Never Forgotten

Rest in Peace Outlaw. I write that or speak that each year on this day. It was a day that will be remembered for me and the other members of the 1074th Transportation Company who served in the Iraqi War together.

It was a cold desert evening when we first heard the news. I was in my "can" (another word for what we lived in on FOB TQ. An 8x8 metal box with a single bed and wall locker were the basic items inside but you could fill the room with whatever you could have sent to you from home or other things you could buy from the PX or locals.) A knock at my door. This wasn't odd as I received knocks on my door all the time as I had become the company barber at all hours of the night. See we ran night missions and slept during the day for most of the year so getting to the barber shop to get a haircut was not as easy as it seemed. I got pretty good at giving a couple of the standard Army approved haircuts, the high and tight, the mighty fine and a pretty good fade as well. That night was like many others when the knock came. I answered it and prepared to give a cut. But when I answered it this time, it wasn't normal.

I looked at the face of the Solider at my door and it was white as a ghost. They had been sent down to my can from the TOC (tactical operations center) to summon me. I asked the Soldier, what happened and they said, "IED Sarge, its not good, 3rd platoon got hit". I was one of 3rd platoon's squad leaders and we alternated missions with the other squad and this was their night. I knew they had been around Baghdad and were on the Red Bull mission if I remember right. All the missions were dangerous but most would agree this one was on the more dangerous side. When you were on the mission you were driving right down the line between where the Sunni and Shiites fought against one another and the insurgency attacked Coalition forces. So you could say this was more dangerous than most of our missions. A lot of IED (improvised explosive devises) on the roads of Iraq but some of the larger more deadly ones had either been found or had exploded on our troops happened around this same area.

"IED Sarge, its not good, 3rd platoon got hit"

I remember this time because we had recently been trained on the newest weapons platform the Army was using at the time. The vehicle was called the M117 ASV (Armored Service Vehicle) and we were all really excited about driving them on our combat missions. No one had ever been killed in an ASV. The way they were developed was on purpose. They were V-shaped at the hull to deflect the explosions that were happening on the road. They were a good idea for sure and we had great confidence. Until that night.

That night an IED known as an EFP was used to kill one of my Soldiers on a road outside of Baghdad. The EFP or Explosively Formed Projectile had been developed to defeat our up-armored vehicles. These IED's formed molten like penetrating rounds that would essentially sear through our armor.

I won't ever forget when they told us Randy Matheny had been Killed in Action. My thoughts went right to the fact that I had just been on a mission with him to Ramadi and back a couple of days prior. We had needed a driver for my gun truck because mine was on leave at the time. Matheny volunteered to go on the mission with me. He was a good young man. He was only 19, just a few years older than my own son. We talked that day on the way back to FOB TQ from Ramadi about his girlfriend and the future. I asked about his sister as well as she too was a Soldier at the time whom I had the distinct honor of serving with. Randy spoke lovingly about his family. He was always a guy to give you a smile. You could count on Randy to step up. He was a good Soldier who died far to young.

We all wept that night at TQ. Some of us made videos on our laptops to our families saying goodbye one last time to the people we loved most. We wanted to make sure that we would be remembered. We realized that night the reality and hell that is war. One of our own was gone. Randy Matheny. The same Randy Matheny that we recalled from just earlier that day as his squad prepared for mission. We saw him in the chow hall before their SP (starting point). We remembered his red fiery hair, (I had cut it not very long before this fateful night) His smile and his easy way of living. Now he was gone. Forever gone from our sight but never from our memories.

Randy will forever live in the hearts of the 1074th and this old Sarge. He gave all for this country and for his battle buddies and I am forever proud to have known him. Rest in Peace Outlaw.