By Staff Sgt. Alex Licea
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Public Affairs Office
FORT BRAGG, N.C. – The name of the late Command Sgt. Maj. Donovan E. Watts, who was killed when a roadside bomb struck his mounted patrol in Bayji, Iraq, Nov. 21, 2006, will live on throughout the halls of the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division headquarters building. The battalion officially named their conference room in honor of Watts during a dedication ceremony held on Jan 14, 2008.
Watts' family, senior leaders and Soldiers across the 3rd Brigade Combat Team paid tribute to the late Army veteran with fond memories of his service to the nation.
"We are here to honor one of the finest Soldiers the 82nd Airborne Division has ever had," said Lt. Col. Scott A. Harris, commander of the 1st Battalion., 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. "We did everything together. He was my friend."
Harris added that the conference room will remind future Soldiers of Watts' devotion for his country and the Army.
Watts was a career Soldier with more than 28 years of service to the U.S. Army. Watts spent most of his career growing in the ranks of the 82nd Airborne Division where he served as a young infantryman to squad leader to achieving the rank of senior noncommissioned officer of the1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment at the time of his death.
As the ceremony came to a close, Harris invited Watts' teary-eyed mother Teresa and his siblings Marlon and Bridget to unveil the dedication plaque which had a likeness of Watts and a brief description of his life and years of service in the military.
"We are very proud and honored for this tribute," said Bridget Watts, Command Sgt. Maj. Watts' sister. "The army is what he (Watts) stood for. The army and the troops was what he loved."