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By Warren Watkins
Thursday, May 11, 2006 6:43 PM CDT
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| Jonathan Brandon, 6, traces his father’s name on a
memorial honoring 33 soldiers killed while serving with the Arkansas
Army National Guard’s 39th Brigade Combat Team in support of Operation
Iraqi Freedom. Jonathan’s mother, April, and his sister, Brianna, 3,
remember Staff Sgt. Stacy C. Brandon who lost his life in Iraq April 24,
2004. The monument was built at the Col. A.J. “Bo” Baker Readiness
Center in Searcy and dedicated at a ceremony May 6, 2006. |
The Daily
Citizen
What children may not remember, adults have written in bronze and set in
stone.
A monument with the names of 33 soldiers who fell in
Operation Iraqi Freedom II was dedicated Saturday at the Col. A.J. “Bo”
Baker Readiness Center in Searcy. The memorial honors 16 Arkansas soldiers
as well as their 17 fellow soldiers from other states who died while serving
with the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
Fundraising and labor were organized through the brigade’s 2nd Battalion,
153rd Infantry.
The battalion was in Iraq for 18 months, from Oct. 2003
to April 2005.
Staff Sgt. Billy Orton, 41, was one of four soldiers killed when
rocket-propelled grenades hit his camp in Taji, Iraq, on April 24, 2004.
“This is something I’ll have to live with forever,
whether I like it or not,” Margarita Orton, his widow, said.
Orton’s three sons were at the ceremony.
“It might be a real hard thing for them real deep inside,
but so far, they’re dealing with it well,” Orton said. “They wish he could
be here, but they’re doing OK. He’s missing everything they’ve done.”
Orton, who spends her time volunteering at the local school, said the
Arkansas National Guard still stays in touch with her and is available to
help if needed.
April Brandon and her children, Jonathan and Brianna, lost a husband and
father, Staff Sgt. Stacy C. Brandon, on April 24, 2004, while he was serving
in Taji, Iraq with the 39th. April said memorials like these have a special
poignancy.
“This is a permanent symbol of what my husband and so many others have given
to this country, and when I look at it, I think about how I’ll be able to
bring my kids and their kids to see things like this. And, like [Jonathan
and Brianna] did today, they’ll be able to find their daddy’s and
granddaddy’s names and keep remembering,” Brandon said.
Stacy Brandon was 35 when he lost his life in Iraq. Jonathan was three, and
Brianna was one at the time.
“If Stacy were here, I can see him doing just like all of these soldiers are
doing here today, he’d puff up and go ‘hooah,”’ she said. “He’s probably
very proud. He’s proud that people are remembering him and for what the
military has done for us as far as taking care of us.”
The dedication ceremony included a 21-gun salute and a playing of “Taps” by
the Bald Knob High School band.
“This memorial is something that represents our dedication to our soldiers
and their sacrifice,” Lt. Col. Cary Shillcut, the current commander of the
2nd Battalion, said to a crowd of civilians and Guard members who witnessed
the memorial’s unveiling. “As leaders, this reminds us that we must
understand just what a serious business this is.”
Orton was pleased with the memorial and honored by the efforts to remember
her husband.
“This is what he deserved spending so many years in the military — being
remembered forever,” Orton said. |
