FORT HOOD, Texas – More than 100 family members, friends and fellow soldiers with the “Black Jack” brigade paid their final respects to their fallen brother-in-arms during a remembrance ceremony Oct. 12 at the 73rd Street Chapel (1st Cav. Memorial Chapel) here.
During the ceremony the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, paid tribute to 1st Lt. Jason Togi, who was killed in action while serving as a combat engineer platoon leader in Hasan Karez, Afghanistan.
“The last thing I said to him before he deployed was ‘I hope I see you when you come back,’” said Sgt. Genaro Sexton, a San Antonio, native, and combat engineer with Company C, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. “He was a good, hard worker. He always portrayed himself in a professional manner and was family oriented first. It was an honor and a privilege to serve under him.”
Togi, a Pago Pago, American Samoa, native, attended Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Mo., and graduated from the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps in 2010. He entered the Army the following year and graduated from the Engineer Officer Basic Course at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. in 2012.
He was assigned to Company C, 2nd BSTB, 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div., and deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, July 4, 2013, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
On Aug. 26, 2013, he died of injuries suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
“Jason Togi paid the ultimate price for our freedom,” said Lt. Col. Michael Kielpinski, a Kempner, Texas, native, and rear detachment commander for Task Force Pershing, 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. “When he came to Fort Hood, he sought out the most challenging position he could find. He always had a positive attitude, was respected and admired by his peers, and led by example with a smile on his face.”
After soldiers spoke and final respects were paid, a lone candle was lit in Togi’s memory and a three-volley salute was rendered.
“He will be truly missed,” Kielpinski said. “We’ll never forget our freedom and the ultimate sacrifice he made to protect it.”
Togi is survived by his wife, Siosiana Togi, and his parents Alipapa and Angela Togi.