WEBVTT

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(soft music)

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- Hello, my name is Colonel Kent Porter.

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I'm the commander of the
115th Field Artillery Brigade,

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and on this Memorial Day, I'd like

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to remember Lieutenant Jason Timmerman.

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He was killed by an IED in
Iraq in February of 2005.

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Jason was about two years behind me,

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and at the time I was Captain Porter.

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We were field artillery officers

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with the 1st of the 151st in Minnesota.

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We trained together for many years,

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and I was command of his
unit for a short time,

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and then I came out of command,

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and then that unit was activated

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for a non-standard mission in Iraq.

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Approximately about four
months into the deployment

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is when he was killed.

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I volunteered to be the casualty

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assistance officer for his new wife.

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They had only been married
for about one year.

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And so, that is one time
that I've always remembered.

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It's also extra special for me

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as the widow Teresa Timmerman,

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she wrote a book about her experiences,

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and she gave me a signed copy

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with a very heartfelt note inside of it,

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and so, whenever I'm unsure

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of what I'm doing at some points,

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I always open this book and just read

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the passage from her to me,

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and it puts me back into
focus for my duties.

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And it also has helped me

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throughout the years to
make sure that if I'm...

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When I'm in the position
as a leader or a commander

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that I don't have any other widow

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have to write a book for this case, so

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I know some of my troops,

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they know that I'm kind of hard on them,

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but this is the main reason why I am.

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And for the past 14 years now,

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I've been memorializing
Lieutenant Jason Timmerman.

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(soft music)

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- Hello, I'm Sergeant Major Mark Wilson,

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and on Memorial Day,
and just about any day,

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I remember Captain Bruce Hayes.

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(soft music)