The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division paid its respects Wednesday to the most recent of its soldiers to be killed in Iraq, two men who died three weeks ago in the villages northeast of Baghdad.
The brigade hasn’t lost a soldier since July 20, when Cpl. Rhett A. Butler, 22, was killed by a deep buried bomb that exploded beneath his Stryker near Khan Bani Sa’d.
Cpl. Brandon M. Craig, 25, died the day before when his Stryker was hit by a bomb in Husseiniyah.
The brigade chaplain, Lt. Col. John Pettit, urged the soldiers, family members and friends who attended Wednesday’s memorial ceremony in Evergreen Chapel to talk with others about their sadness at the loss. It’s the way toward healing, he said.
“Allow your tears to flow. Tell your stories,” Pettit said. “Honestly express your grief.”
Now about four months into its 15-month Iraq deployment, the 4th Brigade has lost 17 soldiers, although none since Butler.
The post’s other Stryker unit in Iraq – the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – has lost a reported six soldiers since July 31 to bombings in Baghdad.
The 3rd Brigade had enjoyed a stretch of more than seven weeks in June and July without losing a soldier. It has about one more month left before it’s due to return to Fort Lewis.
Craig, of Earleville, Md., was remembered Wednesday as an exceptional soldier, even though he was relatively new to the Army, having joined in February 2006.
The brigade’s top enlisted soldier, Command Sgt. Maj. John Troxell, pulled him from the ranks to work on brigade commander Col. Jon Lehr’s personal security detail.
Craig was killed in a bomb strike on the brigade command group’s convoy, one of several attacks by Shiite militiamen in and around Husseiniyah in the weeks following the June 13 bombing of a major Shiite mosque in Samarra.
The brigade’s fire support officer, Maj. Dan Dudek, was critically wounded in the blast. He is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., brigade officials said.
The brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment responded by sealing off Husseiniyah on the morning of July 20. Soldiers locked down the town for five days until community leaders agreed to allow coalition and Iraqi forces back in to do what they could to stop the attacks.
A fellow member of the brigade commander’s security team told mourners Wednesday that Craig was much loved by his comrades, even though they teased him for his red hair and large head. His nickname: “Pumpkin.”
“Brandon was the type of person everybody loved to be around,” said his friend Spc. David Cooksey. “He was loud, fiery, exciting.”
Craig was likewise much loved at home. Hundreds of mourners with flags turned out to line the streets of his hometown for his funeral procession July 31.
He is survived by his wife, Jodi, an Army specialist in the 23rd Chemical Battalion at Fort Lewis, as well as his parents, Danny and Mary Jane Craig; his sister, Amber; and his brother, Ryan.
Butler, a Stryker driver from Fort Worth, was likewise remembered with affection as someone who always put others in a better mood, no matter the circumstances.
Capt. Bruce Wells, reading from remarks by Butler’s troop commander at his memorial ceremony last month at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Iraq, said Butler was one of those soldiers his boss could count on to tell him how things were going for the troops.
“He always seemed to be in a good mood, always smiling,” Wells said. “He may not be happy with the work, but he always had a good attitude. … He was fun to be around. He was not someone who focused on the negative of the situation.”
Butler joined the Army in July 2004 and the following June arrived at Fort Lewis. He was assigned to the brigade’s 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment.
He was handpicked to serve as his platoon sergeant’s Stryker driver, soldiers said. He was a proud Texan and liked to kid his buddies from northern states that they were more likely to be pestered by the bugs because they didn’t have good Southern skin.
“He had an infectious smile,” said Sgt. 1st Class Charles Smith. “No matter how dark or bright the day, he was always smiling. He had a laugh that still rings in many soldiers’ hearts.”
Butler is survived by his mother, Sereta Ramsey; father, David Butler; and sisters, Shawna Conway and Shayre Strickland.
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