Photo by Sgt. Tony Hawkins/USASOC PAO The newly constructed memorial wall is unveiled during the fallen special operations Soldiers memorial ceremony at the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Memorial Plaza on May 27.

Families and friends of 40 fallen Army special operations Soldiers gathered with members, both past and present, of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at the unit’s Memorial Plaza at Fort Bragg, May 27 to remember the sacrifices of their loved ones.

The fallen special operations Soldiers memorial ceremony, which is held annually memorial by USASOC around Memorial Day. The memorial is a time for the Soldiers of the command to honor the memory of those comrades lost in the past year. During this year’s ceremony, 35 new names of fallen heroes were added to the Memorial Wall with their Families and friends in attendance to share the honor.
“I would like to extend a very special welcome to our Gold Star Families,” said Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland, USASOC commanding general. “These are our fellow citizens, our neighbors, many of whom are veterans of service to our great nation themselves. They have provided to our nation that most precious of sacrifices — their sons, their husbands, their brothers and fathers. These are the very men who have brought us together here today. You honor us with your presence.”

The names of fallen special operations Soldiers dating back to the Korean War have been recorded on the USASOC Memorial Wall since 1994. This year, the wall underwent a reconstruction, and was dedicated in the ceremony as the Fallen Special Operations Soldier’s Memorial Wall.

“We undertook a collective effort with our friends this year to build a new wall, an edifice which we felt would be more fitting to remember and honor our great warriors, knowing that in no way can we fully do justice to their ultimate sacrifices,” Mulholland said.

Mulholland thanked and highlighted the efforts of many people instrumental in the development and construction of the wall, saying “throughout this project, what was foremost in the minds of all those people who participated was the sacrifice of our fallen heroes. That is what motivated everyone to make this a reality.”

Such projects do not fall from trees, Mulholland said, but rather are enabled by great American patriots who invest in these visions to make them real.

“To all these great men and women and all those who have helped make this wall a reality, I thank you,” he said. “We will never lose sight of the fact that this is but a mechanism to recognize the real reason we are here today, that is honor these great Soldiers.”

Once the wall was unveiled, each major subordinate operational unit’s commanding officer and command sergeant major placed a wreath at the base of the memorial. Then, as the names of 35 fallen special operations Soldiers who died in the past year, as well as five from previous years, were read off by each unit’s command sergeant major, silence fell over the crowd and only the lone ring of a bell could be heard.

With the country being at war for nearly 10 years, longer than the Revolution which gave birth to the nation, Army special operations has been at the forefront of combat, nation-building and a wide variety of other missions in more than 50 countries around the world.

“Today we stop to honor a very special group of Army special operations Soldiers: those who sacrificed all for their fellow man,” Mulholland said. “These are men who had choices. They were extraordinarily talented and intelligent men who could have done anything they wanted to do.”
When a nation is fighting a war for more than nine years, “you don’t stay in this kind of formation unless you have a passion for it, and these were passionate men,” he said. “These are men who loved what they did and knew they were making a difference in the most dangerous missions around the world on behalf of all of us. They, of their own volition, their own desire, took on our toughest challenges in the toughest locations on behalf of this great country.”

Mulholland closed with the reading of the inscriptions which are etched into the wall.

“I think they speak perfectly to its purpose and together say all that needs to be said,” Mulholland said. “One is from John, which reads, ‘Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ No other words could possibly make it clearer the ultimate purpose behind the sacrifice made by our fallen heroes: their love for their fellow man, and their love for their country.”

Below is the main inscription located on the front of the wall, as well as the names of the 35 fallen special operations Soldiers added to the memorial this year:

“Welcome Kinsman, Comrade, Friend. Recorded here on this humble Wall are the names of our fallen Heroes. They were and always will be cherished Soldiers of Army Special Operations, our comrades in arms. Know that they eagerly sought and accepted our Nation’s most difficult missions against our most dangerous enemies. Know that they willingly endured hardship and danger, and at the end, sacrificed all for us. With solemn pride, know that in doing so they proved true to their oath to the Constitution and duty to the Citizens of the United States of America. To them, their example and their memory we humbly dedicate this Memorial.”

Operation Iraqi Freedom
Cpl. Ryan C. McGhee of Fredericksburg, Va., 75th Rgr Regt., Fort Benning, Ga.
Sgt. 1st Class Duane A. Thornsbury of Clinton, Md., 10th SFG, Fort Carson, Colo.

Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan)
Staff Sgt. Keith R. Bishop of Medford, N.Y., 7th SFG , Fort Bragg, N.C.
Sgt. 1st Class Bradley S. Bohle of Baltimore, Md., 7th SFG, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Rusty H. Christian of Greenville, Tenn., 1st SFG , Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
Sgt. Joel D. Clarkson of Fairbanks, Alaska, 75th Rgr Regt., Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
Staff Sgt. Jason S. Dahlke of Jacksonville, Fla., 75th Rgr Regt., Hunter Army Air Field, Ga.
Spc. Marc P. Decoteau of Waterville Valley, N.H, 4th POG, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Sgt. 1st Class Alejandro Granado III of Longview, Texas, 20th SFG, Jackson, Miss.
Pfc. Eric W. Hario of Monroe, Mich., 75th Rgr Regt., Hunter Army Air Field, Ga.
Sgt. Josue E. Hernandez Chavez of Las Vegas, Nev., 160th SOAR, Savannah, Ga.
Cpl. Michael D. Jankiewicz of Ramsey, N.J., 75th Rgr Regt., Fort Benning, Ga.
Cpl. Benjamin S. Kopp of Minneapolis, Minn., 75th Rgr Regt., Fort Benning, Ga.
Staff Sgt. Andrew T. Lobosco of Somerville, N.J., 7th SFG, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Capt. Ronald G. Luce Jr. of Julian, Calif., 20th SFG, Jackson, Miss.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Niall D. Lyons of Spokane, Wash., 160th SOAR, Savannah, Ga.
Sgt. 1st Class Shawn P. McCloskey of Peachtree, Ga., 7th SFG, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Shawn H. McNabb of Terrell, Texas, 160th SOAR, Savannah, Ga.
Sgt. 1st Class David E. Metzger of San Diego, Calif., 7th SFG, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Joshua M. Mills of El Paso, Texas, 7th SFG, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael P. Montgomery of Redmond, Wash., 160th SOAR, Savannah, Ga.
Sgt. Nickolas A. Mueller of Little Chute, Wis., 160th SOAR, Savannah, Ga.
Staff Sgt. Matthew A. Pucino of Boston, Mass., 20th SFG, Glen Arm, Md.
Cpl. Nicholas R. Roush of Middleville, Mich., 4th POG, Fort Bragg, N.C
Sgt. Roberto D. Sanchez of Ocala, Fla., 75th Rgr Regt., Hunter AAF, Ga.
Sgt. 1st Class Severin W. Summers III of Lafayette, La., 20th SFG, Jackson, Miss.
Capt. David J. Thompson of Pinehurst, N.C, 3rd SFG, Fort Bragg, N.C
Capt. John Tinsley of Tallahassee, Fla., 7th SFG, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Douglas M. Vose III of Roseburg, Ore., 10th SFG, Stuttgart, Germany
Sgt. 1st Class William B. Woods Jr. of Chesapeake, Va., 20th SFG, Glen Arm, Md.
Operation Enduring Freedom (Philippines)
Staff Sgt. Jack M. Martin III of Bethany, Okla., 1st SFG, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
Sgt. 1st Class Christopher D. Shaw of Natchez, Miss., 1st SFG, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
Operation Enduring Freedom (Other)
Sgt. 1st Class David J. Hartman of Merced, Calif., 95th CAB, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew S. Sluss-Tiller of Ashland, Ky., 95th CAB, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Mark A. Stets Jr. of California, 4th POG, Fort Bragg, N.C.

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