Obama honors sacrifices of three Americans
On Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, President Barack Obama spoke at length about three men who gave their lives in the Afghanistan War. Two of them were the last Americans to die in that war and the third died as part of America’s continuing military support operations.
Spc. Wyatt Martin, 22, and Sgt. 1st Class Ramon Morris, 37, were on patrol together when their vehicle was hit by an IED explosion on Dec. 12, 2014; they were the last Americans to give their lives during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Cpl. John Dawson, an Army combat medic, was killed on April 8, 2015, during an escort mission in Jalalabad. He was the first servicemember to die in Operation Resolute Support, the U.S. military’s advise-and-assist mission that launched Jan. 1.
Martin, from Mesa, Ariz., died from wounds he suffered from the attack in Parwan Province; he and Morris were assigned to the 1st Calvary Div. at Fort Hood, Texas.
Julie Martin told local media that her son loved his job and saw it as an opportunity to give back to the community. “It’s what he wanted to do. He always felt good about what he did, and I felt good about who he was and how he represented us, his country and the military.”
Jordan Williams, a childhood friend, said that Martin was “easily the greatest man I’ve ever met…. He always found a way to brighten people’s days, no matter what. It was what drew people to him.”
Three days after Martin was killed, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer ordered all U.S. flags at state office buildings to be flown at half staff.
Morris, killed with Martin in the same explosion, was from New York City. He was on his fifth deployment when he died, having done one tour in Korea and three in the Iraq War. He was married and had a three-year-old daughter.
Donna Baum paid tribute to her son-in-law, a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal: “Let us ever be mindful that our soldiers are every day guarding someone’s freedom. Ramon Morris died on a dangerous mission, doing just that.”
According to the Department of Defense, 2,215 servicemembers died in the Afghanistan War, with 20,027 wounded.
Dawson, from Northbridge, Mass., was killed by small-arms fire when an Afghan soldier fired on his platoon. Several of his comrades were also wounded that day. Assigned to the 101st Airborne Div. at Fort Campbell, Ky., he had already received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals.
Members of the Patriot Guard Riders participated in Dawson’s funeral on April 20 in Upton, Mass., where Major Gen. Steve Townsend of the 18th Airborne Corps spoke to the mourners: “Some people say sports stars are heroes, some say movie star are heroes…. My heroes are the 20-something-year-old Americans who wear the uniform of American law enforcement. He was doing what he loved.”
Jake Jacobs, national vice commander of The American Legion, attended the Memorial Day ceremony where the president spoke. He was moved by the size of the crowd – standing room only – and the patriotism being expressed. “A lot of people came up and talked to me, and I even had one young lady stop me, hand me a rose, and thank me for my service. So it was very humbling.”
Jacobs is an Army veteran who served in the 1970s with a joint command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. Part of the U.S. Readiness Command’s rapid deployment force, Jacobs went on “a lot of overseas deployments.”
Memorial Day, he said, keeps the issue of how military service changes people’s lives “at the forefront. When you go away to the military, you come back and many times you’re a changed person. Or there’s always the chance that you don’t come back at all. I think they all need to be remembered and America does a great job of that.”
After the president’s speech, The American Legion placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, presented by Larry Provost, assistant director of the Legion’s Legislative Division in Washington.