Photo By Staff Sgt. Victor Joecks | Soldiers with the Nevada National Guard honor 1SG Charleston Hartfield during an Army...... read more read more
LAS VEGAS — Selfless service defined the life, career and death of First Sgt. Charleston Hartfield, who served with the 100th Quartermaster Company, 17th Special Troops Battalion, 17th Sustainment Brigade, and as a Las Vegas Metro police officer.
The Nevada National Guard, Metro and the community of Las Vegas joined together on October 20, 2017 to honor Hartfield. On October 1, Hartfield was attending the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire from the Mandalay Bay hotel across the street. The gunman killed 58 people, including Hartfield who was off-duty at the time.
A 100-plus vehicle motorcade transported Hartfield’s flag-draped coffin from Palm Mortuary to Central Christian Church in Henderson. Thousands lined the streets to pay respects and honor Hartfield as the motorcade moved down the Las Vegas Strip. At the church, hundreds of officers from local military and law enforcement agencies saluted his casket as it passed. A combined National Guard and Metro honor guard carried him into the auditorium as the crowd of 3,000 stood to pay their respects.
“He was a very large person, but his heart was even bigger,” said Sgt. Abdiel Roman, who worked with Hartfield in the 100th QM and at Metro, at the memorial. “The amount of people he has personally helped is unbelievable. He was always willing to help anyone and everyone.
“One of the Army values that they teach us is selfless service. Charleston was the epitome of selfless service.”
Even with his dying breath, Hartfield was living out the values that defined his life.
“That night, in a hail of gunfire, Charlie’s last actions spoke for him,” said Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. “He sprang into action he had been trained to do so. He shielded, protected and shepherded people to safety. He took actions to save lives.”
“On that fateful 1 October day, life certainly left Charleston Hartfield before honor did,” said Brig. Gen. Zachary Doser, Nevada Army Guard commander. “Sergeant (First Class) Hartfield was so ahead of his peers that we made him a First Sergeant. That’s how good this young man was.
Despite being a sergeant first class, Hartfield worked as 100th QM’s first sergeant for over three years. Doser then called the military members in the audience to attention and promoted Hartfield.
“He’s going to his God as a first sergeant in the Nevada National Guard,” said Doser.
As the memorial service concluded, a joint military and Metro honor guard carried Hartfield out to be buried in the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
The next day, 100th QM held a ceremony at the North Las Vegas Readiness Center to remember and honor Hartfield.
“A leader. A mentor. A Soldier. A friend,” said Spc. Josette Dubois, a water purification specialist with 100th QM, as she read off a description of how the unit remembered Hartfield. “Stern but compassionate. A Soldier’s NCO.”
“Selfless service in the Army, that’s him to a T,” said Capt. Randon Lessing, former 100th QM commander who worked with Hartfield for almost three years. “I always thought something was wrong with him, because he said, ‘Me being a first sergeant is like therapy.’ I’m like, therapy? Therapy’s supposed to be non-stressful.
“But that’s how he was. He loved being around you Soldiers and helping you Soldiers. His therapy was to help others.”
The support he gave others was reflected in the tears those Soldiers shed mourning his loss.
“Nobody will take away the experiences, the conversations, the mentorship, the leadership that he instilled in you,” said Capt. Elizabeth Ochoa-Ellis. “Those things we carry on forever. First sergeant gave those to you.”
| Date Taken: | 10.22.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 10.23.2017 00:42 |
| Story ID: | 252598 |
| Location: | LAS VEGAS, NV, US |
| Hometown: | LAS VEGAS, NV, US |
| Web Views: | 584 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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