Earlier this month at Fort Bragg, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) spent two days honoring four Soldiers killed in action near Tongo Tongo, Niger, on Oct. 4, 2017: Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah W. Johnson and Sgt. LaDavid T. Johnson.
The commemoration opened Thursday morning with an airborne operation over Luzon Drop Zone. Paratroopers from 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), the 82nd Airborne Division and the 192nd Ordnance Battalion took part.
On Friday, Oct. 2, Soldiers and Gold Star family members gathered at Johnson Hall, named in memory of Sgt. 1st Class Johnson, for a remembrance ruck march through the Lt. Gen. William P. Yarborough Complex. They stepped off alongside Debbie Gannon, his mother. 1st Sgt. Kennith Machemer of the 14th Chemical Company (Airborne) said more than 200 service members took part.
“The fallen have to be remembered, and we have to know what they did and why they did it,” said a Green Beret who served on Operational Detachment Alpha 3212 with the four men. Along the route, participants shared stories about each of them. Those stories included Black teaching himself the Hausa language, Wright’s humor and engineering skill, LaDavid Johnson’s mechanical work and athleticism, and Jeremiah Johnson’s willingness to build base defenses.
The event closed outside Johnson Hall with a final formation and a traditional toast: “Never above us, never below us, always beside us.”
Special Operations Support Inc. joins the Fort Bragg community in remembering these four Soldiers and in honoring their families.
Photo: U.S. Army photo by Spc. Hannah Becker (DVIDS 9981476).
Source: DVIDS
