Note: This article was originally published on Nov 21, 2003. We’re re-posting it now for our tribute to Colorado’s Fallen.
Fort Carson – Daniel Aaron Bader’s turquoise-blue Dodge Ram sits
untouched in the driveway of his military housing unit. The NASCAR
fan’s truck and motorcycle haven’t moved in seven months.
And each day that Venus Mejia and Cherri Penman pass the Bader
home, they think of Dan coming home and tooling around the Army
post. They think of the untold number of celebratory beers and
barbecues the Baders, Penmans and Mejias were supposed to have when
the first batch of Fort Carson soldiers arrived home from war five
months from now.
“It doesn’t seem real. I keep thinking that Dan is coming home in
April, just like everyone else. We had all these plans,” Mejia
said.
Everything changed on Nov. 2 when a Chinook helicopter that Staff
Sgt. Bader had boarded for a much-needed two-week escape from Iraq
was hit by a shoulder-fired missile and crashed near Fallujah.
Sixteen soldiers died when the helicopter made a crash landing on
the way to Baghdad International Airport. Among the dead were
Bader, 28, and three other Fort Carson soldiers.
Mejia and Penman have husbands in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and
both women told their spouses not to come home on the two-week rest
and recuperation, or R and R, because of the risks involved with
helicopter travel in Iraq.
Penman and Mejia are close friends with Tiffany Bader, a widow now
for three weeks.
Each woman checks on Tiffany and 14-month-old Taryn Bader daily,
sometimes bringing them food, other times dropping by to let the
dog out or to just listen.
During a memorial service Thursday, Tiffany Bader sat in the front
row of the Soldiers’ Memorial Chapel, a place designated for the
family of the fallen soldier, as soldier after soldier recounted
how valuable Daniel Bader was to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment
both stateside and in Iraq.
Looking down at Tiffany Bader and Dan’s family, Maj.. Jacobs told
them: “Know that Daniel was a professional. Mourn his loss, but be
proud.”
Bader’s father, Roger Bader, while saddened by the loss of his son,
said he was proud of him.
“I told the boy to do his best before he went over. I knew how
highly trained he was. I just didn’t think he was going to die in
Iraq.”
