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One year into OIF, Guard remembers those who sacrificed all

Army News Service

Release Date: 3/30/2004

By Master Sgt. Bob Haskell

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, March 30, 2004) -- Jeffrey Wershow became a National Guard icon in March, because that is when the Guard's top leader started sharing his story, including his ultimate sacrifice.

Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, is telling everyone he can about the 22-year-old infantry specialist from the Florida Army National Guard following the first anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom that this country observed in March.

Blum tells Wershow's story while showing a video about what National Guard Soldiers and airmen have contributed to the global war against terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001.

The 3-minute, 37-second video is a collage of film clips and still photos set to the Toby Keith song "American Soldier," which was No. 1 on the country music charts as the first year of the war in Iraq was coming to a close.

Wershow, who went to war with the 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry, appears twice in that National Guard video that also speaks to the sacrifices that Guard Soldiers and airmen have made during the war.

There is Jeffrey Wershow, seen in the green haze of a night vision lens, planting the American and Florida flags beside a breach in a defensive wall in northern Iraq.

Florida Army Guard and active Army soldiers invaded Iraq, Blum explains, in the dead of a night before coalition forces actually launched Operation Iraqi Freedom on the night of March 19, 2003.

Jeffrey Wershow did not have long to savor that moment, Blum relates a little later during the video as a casket covered with Old Glory is carried onto an Air National Guard plane. He was shot in the head and killed in Baghdad while buying a can of soda on July 6.

"Jeffrey Wershow was one of our Guard members, who went into the fight before the fighting officially started," Blum has observed. "And Jeffrey Wershow was one of the people, who made the ultimate sacrifice."

There have been many Jeffrey Wershows during the past year when the National Guard has paid a dear price in blood and tears while holding up its end of the fight against tyranny and terrorism. There have been even more like him during the 30 months since President George unleashed the dogs of war against those who would do this country harm.

Sixty-five Guard members have died because they have been willing to go into harm's way.

Fifty-five Army Guard Soldiers and one Air National Guard officer had given their lives during the first year of operations against Iraq by March 20, according to Department of Defense (DoD) casualty reports.

That was the day that California Army Guard 1st Lt. Michael Vega, 41, died at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington from injuries sustained when his vehicle rolled over during a firefight in Iraq on March 11.

Another eight Guard Soldiers and an airman have died while taking part in Operation Enduring Freedom, in which terrorists based in Afghanistan have been the focus of attention since April 2002.

Twenty-seven of the Iraqi casualties have been killed in action or have died of wounds sustained in combat, according to DoD reports. Three have been killed in action in Afghanistan.

Many others have been wounded and lost limbs and have begun coming to grips at places like Walter Reed with the reality of resuming their lives, which have been forever altered by warfare.

Two videos, produced by two veteran members of the National Guard Bureau's public affairs team, pay tribute to those Guard members during the first anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

One is grounded in Toby Keith's hit song "American Soldier."

The other is a memorial of the Guard members, who have been killed during the war against terrorism. Their names are displayed against an American flag that is waving in the breeze.

The three-minute, 17- second video ends with the sobering message "All Gave Some; Some Gave All."

Army Guard Sergeants 1st Class Paul Mouilleseaux and Tom Roberts shot most of footage and photographs and produced the videos that are being distributed to National Guard personnel throughout the country.

Blum presented the award-winning military journalists with Air Force Achievement Medals for their poignant portrayals of the National Guard at war.

"What the National Guard does and means was the message we tried to convey in the Toby Keith video," said Mouilleseaux, who also has two Emmy Awards. He was a staff photographer on news teams for a Louisville, Ky., commercial television station, WHAS-TV, which won Midwestern regional Emmy Awards in 1994 and 2000.

"With the memorial video, we wanted to inject some honor and pride and emotion into the sacrifices that these Guard Soldiers and airmen have made to make sure they are never forgotten," Mouilleseaux added.

They will be remembered in many places. The 56, who have died during Operation Iraqi Freedom, came from 25 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, based on Defense Department casualty reports.

Five belonged to Army Guard units in Iowa, the state that has been hardest hit.

California and Alabama have each lost four Guard Soldiers. Indiana has lost three Guard Soldiers engaged in Operation Iraqi Freedom and another during Operation Enduring Freedom.

July and November were the deadliest months during the first year of the Iraqi war. Eight Guard Soldiers perished during each month. Seven more died during the months of August, September and December.

Improvised explosive devices have taken many of the lives that will again be remembered with tears and "Taps" during the Memorial Day season in late May.

But the sacrifices have been made in many ways.

Illinois 1st Lt. Brian Slavenas and Iowa Chief Warrant Officer Bruce Smith and Sgt. Paul Fisher were killed when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down in Al Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 2.

Ohio Spec. Todd Bates drowned south of Baghdad on Dec. 10 after diving into the Tigris River to try to save his squad leader, Staff Sgt. Aaron Reese, who fell overboard during a river patrol. Both men with the 135th Military Police Company died.

And many people now know the story of Florida Spc. Jeffrey Wershow because the chief of the National Guard Bureau is telling everyone he can how the college student and aspiring politician left his Florida home to put his life on the line, as so many National Guard people have done when their country has called.

A list of all Soldiers -- active, Reserve and Guard -- who gave their all in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom can be viewed at www.army.mil/features/gratefulnation.

(Editor's note: Master Sgt. Bob Haskell writes for the National Guard Bureau.)