Photo By Staff Sgt. Armando Limon | The Agno family stands beside the shadow box memorial of Staff Sgt. Randy S. Agno,...... read more read more
Subscribe
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii - Support troops honored one of their own during a memorial room dedication ceremony, here, Nov. 10.
The Soldiers of 325th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Bde. Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, named the conference room after Staff Sgt. Randy S. Agno.
Agno, a native of Pearl City, Hawaii, was deployed as a food specialist with the 325th BSB at Forward Operating Base Olsen in Samarra, Iraq, on April 27, 2009. He died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington of wounds suffered on May 8, 2009.
Present at the ceremony were Agno’s mother, Fe Suyat; wife, Marvelyn; sons, Jarren and Jensen; and close family members.
“It’s remarkable,” said Suyat, speaking for the whole family. “I’m so amazed from what I’ve seen today. I didn’t expect something like this.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Stoddard, senior enlisted adviser for 325th BSB, said the effort to make the memorial room possible was a long time coming, but he wanted to ensure that it was tied to the Agno family.
“The intent was to honor the memory of Staff Sgt. Randy Agno and honor the Agno family,” Stoddard said.
While Stoddard hadn’t personally worked with Agno, he’d heard of and learned, many great things about Agno.
“I will tell you those who knew him told me nothing but how great of a professional he was and how he defined what a professional noncommissioned officer is,” he continued. “Not only was he technically competent, his skills [as] a culinary specialist [were] evidenced by the awards he earned. … He cared about Soldiers,” he said.
Such care for his Soldiers was expressed by Agno’s mother when she said he brought back home one of his fellow Soldiers after one of his redeployments. He had already deployed once to Iraq and he had served another in Afghanistan.
“When he came back from his deployment from Afghanistan,” she began, “he called me and said, ‘Mom, I’m going to come home with my Soldier.’ And I said, oh? He said, ‘Mom, when I come home there, he has no place to stay. So if you don’t mind, I would like to take him home.’”
She described her son helping out the Soldier at his family home and teaching him one of his passions, cooking.
Agno was no ordinary cook, which is evident by him being named the Junior Army Chef of the Year at the Army’s 31st annual Culinary Arts Competition at Fort Lee, Virginia, in 2006.
“He started that before he joined the Army,” Suyat said. “He always loved to be in the kitchen. He was so happy to cook.”
The Gold Star family expressed its heartfelt gratitude to 325th BSB.
“It’s very emotional to tell you the truth,” Suyat said, as she fought back tears. “It’s very emotional. I’m excited and thankful to have this classroom for his family.”
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 11.20.2015 14:49 |
| Story ID: | 182471 |
| Location: | SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI, US |
| Hometown: | PEARL CITY, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 138 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Memorial room named for Gold Star ‘Mustang’, by SSG Armando Limon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT