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Sgt. Anton J. Hiett
25 years old from Mount Airy, North Carolina
391st Engineer Battalion, Army Reserve
March 12, 2006 Misty Hiett, the widow of Sgt. Anton Hiett, said in an interview that he, Sgt. Hiett, asked to transfer to the 391st Engineering Battalion when it looked like his reserve unit would not be deployed.
Sgt. Hiett was a truck driver who joined the military right out of high school because he “wanted to go help out” during the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. After his transfer to the 391st, he was deployed to Afghanistan on April 22, 2005.
On March 12, 2006, Sgt. Hiett, and three fellow soldiers from the 391st, Staff Sgt. Joe Ray; Spc. Joshua Hill and Sgt. Kevin Akins, were killed when an IED detonated near their Humvee during combat operations west of Asadabad, Afghanistan. He left behind his wife and their then 2(now 4)-year-old daughter Kyra.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
This Week’s Post Was Suggested And Written By Kathi
SSgt. Renee A. Deville
44 years old from Webster New York
401st Civil Affairs Battalion
September 1, 2008 SSGT Renee A. Deville was an Army Reservist who deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion from Webster, N.Y. She arrived at Walter Reed August 10, 2006, after being injured in a mortar attack.While at Walter Reed, Deville was assigned to Chosen Battery, Warrior Transition Brigade, and was among three graduates of the Army’s first Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course Stand Alone Common Core offered to Warriors in Transition.
Deville, who successfully completed every aspect of the course from a wheelchair, was lauded by SGT Major of the Army Kenneth O. Preston as exemplifying the Army’s ‘Warrior Ethos’, at the graduation ceremony for the course on March 28, 2008.
Deville was also the impetus for a new playground being built behind the Mologne House at Walter Reed in 2007.
An October 2007 Washington Post article about the opening of the playground says that SSGT Deville’s mention of her children’s limited recreational options to Col. Bruce Haselden, the garrison commander, helped set in motion the playground project.
Staff Sgt. Renee Antoinette Deville died September 1, 2008 in her room at the Mologne House at Walter Reed. She was 44.
She is survived by her husband and 4 children, her mother, a brother, and two sisters.
SSGT Deville was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on September 19, 2008.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People LivedThis post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Last year on the 4th, 588 American service members re-enlisted in Baghdad. This year, in the largest re-enlistment ceremony in the history of the US military, 1,215 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines extended their military service. Both Gateway Pundit and Steve Foley have noted in their posts referenced above that the Left will be beside themselves in trying to explain this. I assumed they would be but didn’t think we’d have any evidence. I was wrong. Check out the comments for the video at YouTube. And those addle headed folks dare to talk about Domestic Enemies …
I thought I’d add the bad, grainy camera phone video of my son’s enlistment oath to finish up. To the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and all his comrades in arms, “Hooah! And thank you for your service! You are so much more to and for this country than your detractors!”
Blue Collar Muse
I’m sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for colleagues to fly in from Chicago. We’ll meet up and head to the hotel for a conference. Nothing I haven’t done before and so have many of you.
But this flight and wait are different. I dropped my son off at the airport a few hours before I took off. We both made the flight from Nashville to Atlanta. But while I’m staying in Atlanta, my son has finished up his US Army basic training in South Carolina and his AIT in Virginia and is reporting to Ft. Stewart and Hunter Army Air Field in Savannah, GA to his first duty station.
As I write these words, just 4 feet away, is a long line of Army soldiers and the occasional Navy, Marine or Air Force guy passing through Atlanta. That’s the difference in this trip. From the time I dropped off my son, through my own flight and now my wait here, I’m surrounded by soldiers. It’s an indescribable feeling. There was even some comic relief. On my flight, the flight attendant announced that no one should attempt to open the door to the flight deck for any reason. I turned to the 15 year veteran next to me and smiled. I said, “Like anyone would be stupid enough to try that on a flight filled with you guys!” He just grinned a predatory grin and nodded.
On my flight, the troops were welcomed over the intercom by the flight attendants and flight crew before we took off and wished “Bon Voyage” after we landed. Most of the civilian passengers applauded the mention of the troops. On the ground here in Atlanta, I can tell when a new group of soldiers is about to round the corner and join the gathering in front of me because the applause on the concourse is audible before the troops are visible. It’s like my favorite Budweiser commercial.
Each group of soldiers is escorted by USO volunteers. I took a moment to thank one of those ladies for serving our soldiers and she simply said it was her pleasure to serve. It is comforting to know my son was met in the same fashion. I wondered how his day would be when I dropped him off. He was headed to a new post, a new place and a new profession. There was nothing I could do to change whatever it held, but a father worries, too.Most of the troops I flew with were on their way back to Iraq. Most were from Ft. Campbell as evidenced by their Screamin’ Eagle insignia. They were home for their two week, mid-tour leave. I learned today that each soldier gets a two week leave in the middle of his or her deployment. We bring our sons and daughters home to be with their families in the midst of their deployment to liberate and protect the children of others. Our enemies strap bombs on their children and send them to die in the midst of crowds of innocents while killing the children of others. The difference stands distinct in my mind.
I was speaking to my son by cell phone when the last group of soldiers passed by my seat near baggage claim. Watching them revealed an entirely different way in which I’m proud of my boy and why I so readily dismiss those who denigrate our troops.
In many ways, the lines of soldiers were just like any other group of travelers. They were tired and cramped from their flight. They were weary from wringing out precious hours with family by skimping on sleep. They carried themselves soberly. Most were heading back into a war zone. They knew what awaited them once they left the relatively friendly confines of CONUS. But there were no complaints, no cutting in line, no grumbling. There was no evidence of profanity or crudity at all. These men and women were professional. Other groups of passengers were loud, disruptive and disrespectful. One woman stood out. She walked across the terminal loudly talking on her cell phone. Her impossible-to-not-hear conversation was laced with profanity and vulgarity. In stark contrast, the soldiers were polite, gracious and thankful to the USO volunteers and seemed to appreciate the applause and kindness and respect from the strangers they passed by. In short, they were soldiers.
I’ve seen many a group of travelers and many a group of colleagues gather to pass time or just to pass through. I’ve never seen one as honorable as these troops. And worthy of honor. These weren’t special troops in an elite group. They were just the mix of soldiers it was my privilege to witness. To think my son is one of these men and women. He’s been home on leave after his school and so much of him still seems the same young man he was when he left - young, foolish and immature. But it’s also very true that something happens when he puts on his uniform. I know it’s silly, but it reminds me of nothing so much as Clark Kent heading for the phone booth. He really is different when in uniform as opposed to civvies.
Most of us hope and pray our sons and daughters will one day be better men and women than we are. Watching the troops pass by me in the airport today I was struck by the realization that, in a multitude of ways, my 19 year old son has already surpassed me. It was more than a bit of a shock, but it’s true nonetheless.
Misty Hiett, the widow of Sgt. Anton Hiett, said in an interview that he, Sgt. Hiett, asked to transfer to the 391st Engineering Battalion when it looked like his reserve unit would not be deployed.
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