Task Force Soldiers remember fallen heroes
Army News Service
Release Date: 11/19/2003
By Sgt. Mark Bell
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four Germany Soldiers who were killed while serving in Iraq were honored with black and gold plaques that will be hung on military living quarters in Iraq.
"Their lives are not lost in vain," said Lt. Col. Charles Sexton, the commander of 1st Armored Division's 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, from Freidburg, Germany, while looking at the four plaques behind him. "We are going to honor their memory by commissioning plaques for each one of the buildings you Soldiers live in. I can't think of no greater way to honor (their) memories than by naming a building after them in which their brothers live."
The Spartan Soldiers remembered and honored were:
- Pfc. Robert L. Frantz, Company B, killed June 18
- Sgt. Juan M. Serrano, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, killed July 24,
- Spc. Edward Herrgott, Company B, killed July 3
- Spc. William J. Mahner, III, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-36, killed July 28
Sexton said during his emotional speech he knows the four Spartan Soldiers killed are appreciative of what the battalion is doing during its mission in central Iraq. "They are looking down upon us from heaven. It's not easy to say goodbye to a friend, but when you say goodbye that friend is still within our hearts. They are still with us in our minds, and they are still with the United States Army."
As Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Graham, 44, from Moucks Corner, S.C., unveiled both the battalion and the American colors the battalion formation quietly remembered their not-forgotten Soldiers and friends.
Although gone, Sexton, 42, from New York City, told his Soldiers during a large formation, the four Soldiers died for something they believed in - to bring freedom to the Iraqi people.
Sexton reminded his Soldiers to look at the colors Graham uncovered earlier in the ceremony and remember that each represents those Soldiers who have been killed in battles of the past, present and future.
"Soon we'll be adding a streamer to those battalion colors," he said. "We'll often look at those streamers as cloth with a couple of words on it, but what I want you to do from now on as veterans is look at those streamers and think of those names you see today."
Sexton said those streamers are not made of cloth, but rather made of blood. "That is blood that is shed in order for that dream of our national colors and the dream of freedom to be forever."
For one Soldier killed, transferring to a new company and a new mission did not deter Herrgott to make new friends and a new mission guarding the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad.
Herrgott was killed during a July 3 attack in Baghdad.
Just minutes before the fatal attack, Capt. Chris Ayers, Herrgott's former company commander, said he remembered Herrgott's spunky, outgoing attitude and his desire to help the Iraqi people regain their pride and freedom into their lives.
"I know he loved his job here," said Ayers. "He died for freedom; he died for everybody in this company. It was for a good cause, and that's why it tugs at my heart to see such a young guy like Herrgott have something horrible like this happen to him."
The senior enlisted Spartan Soldier said remembering his Soldiers that were killed was personal.
"It's important to me because all four of my Soldiers have given the ultimate sacrifice of their lives," said Graham.
Whether it was at the turn of the century, yesterday or tomorrow, Graham said remembering and honoring fallen comrades is important part of our history Americans must not forget.
"They have sacrificed their lives to ensure the freedom of the sons and daughters of future generations can live a free and fulfilling life," Graham said. "As we remember these four Soldiers . let us not forget the past Soldiers who have also fallen. They too, have sacrificed their lives for myself and my children."
After the ceremony, which was held on Veterans Day, friends and comrades of Frantz, Serrano, Mahner and Herrgott gathered around the plaques quietly, and in their own way, remembered those who have sacrificed their lives to give a new life to the Iraqi people -- a life of choice and freedoms that which the American people remember each year on Veterans Day.
"We are still focused on doing the job here," said Ayers after the ceremony. "We are focused on doing everything that we possibly can to be safe and secure. Everyone believes in this mission."
On the 11th is a day of heroes, and this day belongs to Soldiers, said Sexton
"Those Soldiers did not die in vain," he said. "They died for a dream; that dream is freedom. They were your brothers in arm, and they gave their lives to the flag you see in front of you. They gave their lives for you and for your families."
(Editor's note: Sgt. Mark Bell is a journalist with the 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.)
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