By S.J. Grady
USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs Office
How does one properly honor a fallen comrade, brother- or sister-in-arms, a mentor, a friend?
You could pen an eloquent eulogy, commission an engraved marble plaque or join in for a moment of silence.
Or you could run.
That’s what hundreds of Stuttgart military community members did July 19 during the Run to Remember half marathon and 5k run.
The 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), along with U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart’s Family and MWR hosted the seventh annual edition of the event on Panzer Kaserne as a tribute to those who gave their lives.
The Run to Remember began in 2008 when the then unit chaplain, Capt. Jerry Waldrop, teamed up with Family and MWR to host a unit run to recognize service members killed in action since 9/11. At the time, the unit had lost 10 Soldiers in what was called then the “global war on terror.” Today, that number stands at 18.
Since its inception, the Run to Remember has grown in size and sophistication, from 200 participants that first year to more than 400 this year.
The 2014 event included opening ceremonies with the national anthem sung by Denise Woodmansee, taps played by bugler Sgt. Jason Baguley from the U.S. Army Europe Band, an invocation by Chaplain (Capt.) Carson Jump, and the reading of the names of 133 fallen service members that were submitted by community members. One hundred and ten of those names made it to the back of the commemorative Run to Remember T-shirt.
Many runners carried specially made dog tags with the names of the fallen, the dates and locations of their deaths. The 1/10th Family Readiness Group also sponsored a cookout as a fundraiser.
“The men and women we remember today make it possible for us to raise our children in freedom,” said Lt. Col. Joshua C. Kennedy, the 1/10th SFG (A) commander, during the opening ceremony.
Kennedy gave the runners a preview of the course, which started in front to the headquarters building and weaved through the Panzer Local Training Area.
“This course will test you … it is designed to force you to dig deep and to remember why you are running here today. As you’re fighting to ascend those hills, remember whom you are running for. Seek your strength in those who we honor; remember their sacrifice. Remember that they gave everything, and I guarantee that you will find a second wind,” he said.
Gold Star family member Nicole Vose fired the starter pistol for each race. Vose, the widow of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Douglas Vose III, a 1/10 SFG (A) Soldier who died in Kabul Province, Afghanistan, July 29, 2009, then ran the 5K in the name of her husband.
Afterward, she said it was an emotional experience. “There were a couple of emotional points, like the trail we were on … it’s a trail that my husband and I would run, and since he is gone, I [have] never run it again.”
Nicole Vose, who is German and now resides near her husband’s family in Oceanside, Calif., said even though her husband has been gone for five years, she still is supported by the SF community. “I have so much support still. People call me, send me flowers, send me emails,” she said.
On this trip “home,” she was accompanied by sons Aidan and Connor, and said she was grateful for the reception she and her sons received by 1/10 SFG Soldiers. “They showed my sons where their daddy worked and the team room. They have so many questions. [Doug’s] friends, his team leaders … they can answer what I cannot.”
If Col. John Stack, the USAG Stuttgart commander, has his way, the names of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Vose and Staff Sgt. Patrick Kutschbach, a 1/10th (A) Soldier who was killed in action on Nov. 10, 2007, in Afghanistan, will continue to live on.
He has petitioned the Department of Defense Educational Activity to name the new high school and elementary school under construction after the Soldiers.
“We have submitted a formal request that the elementary school named be named after Kutschbach, and the high school after Chief Vose,” Stack said.
He added that Vose and Kutschbach are logical choices.
“These are two Soldiers who served at Panzer … the schools are being built at Panzer. They served here — they deployed from here — they were part of our community, and they never came back,” Stack said.
Master Sgt. Stefan Generally, the 1/10th Area Operating Base Bravo rear detachment operations sergeant, had the pleasure of knowing both.
“I was on Operational Detachment Alpha 0114 with Doug for a year and a half and remained on 0114 for another six months after we lost him,” he said.
They served together from 2007 to 2009 and according to Generally, Vose was confident, professional, and physically and mentally strong.
“You couldn’t go wrong with that guy. He was amazing,” he said.
To illustrate, Generally recounted a story where Vose, who had been injured after high winds during a sandstorm blew over his tent while on a 2007 mission in Mali — in the incident Sgt. 1st Class Sean Mitchell was killed and another 1/10th Soldier seriously injured — cut short physical therapy to join the halo team. “He just had that strength. He was a formidable guy,” Generally said.
He said Solders are told in the qualification course that earning the Special Forces tab is only the beginning – earning it does not mean one deserves it. Generally said that on occasion he would see Vose without the tab. “Maybe he didn’t have time to put it on, but I always like to think that it was his way of saying ‘I haven’t done enough for my regiment today.’ That’s the type of person he was – he was always striving to do more. That’s how he was all the way up to the end,” he said.
with ODA 021, B Co., 1/10th SFG (A).
Although he never served with Staff Sgt. Patrick Kutschbach on an ODA, Generally did serve with him during Robin Sage, the four-week culmination exercise for the SF qualification course.
According to Generally, “Paddy,” was a big man who always had a smile. They were both assigned to 1/10th after completing the “Q” course, but on different teams. “Unfortunately I never had the privilege or honor of serving on an ODA with him, but he was my brother-in-arms,” he said.
Brothers-in-arms … this sentiment is why the garrison commander feels that naming the schools after Vose and Kutschbach is proper and fitting.
“We never, ever forget the sacrifices of our service members,” Stack said. “It’s what communities do throughout the U.S. … they look to honor members of their community. We’re no different in that regard.”
Stack’s recommendation has been endorsed by the senior mission commander, U.S. Army Europe Commanding General Lt. Gen. Donald Campbell, local 1/10th leadership and by the past and current Special Operations Command Europe commanders. The recommendation has been forwarded to DODEA leadership, who will make the final decision.
The following service members were also commemorated at this event:
WE WILL NOT FORGET YOU
MSG Danial R. Adams, USA
SSG Patrick F. Kutschbach, USA
SFC Sean K. Mitchell, USA
CW2 Douglas M. Vose III, USA
MAJ Jeffrey P. Toczylowski, USA
SSG Todd A. Chittenden, USA
SSG Blake Whistler, USA
MSG Thomas Biddle, USA
SFC Matt Harvey, USA
SSG Luis Serrano, USA
SSG Lee C. Przytulski, USA
CPT Garrett C. Slaughter, USA
SSG Patrick H. Quinn, USA
MSG William T. Copeland, USA
SFC Richard M. Worden, USA
SFC Robert P. Smith, USA
SGT Robert F. Newby, USA
COL Edward P. Cutolo, USA
SGT Miguel O. Roman-Cancel, USA
SGT Christopher M. Albrecht, USA
SFC Miguel Mitchell, USA
SFC Clifford Strickland, USA
MAJ Lee Devault, USA
SGT Andrew Stay, USA
SFC Robert Blair, USA
CPL Michael Hasenfus, USA
SSG James B. Wright, USA
CPT Joseph P. Curry, USA
SFC John Duryea, USA
SGT Charles B. Earnest, USA
MSG Mark LaRochelle, USA
SSG Christopher Cummings, USA
SFC Joseph Gradzewicz, USA
SFC Jose A. Hernandez, USA
MSG Timothy Martin, USA
MSG Gary I. Gordon, USA
SSG Ricky L. Robinson, USA
SSG Paul Barclay, USA
SSG Chad D. Devoll, USA
SFC Michael M. Granns, USA
SSG David T. Kowaleski, USA
SSG Joseph E. Suponcic, USA
MSG Richard L. Ferguson, USA
SSG Robb L. Rolfing, USA
MSG Kevin J. Snyder, USA
SSG Robert R. Pirelli, USA
SGT Frank J. Gasper, USA
SFC Duane A. Thornsbury, USA
MSG Jeremy M. Hougdahl, USA
MSG Sean Mocabee, USA
MSG Kelly L. Hornbeck, USA
SGT Matthew Ingram, USA
MSG Trevor Bast, USA
1LT Tyler E. Parten, USA
SGT Tim Martin, USA
SFC Dan Crabtree, USA
Michael Biles, USA
CW2 Michael S. Duskin, USA
SPC Ryan Long, USA
SGM Michael B. Stack, USA
Capt Nicholas S. Whitlock, USAF
CPL Charles E. Hagan, USA
SSG Justin Whiting, USA
Capt Derek Argel, USAF
Capt Todd Siebert, USMC
PO2 Mark Mayo, USN
MAJ Tim Vakoc, USA
MSG Kevin Morehead, USA
CW3 Corey Goodnature, USA
SSG David C. Dunlap, USA
SGT Barry K. Meza, USA
SSG Daniel D. Merriweather, USA
SGT Jacob M. Schwallie, USA
SPC Chase S. Marta, USA
PFC Dustin D. Gross, USA
1LT Brian N. Bradshaw, USA
SSG Jacob G. McMillan, USA
1LT David R. Bernstein, USA
CPT John L. Hallett, USA
CPT Joseph A Ryan, USA
LT Bret Miller, USN
SSG Errol James, USA
SFC Gregory Rodriguez, USA
SGT Richard Dempster, USA
SPC Jordan Roberts, USA
SGT Darren Blazer, USA
SSG Byron Chaney, USA
SGT Chauna Corethers, USA
SPC Lee Coffman, USA
SSG Robert Cowdrey, USA
SFC Dave Hansen, USA
CPT John Brainard, USA
CW5 John Pratt, USA
SGT Ryan Isaacs, USA
CPT Kevin Sirucek, USA
SSG Fred Duggan Jr, USA
COL Lewis J Storck, USA
LTC David B Barton, USA
CW3 Timothy R Breneman, USA
CW2 Terry M Thomas, USA
SPC Ryan Grandstaff, USA
SGT Kamien Stanford, USA
SSgt Michael Mingey, USAF
SPC Frank Cady, USA
SGT Carlos E. Pernell, USA
SSG Stephen New, USA
CPT Joshua Lawrence, USA
SGT Tanner Stone Higgins, USA
SGT Caesar B. Ruiz, USMC
SFC Christopher R. Brevard, USA
SFC Severin Summers, USA
CW2 Thalia Ramirez , USA
CW2 Jose Montenegro, USA
SFC Nate Winder, USA
SPC Marisol Heredia, USA
1LT Francis L. Toner IV, USN
SGT Jesse A. Blamires, USA
SO1 Mike Monsoor , USN
SOC Chris Kyle , USN
SPC Jacques Brunson, USA
1LT Joseph D. Helton, USAF
SSG Richard Vazquez, USA
CPT Robert Yllescas, USA
CPL Tom Saba, USMC
SSG Tyler Martin, USA
SSG Terry Hemmingway, USA
SGT Anton R. Phillips, USAG
SGT Joshua Robinson, USMC
1LT Sal Corma, USA
SSG Scott Studenmund, USA
MAJ Michael Green, USA
1LT Tim Cleary, USA
SSG Jason Brown, USA