14th Cavalry Soldier Honored by Comrades

Photo By Spc. Richard Vogt | The 14th Cavalry Soldiers pay their last respects to Spc. Patrick W. Herried during a memorial service at Combat Outpost-North, Iraq.  

03.06.2006

Courtesy Story

345th Public Affairs Detachment

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Steve Petibone
138th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Photos by Spc. Richard Vogt
138th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

COMBAT OUTPOST-NORTH, Iraq (Feb. 11, 2006) - - Soldiers of Troop B, 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry stood facing the mid-afternoon sun flanked by a detachment of Navy Seabees to their left and Stryker combat vehicles to their front.

Some faces looked restless and reddened by the afternoon sun. They were taking time to honor a fallen comrade from their ranks.

Spc. Patrick W. Herried, 29, of Sioux Falls, S.D., died in Rawah, Iraq, on Feb. 6, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Stryker military vehicle during patrol operations.

Herried was born Mar. 21, 1976. He enlisted in the U. S. Army on Aug. 16, 2003 as a fire support specialist. He was assigned to Troop B, 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

His commander, Capt. Brian E. Sole, Trp. B, 4th Sqdn., 14th Cav., 172nd SBCT, eulogized Herried's physical presences and sense of duty.

"He was lovingly referred to as "Big Herd" by those who were closest to him. If you knew him it would be easy to understand the nickname. He was a very powerful young man and in fact probably the strongest man in the troop." Sole said. "I can't remember how many times I would ask his supervisors about some tasks I had assigned them to complete and inevitably the answer they gave me would become standard. Hey sir! Herd was all over that, mission complete."

In his closing remarks, Capt. (Chaplain) James J. Foster pointed out Herried's accomplishments and goals in life.

"He valued a good hard day's work. I'm told that he would stop what he was doing just to complain about lazy people. He could spot them. But, because he was a workhorse, he would turn and go back to his own mission." Foster said.

"He joined the Army for experience and training, but ultimately, because he wanted to go home and be a firefighter. A great and respectable dream that tells me he was meant to serve no matter where he was."

Spc. Herried is survived by his mother Rita Herried of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and his father, Bill Herried of Bemidji, Minnesota.

• Date Taken: 03.06.2006
• Date Posted: 03.06.2006 11:59
• Story ID: 5606