Fort Drum honors five fallen soldiers

FORT DRUM — Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division remembered five of their comrades who died this year in Afghanistan at a Memorial Park ceremony on Thursday.

1st Sgt. Jason Stamers, of the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment remembered Cpl. Preston J. Dennis, 23, of Redding, Calif., who died April 28 after being attacked with an improvised explosive device.

The fallen soldier opted to deploy in March, despite having had less than the required year at home — known as dwell time — from his previous Afghanistan deployment.

“To some, this decision may be a surprise, but to Cpl. Dennis, it was a no-brainer,” Sgt. Stamers said, adding that he “always chose a hard right instead of an easy wrong.” With a meticulous work ethic, he always made sure his team’s tasks were complete before his soldiers could relax.

Sgt. Stamers also remembered Pfc. John C. Johnson, 28, of Phoenix, Ariz., who died May 27 after being attacked with small arms fire.

He was with Pfc. Johnson the day he died and knew him as a soldier who, because of his work ethic and ability to motivate other young soldiers, was always recommended by his supervisors for additional tasks.

“I never had to have a team leader micromanage to ensure it was done correctly and efficiently,” he said. “I knew it was done right.”

On June 5, the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade’s 1st Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment lost two soldiers in a helicopter crash: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Kenneth R. White, 35, of Fort Collins, Colo., and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bradley J. Gaudet, 31, of Gladewater, Texas.

Battalion Chaplain Capt. Seung-il Suh recalled Mr. White as being an integral part of the headquarters company, who also had a lighter side.

“Mr. White was one of the individuals that every organization would love having,” he said. “With his unique sense of humor, he could make us feel at ease even during the most stressful situations.”

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Adam Rickert, of the Brigade’s 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, pranked — and was pranked by — Mr. Gaudet during flight school at Fort Rucker, Ala.

Mr. Gaudet removed Mr. Rickert’s running shoe laces one night, making Mr. Rickert late to formation the following morning. The soldier retaliated by inserting rocks into Mr. Gaudet’s flight bag for a week until the unsuspecting flight student was carrying more than 10 extra pounds.

“He had no idea what was going on until he heard his bag clunk rather than flop,” Mr. Rickert said.

Not only was Mr. Gaudet proud of his family, he was dedicated to his unit and even played a weekend of unit softball with an injured foot to make sure the positions were filled.

“He had a spring in his step that was contagious,” he said.

The division lost a medic of the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment on June 18. Pfc. Brian J. Backus, 21, of Saginaw Township, Mich., was killed by small arms fire.

The soldier had been on more than 50 combat patrols and carried more medical gear than he had to, Master Sgt. Chad E. Vangorder said.

Even during down time, Pfc. Backus looked after other soldiers.

“He would lift soldiers’ spirits and longing for a real friend,” the sergeant said.

He also read a note by battalion commander Lt. Col. Gregory K. Anderson, who from Afghanistan also remembered the soldier as a medic who never stopped working.

“His smile and bright blue eyes, his jokes, his energy and enthusiasm for life were in some ways better medicine for us than what came out of his aid bag,” the colonel wrote.