Memorial constructed for fallen Soldier

Photo By Spc. Thomas Keeler | Sgt. Lawrence Selear, operations supply NCO with the 606th MCT, signs the backside of the Ty Johnson name plaque at the rebuilt gazebo outside the 719th Movement Control Battalion headquarters on the East side.  

BALAD, IRAQ

11.16.2007

Story by Spc. Thomas Keeler 

316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

By Spc. Thomas Keeler
316th ESC PAO

LSA ANACONDA, Iraq – Back in the United States, he's a contractor and a grandfather. In Iraq, he's the father-in-law of a young Soldier who was killed helping Iraqis earn their independence.

Master Sgt. Edward Hetman, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the night shift for the 719th Movement Control Battalion (MCB), organized the construction of a new gazebo outside of the MCB's headquarters on the East side. When the gazebo was finished, Soldiers in the battalion had another idea.

"With Veteran's Day approaching, we thought it would be a good idea to dedicate the gazebo to Master Sgt. Edward Hetman's son-in-law," said 1st Lt. Virginia Emery, chaplain for the 719th.

Cpl. Ty Johnson, of Elk Grove, Calif., was with the 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, and in 2005 he was helping Iraqis prepare for an election of a 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives.

"He was a commander's driver for the 101st, and he was privileged enough to carry those 40,000 ballots from the elections," said Hetman, and that mission – delivering ballots – convinced Johnson he needed to re-enlist.

"He realized how important it was to be doing what he was doing," said Hetman.

On April 4, 2006, while returning to FOB Bernstein after a routine mission in northern Iraq, an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee, killing him. He was 28.

"The hard part is explaining to his son and daughter when they finally get old enough to understand," said Hetman.

Hetman got some help constructing the gazebo from two fellow Soldiers with the 606th Movement Control Team: Sgt. 1st Class Omar Delgado, first sergeant of the MCT, and Sgt. Lawrence Selear, operations supply NCO with the MCT.

"When we first came here, the thing that was here – the thing, I say – was in real rough shape," said Hetman of the old gazebo. "So we tore it down, and I decided to do some drawings. This is what I do at home."

Hetman made up the name plaque himself, with only the words "Ty Johnson Gazebo" on it. Members of the 719th signed the back of the plaque before it was fastened to the entrance of the gazebo.

"I used a stencil set and some chisels and just sat at my hooch and chiseled it out," he said.

"I was hoping that, with no rank on there, when they turn this place over to the Iraqis, they look at it and not see a military person, but a person," said Hetman.

Hetman still feels the loss.

"That's why I'm here. If I'm not here, then somebody else has to take my place. I don't want to put anybody else at risk," he said.

• Date Taken: 11.16.2007
• Date Posted: 12.06.2007 16:08
• Story ID: 14486
• Location: BALAD, IQ