Fort Carson – As upwards of 8,000 soldiers from this Army post settle into life in the Persian Gulf and thousands more gear up to go, the reality of the dangers they face was evident Tuesday as Fort Carson held its first memorial service for soldiers in a year.
The service for Sgts. Julio Negron and Lizbeth Robles focused on the grim reality of duty in Iraq, what it means to be a soldier and the difficulty of saying goodbye.
“It was really hard. They were the kind of people everyone was friends with,’ said 1st Lt. Chris Woodard.
Robles, 31, of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, and Negron, 28, of Pompano Beach, Fla., were killed when a Humvee they were riding in overturned in late February in Baiji, Iraq. Another passenger and the driver were not injured.
The accident is still under investigation, but a friend of one of the fallen said he thought the Humvee flipped after the driver swerved to avoid hitting a child.
“My brother’s accident could have happened to anyone,’ said Negron’s older brother, retired Sgt. 1st Class Jose Negron Jr.
Fort Carson lost 45 soldiers when units from the post were deployed to Iraq in spring 2003, and families endured the repeated strains of taps from a lone bugler and the echoes of “Amazing Grace’ from bagpipes.
On Tuesday, those somber tones returned.
“We just didn’t want to hear it again,’ Sgt. Cesar Vazquez said. “Whether they are your close friends or not, we just weren’t ready to hear about it.’
Still, Vazquez, who is planning to go to Iraq later this year, said in spite of the heartache and dangers that come from a deployment, he’ll head out with a mind full of memories of the lost comrades, as well as a keen eye on the mission.
“You just have to continue fighting and doing your thing,’ he said.
Negron had been to Iraq before. Robles had not. Both had volunteered to be part of a new group with the 43rd Area Support Group that rides in convoys and secures the dangerous roadways so that Fort Carson trucks can deliver fuel.
“She was very, very brave,’ said Pfc. Leila Groom, a close friend of Robles. Groom couldn’t deploy in late December with the other members of the 43rd Area Support Group because she is pregnant. Robles “didn’t like being in one place. She was hands-on. I know that’s why she took that truck mission.’
