Note: This article was originally published on June 3, 2003. We’re re-posting it now for our tribute to Colorado’s Fallen.
Fort Carson – More than 600 people, including little boys in freshly-pressed white shirts and girls with red, white and blue
hair decorations, joined grief-stricken family members, friends and fellow soldiers Monday in a chapel here to honor and remember Sgt. Thomas Broomhead and fellow soldier Staff Sgt. Michael Quinn.
The pair, members of the post’s 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, were gunned down last week at a traffic checkpoint in Fallujah, Iraq, a
town where anti-American sentiment runs deep.
Among fellow soldiers who knew the two, the 37-year-old Quinn was known for his brains and the 34-year-old Broomhead was known for
his brawn when it came time to get things done. The two of them kept up a friendly competition, trying to one-up each other while at Fort Carson.
Monday, both were honored and remembered for their contributions to the Army.
“I would hear him (Quinn) tell other soldiers to get a haircut,” said Sgt. Edwin Claros during the service. “He believed that the
more disciplined a soldier was, the more prepared he’d be for combat. Sgt. Quinn and Sgt. Broomhead, we will miss you.”
Following the service, family members also shared stories about the fallen soldiers. They recounted Broomhead’s fear of public
speaking. When the time came to deliver a speech at the wedding of his brother-in-law, Jim Carter, a few years ago, best man
Broomhead’s nerves kicked into high gear, causing him to splash champagne all over and forcing the groom to make his own speech,
Carter recounted after the service. The wedding guests got a good laugh at Broomhead’s expense.
On Monday, it was Carter’s turn to speak on behalf of Broomhead. Choked with emotion, Carter said the last thing he expected to
learn was that Broomhead and other soldiers on postwar missions in Iraq were gunned down in what was one of the deadliest weeks for
U.S. soldiers since the brunt of the war was declared over by President Bush on May 1.
Four Fort Carson soldiers died last week. That brought the post’s death toll since deployment to eight. Broomhead and Quinn were
killed and nine other soldiers in their regiment were injured May 27 after gunmen opened fire on the checkpoint.
Quinn leaves behind a wife and a son, while Broomhead is survived by a wife and three stepsons.
Sally Quinn Taylor, Quinn’s mother, said her heart goes out to family members of soldiers in Iraq. “They are devoting their lives
to the defense of freedoms that we take so much for granted,” said Taylor, of Levy County, Fla.
Quinn’s 8-year-old son, Timmy, doesn’t appear to have acknowledged his father’s death yet, Taylor said. “He’s out of touch with the
reality of what has happened.”
Broomhead’s three stepsons also are finding the reality difficult to grasp, Carter said.
Monday’s service was the second since Friday, when Maj. Mathew Schram was honored. Another service is tentatively scheduled for
today for Keman Mitchell, who drowned after diving into an aqueduct in Kirkuk, Iraq, on May 26. Mitchell was with the 3rd Brigade
Combat team.
