1st Cavalry's 4th Brigade Combat team honors FALLEN at memorial Posted On: Saturday, Jun. 20 2009 06:28 AM By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily Herald

FORT HOOD – Aurora Fernandez looked at the rows and rows of soldiers in front of her and realized her son would have been right there among them.

Instead they stood at parade rest in her son's and four others' memories.

The 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team honored five soldiers from their ranks who died during the last year in Iraq. The brigade recently returned to Fort Hood from the Middle East and honored the five fallen soldiers during a ceremony by the division's Operation Iraqi Freedom Memorial.

The names will be permanently etched into the memorial's black granite walls once the rest of the division returns from Iraq early next year.

"They are now part of a long line of patriots – no, heroes – heroes who answered a nation's call and selflessly fought for the freedoms that too many take for granted," said Col. Philip Battaglia, the brigade's commander.

Sgt. Reuben Marcus Fernandez III died Oct. 11 when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Majar Al Kabir, Iraq. The 22-year-old was an infantryman with Headquarters Company, 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment.

Pfc. Tavarus Danard Setzler was a 22-year-old combat engineer who died Oct. 2 of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered a roadside bomb in the same area. He served with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry.

Pvt. Charles Yi Barnett died Nov. 20 of injuries from a non-combat-related incident in Tallil, Iraq. He was a 19-year-old combat engineer with Echo Company.

The two other soldiers honored Friday were assigned to engineer companies attached to the brigade. They were Staff Sgt. Sean D. Diamond of the 610th Engineer Support Company, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade, Fort Lewis, Wash.; and Sgt. 1st Class George Stanciel of the 370th Engineer Company, 54th Engineer Battalion, 18th Engineer Brigade, Bamberg, Germany.

The Fernandez and Setzler families attended Friday's ceremony and Battaglia encouraged the soldiers to talk with them about the impact their loved ones had on their lives.

Aurora, who was accompanied by several family members, including Reuben's younger sister, Stephanie, heard from Reuben's buddies that he was fun – a character.

They told her that it was different without him around and how greatly he was missed.

"It's just an honor to see them all out there," Aurora said of the soldiers. "I'm taken aback.

"It's like he's right there and I just see the impact that he made on so many lives. It's just touching."

Looking at the formation, Aurora said her mind started to wander and she thought, "My son should be there in the middle."

But, he died doing what he wanted to do, she added. He was in middle school when he first talked about joining the military. They lived in Abilene and Aurora thought for sure Reuben would join the Air Force. He told her one night, as she stood in the kitchen, that he would soon enlist in the Army.

"Not now," she told him. She knew the first thing the Army would do was send her son to Iraq.

"Mom, why do you think I'm doing it," he replied. "I believe in it."

Reuben was such a hero from the get go, Aurora said Friday.

Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at astair@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7547.