TF Dolch honors fallen heroes

GHAZNI PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

09.28.2011

Courtesy Story

18th Engineer Brigade

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Task Force Dolch honored three fallen soldiers who served with the 515th Engineer Company (Sapper), Task Force Dolch, Task Force Sword, in a memorial service at Forward Operating Base Ghazni, Oct. 4. U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ivan Lechowich from Tampa, Fla., Spc. Steven Gutowski, from Weymouth, Mass., and Pfc. David Drake, from Houston, were killed in action Sept. 28, when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device while performing a route clearance mission in eastern Afghanistan.

Lechowich became the platoon leader of route clearance patrol 72 in July. His RCP provided freedom of maneuver to coalition forces in Ghazni and neighboring provinces. In early August when a CH-47 Chinook crashed in Wardak province killing 31 American and coalition troops, his team cleared the way to the crash site and assisted with the recovery effort.

Gutowski served as a gunner in Lechowich’s vehicle and was affectionately known as “Guto.” At the ceremony U.S. Army Spc. Harry Lorigan, from Winston-Salem, N.C., who attended basic training with Gutowski and was assigned to their first duty station together, spoke of Gutowski as “a dear friend who got me through some of the hardest times in my life.”

Company commander Capt. Douglas Solan, from Dixon, Mo., recalled Gutowski's thick Boston accent and the time when Gutowski taught him the proper techniques for using the Husky route clearance vehicle. At the end of the lesson, Gutowski jokingly said, “Y’all alright, Sir! I don’t care what they say about y’all.”

Drake became the operator for Lechowich’s vehicle shortly after arriving to the 515th Eng. Company in June. U.S. Army Pfc. Casey Raimer from Madison, Wis., who attended basic training with Drake and deployed with him said his most memorable quote of Drake was from the day after they arrived in Ghazni. “He looked over at me and said, ‘what the hell did we get into?’ And a few weeks after that I finally realized what we had gotten into … a brotherhood. Not just second platoon, but the entire 515th. I know all the brothers of the 515th Sapper Company will never forget about the Texas kid we have come to know as Lt. Lechowich’s [driver]. Pfc. Drake will never be forgotten,” Raimer said.

The memorial ceremony, held in a large maintenance tent, was packed to capacity with hundreds of soldiers and civilians. A large contingent from the Polish army was also present. In addition to receiving the Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously, all three heroes received the Polish Forces Medal – Gold.

• Date Taken: 09.28.2011
• Date Posted: 10.15.2011 14:42
• Story ID: 78553
• Location: GHAZNI PROVINCE, AF