The Department of Defense has announced the deaths of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died from wounds suffered during an insurgent attack on August 2nd in Qole Gerdsar, Afghanistan.
These soldiers were:
• Captain Ronald G. Luce, Jr. from Fayetteville, North Carolina
• Sergeant 1st Class Alejandro Granado, III from Tatum, Texas
• Sergeant 1st Class Severin W. Summers, III from Natchez, Mississippi
The three, like all too many before them, will take the long journey home while a nation mourns. Evidence of this fact can be seen in a poignant video about a journey home of a recent casualty who was covered in JeNoCo's IGTNT diary.
The soldiers who died were members of the Army National Guard, and assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Jackson, Mississippi. The 20th also has battalions in Alabama and Florida. They were riding back to their camp when there was an IED explosion and gunfire. The three died from the wounds suffered from the attack.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Sergeant 1st Class Alejandro Granado
While the military listed him as being from Fairfax, Virginia, Alejandro "Alex" Granado grew up in Tatum, Texas. He signed up for military service before graduating from Tatum High School in 1986. Granado was a member of the Mississippi Army National Guard, and assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Jackson, Mississippi.
Sergeant Granado had retired as an army corporal about a year ago, but continued to work for the government in intelligence and top secret operations, providing security and serving as a bodyguard. Alejandro Granado's military career had taken him to Iran several times, to Germany and around the world. He had worked at the Pentagon and served in Operation Desert Storm.
In June, Granado was able to spent three weeks with his three children — ages 19, 21 and 23. He also visited with the rest of his family and friends at that time and had expressed some fears to his siblings. In an article in the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Alex had told one of his brothers that he had a bad feeling about this assignment:
"He loved what he was doing; he enjoyed it," his brother said. "He was one of the good fellows, always looking out for everybody, a real kind man. He was easy to get along with and real energetic. He took his job serious, but when he came home, he joked and laughed with people he knew and was always playing around."
Alejandro Granado was recruited when he was young. He ran track while attending Tatum High School and won a bronze medal at a state track meet. He married before he graduated and his wife was about to have their first child.
On August 2nd, Granado was with two other soldiers en route to their camp site in Afghanistan. They were attacked by militants in an ambush after the vehicle hit a roadside bomb. It is believed Staff Sergeant was killed by the gunfire. He was 42 years old. According to the Longview News-Journal:
The family learned Sunday evening that retired Army Staff Sgt. Alejandro "Alex" Granado III was among three people killed during an ambush in eastern Afghanistan earlier that day. Granado, 42, retired from the Army less than a year ago but was serving in a secret mission for the U.S. government, family members said Monday. As of late Monday, the Department of Defense had not officially released information about the incident.
"We're hearing that they got attacked, and after that, they went in and finished them off," his brother said while sitting with family outside their Tatum home. "We've never really kept up with him because he was always gone. He could never tell us where he was."
Sergeant 1st Class Alejandro Granado is survived by his children, Alejandro Granado IV, Amanda Granado and Hasson Granado; his mother, father, three sisters and two brothers. One of the brothers is scheduled for active duty in either Afghanistan or Iraq in October.
Funeral arrangements are planned with services in Carthage. The Patriot Guard Riders are scheduled to attend.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Sergeant 1st Class Severin W. Summers, III
Severin W. Summers, III was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. He enlisted in 1989 as an 11B, Infantryman, and later attended the SF Qualification Course, graduating in 2002. Summers then joined 2nd Battalion 20th SFG (A). After graduating US Army Ranger School, he was assigned to ODA 2065, the SCUBA team. He volunteered for the Special Operations Combat Diver Course in Key West, Florida.
Summer’s education includes the Basic Airborne Course, Military Free Fall Parachutist Course, Ranger School, Special Operations Combat Diver Course, and Long Range Surveillance Leaders Course. He also received his Bachelors of Science from Louisiana State University. During Hurricane Katrina, Summers was stationed at the National Guard Armory in Natchez.
The Sergeant lived in Natchez, but worked in Bentonia as the Mississippi Special Forces recruiter. He had served nearly 20 years in the military when he arrived in Afghanistan for his second tour there at the beginning of July. According to the Natchez Democrat news site:
Sgt. First Class Severin Summers gave nearly 20 years of his life to military service, and he smiled through almost every minute of it, a family friend said Monday
Later in that same posting, the article quotes a family friend, Phyllis Beach:
Summers married Tammy Jan. 17 of this year.
"They were that perfect couple," Beach said. "She met him right before he was deployed three years ago. They were soul mates."
Sgt. 1st Class Severin W. Summers, died while conducting combat operations in the Qole Gerdsar, Afghanistan on August 2nd. He was serving as a Special Forces Engineer with Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), headquartered at Jackson, Mississippi. At the time of his death, Summers was 43 years old.
His awards and decorations include Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officers Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Armed Forces Medal, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Scuba Diver Badge, and Military Free Fall Badge and the Ranger and Special Forces tabs.
There are some touching remembrances of the Sergeant’s life in a blog by one of his cousins. He is survived by his wife, his 13-year-old daughter, Shelby, parents West and Charlene Summers, three brothers and one sister. One brother is serving in Afghanistan and another brother is serving in Iraq.
The Patriot Guard Riders will be assisting with services in Louisiana and at Arlington for Sergeant 1st Class Severin W. Summers, III.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Captain Ronald G. Luce, Jr.
Ronald G. Luce, Jr. was born in Julian, California. He enrolled in ROTC at Valley Forge Military Academy and became a commissioned officer in 2002. In 2005 attended the Special Forces Qualification Course, graduating May 2008 as an 18A, team commander and was assigned to 2nd Bn., 7th SFG(A) as a liaison officer. He was reassigned to Co. C, 2nd Bn., 20th SFG(A) as a detachment commander.
Luce’s education includes a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Biology from Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. He also attended the Infantry Officer’s Basic Course, Infantry Captain’s Career Course, Ranger School and Airborne School.
The Captain was a Special Forces Team Commander with Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi. He was serving in Afghanistan on August 2nd, when tragedy struck. Captain Luce and two other men died when their vehicle struck a "command-wire" improvised explosive device (IED), while conducting a tactical ground movement in Afghanistan. He was 27 years old at the time of his death.
On August 4, 2009, the remains of Captain Luce and his buddies were flown back from Afghanistan to the US. It is the first stop in their long journey home.
The original of the U.S. Army carry team moving the remains of Captain Ronald George Luce at Dover Air Force Base can be seen at the daylife site.
According to the Birmington News site, Lt. Col. Zeegers, the commander of the Birmingham-based 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was at Dover to meet the flight that brought the three soldiers home to the US:
Zeegers, who has done three tours in Afghanistan since 9/11, spent time with the families of the slain soldiers.
"We're here to support the families in everything we can do and then of course the soldiers that are still down range are going to continue to focus on the mission that they have at hand," he said in a telephone interview.
"These guys had just gotten down range and, you know, it was right during their transition, so it's a tough, tough blow for our community and our 20th Group family."
Captain Ronald G. Luce’s awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Parachutist Badge, and Ranger and Special Forces Tabs.
The US Army Captain is survived by his wife Kendahl and daughter Carie of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Details about his funeral arrangements have yet to be released.
******************************************************************
Helping our troops:
If you wish to assist our military and their families, consider Operation Helmet, or Fisher House. If you have frequent flyer miles, they can be donated to hospitalized veterans or their families. See Fisher House’s Hero Miles program for details. Consider sponsoring a deployed service member at TroopCarePackage.com. Letters or care packages can make a real difference in a military person's life. To assist the animal companions of our deployed military, information is available here. Also, you could visit:
When our veterans come back home, they need jobs. Look at the programs of Hire Heroes USA and Welcome Back Veterans to see if you can help out.
About the IGTNT series:
"I Got the News Today" is a diary series intended to honor, respect, and remind us of the sacrifice of our troops. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, JeNoCo, Mediaprof, and rb137. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but are an important service to those Americans who have died and show our community’s respect for them.
Fallen service members whose names have been released by the Department of Defense will usually be diaried two days after the official announcement on the DoD website. This allows the IGTNT team to cover each person more fully, but still in a timely manner
|
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members mentioned here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.