Photo By Chad Menegay | Advanced Individual Training students set a wreath near a memorial marker as part of...... read more read more
FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. — A sense of unity and gratitude saturated the air, as military personnel, families and community members gathered for the Petroleum and Water Department’s 33rd Wreath Laying Ceremony in honor of the 14th Quartermaster Detachment on a rainy day Feb. 23, 2024, at the 14th’s Water Training Site and Memorial Marker here.
This annual event aims to remember the exceptional sacrifices and extraordinary bravery of the Soldiers who have served in this Army Reserve water purification detachment out of Greensburg, Pa.
On Feb. 25, 1991, an Iraqi SCUD missile exploded its half-ton warhead inside the Dhahran barracks in Saudi Arabia, where the 14th Quartermaster Detachment and other U.S. Soldiers were located. In the single, most devastating attack on U.S. forces during that war, 28 Soldiers died and 99 were wounded. The 14th Quartermaster Detachment lost 13 Soldiers and suffered 43 wounded.
Casualties were evacuated to medical facilities in Saudi Arabia and Germany. The 14th, which had been in Saudi Arabia only six days, suffered the greatest number of casualties of any allied unit during Operation Desert Storm. Eighty-one percent of the unit’s 69 soldiers had been killed or wounded.
The ceremony served as a unique opportunity to express gratitude for the sacrifice and dedication displayed by Soldiers of the 14th.
“It took me years to face some of the families of the Soldiers I had lost,” said retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry L. Davis Jr., guest speaker and former detachment sergeant, who had deployed with the 14th during the Gulf War and was present that tragic day.
Davis shared stories of each individual fallen Soldier and encouraged leaders in the audience to train their Soldiers to a level of 100 percent, so that they can be certain they trained their Soldiers properly should they ever have to face families of fallen Soldiers the way he has.
One of the most moving segments of the ceremony was the solemn recognition of the fallen Soldiers of the 14th. The attendees paid their respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.
The ceremony was a moving reminder of the sacrifices made by our service members. As the community gathered to honor these brave men and women, the ceremony exemplified the unbreakable bond between military personnel, their families and society.
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Courtesy story by Sgt. 1st Class Air-Jordan Pene, Senior 92W instructor / Team Chief, Water Training Division, Petroleum and Water Department
| Date Taken: | 02.28.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 02.28.2024 08:22 |
| Story ID: | 464858 |
| Location: | FORT GREGG-ADAMS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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