Gen. Gregory A. Lusk, Adjutant General of North Carolina, and Kramer's brigade commander in Iraq during the deployment.