Ceremony honors fallen heroes

  • Published
  • By Lois Walsh
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AFB, Fla. --  The weather was overcast and threatening rain--a somber backdrop to a solemn day that honored explosive ordnance technicians. 

Seventeen names were added to the memorial wall at the Kauffman Explosive Ordnance Training Complex. The names were of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who lost their lives while performing duties overseas. Two of the soldiers, Sergeant Roland Engwall and Technician Fifth Grade Russel Byington, died of wounds received during World War II. The remainder, two from the Army, 10 from the Navy, two from the Marines and one from the Air Force, were all killed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

"These are our fallen heroes," said Chaplain (Capt.) Christopher Reeder, "and the families have paid the ultimate price so we can be free." 

Rear Admiral Macy, Commander, Naval Surface Warfare Center, asked that everyone remember those fallen in defense of the mission. 

"EOD technicians walk downrange toward their own death so others go the other way," Admiral Macy said. "They do it again and again; their skill and personal toughness is the reason others come home safely," he said. 

Admiral Macy noted that the memorial faces the front doors of the Naval School for Explosive Disposal where all technicians are trained, regardless of their service affiliation. He asked for support for the families "who bear a great life-long burden." 

The ceremony was the 39th annual memorial service. The original memorial was dedicated in June 1970. After this year's ceremony, there are 232 names on the wall. 

The memorial service followed the dedication of the Advanced Improvised Explosive Device Training Facility May 2. This division takes trained EOD technicians and effectively offers upgraded training.EOD team leaders direct junior team members in the safe conduct of EOD operations, which includes the defeat of IEDs. 

The facility was named after Gunnery Sgt. Darrell W. Boatman, U.S. Marine Corp. He died Nov. 4, 2005, at Landstuhl Reginal Medical Center, Germany, from wounds sustained on Nov. 2, from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in the vicinity of Habbaniyah, Iraq. He was assigned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.