Falcons honor wounded warriors

by Pfc. Kissta M. Feldner
2nd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. PAO

	photos by Pfc. Kissta M. Feldner/2nd BCT, 82nd Div. PAO Paratroopers with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division take off on a brigade run from the company areas to the Airborne Museum at Fort Bragg on Nov. 13. Brigade commander Col. Chris Gibson spoke to the troopers after the run. They were then served breakfast and toured the museum. The run was part of a Veteran’s Day celebration.

On a brisk fall day with a sprinkling of rain, thousands of Falcon paratroopers were lined up around their company areas in preparation for the Veteran’s Day Remembrance run Nov. 13.

The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division ran four miles to the Airborne Museum on Fort Bragg, kicking off the day’s events.

Following the run, brigade commander Col. Chris Gibson presented an Army Commendation Medal to Staff Sgt. Matthew Foster who lost part of his right leg during a roadside bomb strike in 2007.
With the help of a special prosthetic leg, Foster led the run and recently completed the New York City Marathon.

“He is everything a paratrooper should be,” said Gibson.

After the presentation of the award, troopers waited in line to tour the museum and pay tribute to the 82nd Soldiers who came before them and were served breakfast under tents in the museum parking lot.

Continuing the day’s events, the 2nd BCT held a luncheon for Purple Heart recipients at the Pope Air Force Base Officers’ Club, sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Committee. There, paratroopers were able to share stories concerning their various roads to recovery and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow Purple Heart recipients.

Former Army Capt. Wesley Bauguess helped to form the Wounded Warrior Committee in 2007 after her husband, Maj. Larry Bauguess of 508th Special Troops Battalion, 4th BCT, was killed in combat in Pakistan.

The committee supports injured 82nd paratroopers at Walter Reed and Brooke Army Medical Centers by reuniting the Soldiers with their units and giving them gifts, such as backpacks full of 82nd paraphernalia, including break-away pants and a zip-up fleece, both of which are easy for injured Soldiers to put on and take off on their own, said Bauguess.

“I feel very blessed to be able to do something for the paratroopers because they do so much for us,” said Bauguess.

Wrapping up the brigade’s Veterans Day Remembrance ceremonies, Gibson spoke to his Falcons about remembering those who came before them, and how one day they too will be remembered by generations of paratroopers to come.

“In 100 years, what will matter is how we lived our lives and what we stood for.,” Gibson said.