Servicemembers at Base Camp Adder celebrated Thanksgiving by dedicating a monument to fallen comrades on Nov. 24.
During a somber ceremony, servicemembers based out of Camp Adder, Camp Cedar II and Tallil Airfield dedicated a monument to those who had died while serving out of the three camps.
"I can think of no better way to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Iraq than by dedicating this outstanding memorial to our fellow men and women in uniform who have laid down their lives in the effort to provide the people of this free and sovereign nation a democratic way of life that we as Americans exercise daily," said Brig. Gen. Jimmy Welch, the commanding general of the 194th Engineer Brigade and the keynote speaker at the event. "Today, it is our tradition to gather with family and friends to express that which we are thankful for. As I look out upon you, I see that we make up just that: leaders, friends and together, a family that has gathered to express our gratitude to those members [to] whom we owe thanks."
Consisting of a an American and an Iraqi flag, a pair of boots, a kevlar helmet, a pair of identification tags, a replica M-4 rifle, and a white wall bearing 59 names, the monument is the product of the creativity of members of the 2-44th Air Defense Artillery Battalion.
"We wanted to honor those who gave all they had and to let people just getting on the ground know what's expected of them," said Sgt. Pedro Domingo Leguizamon, an intelligence analyst with the 2-44th who was preparing to end his one year tour in Iraq and who helped build the monument.
"These guys were given the mission and they took charge," said Sgt. Maj. Timothy Grant of the 2-44th about the Soldiers who built the monument. "They did it with diligence and passion and they went the extra mile."
Beginning in September, Leguizamon, Pfc. Eric Crawford and Spc. Isaac Johnson worked under the leadership of Sgt. 1st Class Thanh Phan in building the monument.
The Soldiers gathered the supplies from post units, and Phan even pitched in from his own pockets to pay for some of the decorations. They worked on the project while continuing to carry out their truck escort missions.
"It was a privilege just to be a part of something that great," said Johnson, who is a cook with the 2-44th. "It could be anybody's name on that wall. It could happen to anyone of us."
It happened to two of Welch's Soldiers who died during an attack on the roads of Iraq. Sgt. Derrick Lutters and Sgt. Dusty Carroll died during their deployment when terrorists attacked them with improvised and vehicle-borne explosive devices.
"Reading these names brings visions of faces, smiles, and multiple memories of those with whom we lived, laughed, cried, ate, and slept beside," Welch said. "And sadly, we know they will not come back home with us. For me personally, I feel this pain. That wall today bears two names of my own Soldiers and it hurts me deeply when I think of them," he said referring to Lutters and Carroll.
Col. Victor McCagnan, the commander of the 16th Corps Support Group at Adder, accepted the monument on behalf of the camp.
"We hope and pray that we never add another name to that wall," McCagnan said, pledging to maintain and safeguard the monument.