Photo By Tech. Sgt. Christopher Hubenthal | Capt. James Lisher of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing speaks about Maj. Troy...... read more read more
Subscribe
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- Members of the wing chapel staff and the company-grade officers council here joined at Troy's Place to rededicate a memorial photograph-illustration of the late Maj. Troy Gilbert, for whom the facility was named.
Capt. James Lisher, CGOC president and lawyer for the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing staff judge advocate office, first visited Troy's Place shortly after arriving here in March. He saw a graphic-enhanced photo board featuring Major Gilbert, an F-16 pilot deployed to JBB who died in combat in late 2006, and noticed it was a little worse for wear.
"I saw the old photo board, and I thought it looked disheveled and just not befitting a person you're trying to honor," the captain said. "It was really worn."
Once he had the idea to improve it, he figured the CGOC would be game to make it happen.
"I said, 'Hey, let's take this upon ourselves and fix it.' Obviously, based on who [Maj. Gilbert] was and what he did, I thought it was paramount."
He said he thought about getting it professionally printed, but there were concerns about shipping the fragile original copy overseas.
One member of the CGOC, 2nd Lt. Dave Gattens of the 332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron, decided to solicit the services of his sister, Brooke, who's a graphics student at Pennsylvania State University. After she made some improvements on the old design, Senior Airman Courtney Enos of the 332nd AEW Public Affairs office printed the high-resolution image and affixed it to a thin foam board. Suitably, the CGOC used Purpleheart wood for the frame.
"I think you have to honor somebody with a memorial of quality and meaning," Capt. Lisher said. "I think this is a combination of both."
Maj. Mark Roberts, a Protestant chaplain for the 332nd AEW, knew Major Gilbert when they were both young officers. He said he epitomized the purpose of Troy's Place, which is to foster fellowship among deployed servicemembers and give them an opportunity to relax between long work hours.
"He would've loved this place," Major Roberts said. "And he would have been hanging out here."
Col. Jeff Swanson, chaplain, the senior chaplain at JBB, said both Troy's Place and the Gilbert Memorial chapel were named after Gilbert "not only in memory of him, but in inspiration of him, because he was an engaged guy.
"We want the Airmen, the Soldiers, the Sailors and the Marines to come here and find this as a place of respite, 24/7, where they can get a cup of coffee or use the computers or just sit and talk and bolster each other for the missions we have at hand."
For his actions in combat on the day he died, Gilbert was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor. As an F-16CG pilot near Taji, Iraq, in late 2006, he was providing close air support for U.S. ground forces under attack by insurgents employing truck-mounted heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire, and mortars. Even under direct anti-aircraft fire, Major Gilbert's 20-millimeter cannon strafing destroyed one truck and dispersed the others. He was conducting a second strafing pass when he lost control of his aircraft and died in the crash. He's survived by a wife and five children.
| Date Taken: | 08.22.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 08.22.2009 00:52 |
| Story ID: | 37824 |
| Location: | BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 308 |
| Downloads: | 265 |
This work, Troy's Place rededicates namesake's memorial portrait, by Andria Allmond, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
