New Fort Benjamin Harrison Army Reserve Center to be memorialized for fallen Soldier

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, UNITED STATES

05.12.2015

Story by Capt. Sean Delpech 

310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

INDIANAPOLIS - The Army Reserve’s 310th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) will be hosting the ribbon-cutting and memorialization ceremony for the official opening of the $48 million Spc. Luke P. Frist U.S. Army Reserve Center at Fort Benjamin Harrison.

Those speaking at the event include:

- Brig. Gen. Michael Dillard, commanding general of the 310th ESC

- Col. Kurt F. Wagner, director of the Directorate of Public Works (DPW), 88th Regional Support Command

- Douglas ‘Doug’ Gibbons, U.S. Amy Reserve Ambassador of the State of Indiana

- Dean E. Jessup, mayor of the city of Lawrence, Indiana

- Dennis Frist and Patti Frist, parents of Spc. Luke P. Frist

The memorialization of the new facility is slated to take place Saturday, May 16, at 9851 E 59th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46216, at 9 a.m.

The new Reserve Center is a 125,597-square-foot training facility that replaces the Pfc. William D. McGee, Jr. Fort Benjamin Harrison Army Reserve Center, constructed in 1973. This new center is scheduled to be home to Soldiers of over 10 different units, including the 310th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) headquarters, 1/329th Regiment (OCT) of the 86th Training Division, the 300th Human Resources Company, the 3/100th Signal Battalion, the 350th Public Affairs Detachment, the 452nd Engineer Detachment (FEST-B), the 55th Medical Detachment (COSC), the 91st Legal Operations Detachment, the 932nd Forward Support Team, B Company, 801st Combat Support Hospital (CSH), and the 3rd Brigade, 94th Training Division. The 27-acre complex will be used primarily for unit administration, classroom training, vehicle maintenance and storage. The construction of the Army Reserve Center is a direct result of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) recommendations made in 2005.

Spc. Luke P. Frist was a member of the 209th Quartermaster Company from Lafayette, Ind. who deployed to Iraq from 2003-2004 under the 1st Infantry Division. He worked as a petroleum specialist, refueling Humvees and other military vehicles.

Frist was wounded when his fuel truck came under attack, Jan. 2, 2004, from an improvised explosive device (IED) followed by rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire near the city of Ar Ramadi. The attack left him unconscious with burn wounds over 95 percent of his body. He was airlifted to Landstuhl, Germany, and then to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, where he died of his wounds Jan. 5, 2004.

Before being activated for deployment in February of 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Tri-County High School, Ind. graduate attended Ivy Tech State College in Lafayette. Spc. Frist planned to enroll, after returning from deployment, at Purdue University to study landscape design.

Spc. Frist joined the Army Reserve out of a love for the military and a family tradition. His paternal grandfather had served in World War II, and he had two cousins that were also serving in the military.

Spc. Frist received awards including the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, the Armed Forces reserve Medal with “M” Device, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal with two Bronze Service Stars, the Global war on Terrorism Service Medal, the Overseas Service ribbon, the Army Service and the Combat Action Badge.

His father, Dennis Frist, works at Eli Lilly and Company’s Tippecanoe Laboratory Division in Lafayette. His mother, Patti Frist, leads the Family Readiness Group for the 209th Quartermaster Company. The Frist family also includes two sisters.

News media representatives with photo ID are invited to attend. Please RSVP NLT 15 May. For more information, contact the 310th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Public Affairs Officer, Capt. Sean Delpech at [phone] or [e-mail].

• Date Taken: 05.12.2015
• Date Posted: 05.12.2015 13:32
• Story ID: 163034
• Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
• Hometown: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
• Hometown: LAFAYETTE, IN, US
• Hometown: LAWRENCE, IN, US