'They risked it all': 82nd Airborne Division honors fallen paratroopers at memorial ceremony
FORT BRAGG — It's been nearly 20 years since Stan and Shirley White's son, Staff Sgt. Robert 'Bob' White, 34, was killed Sept. 26, 2005, in Afghanistan after his mounted patrol came under enemy fire.
He served with the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment.
White's older brother, William, served in the Navy, as did his World War II-era grandfather, his father said during an 82nd Airborne Division memorial ceremony May 20.
'He wanted to jump out of airplanes and that's what he did, and he was a good family man, Boy Scout, Scout master, swimmer and just a fun-loving guy,' Stan White said. 'We called him Red. He loved the Falcons, Atlanta Falcons, that was his team.'
Shirley White said that in their home state of Virginia, a memorial bridge is named for their son.
'When our friends drive by like we do, they'll say, 'Hi Bob,'' she said.
Stan White said that even though two decades have passed since their son's death, they and the 82nd Airborne Division haven't forgotten to remember him.
'Gold Star mothers has a motto — everyone dies twice, and one is a physical and another is when their name is no longer spoken,' he said.
Maj. Gen. J. Patrick "Pat" Work, the division's commander, said aloud the names of a few paratroopers who were killed in combat or died during training in service to the U.S.
The division's first combat casualty was Capt. Jewett Williams, who died in June 1918 during World War I in Albert, France, Work said.
Williams was company commander of the 326th Infantry.
A graduate of the University of Georgia, he was a Rhode's scholar and an ordained Episcopal priest, Work said.
'That soldier also left behind a wife and a 5-month-old daughter,' he said.
The division's last paratrooper killed in combat was Sgt. Bryan Cooper Mount, who died July 21, 2020, while conducting reconnaissance operations in Syria.
From among the division's 5,098 paratroopers who did not survive the wars, Work said, he personally wears a bracelet on his right wrist bearing the name of Spc. Thomas J. 'T.J.' Barbiere.
Barbiere, Work said, was killed in action Aug. 23, 2006, at the age of 24 while in Baghdad.
'T.J. was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his final act of valor to protect another paratrooper during a gunfight,' Work said.
During the ceremony, Work also recognized the family of Spc. Corey J. Kowall, 20, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who died Sept. 20, 2009, from a vehicle rollover. Also killed was Spc. Damon G. Winkleman, 23, of Lakeville, Ohio.
Also recognized was the family of Sgt. Matthew J. Sandri, 24, of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, who was killed March 20, 2004, when his quarters came under a rocket attack in Fallujah, Iraq.
'I hope that none of us can ever drive down Gruber Road again and pass the Sandri Medical Training Center without thinking about that family's commitment,' Work said. 'That's not a building. That's a memorial to Matt Sandri.'
White, Kowall and Sandri's names are all engraved in stone on the division's memorials outside the 82nd Airborne Division's Hall of Heroes and Museum.
Another five names were added to the division's training memorial this week: Staff Sgt. Joseph A. Little; Capt. Clinton F. MacFarland Jr.; Spc. Garry N. Antoine; Spc. Benjamin S. Freed; and Spc. Matthew Perez, who died Sept. 13, 2024, from injuries sustained at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Louisiana.
Danielle Hackbarth, a museum specialist in the archives and library, said that some of the other names recently added date back to World War I.
Line of duty deaths weren't always recorded as they are now, but further research has confirmed the deaths, Hackbarth said.
'It's just kind of been putting the pieces of the puzzle together,' she said.
For example, officials became aware of Antoine's death after a veteran paratrooper who served with him called seeking information, she said.
Public safety records confirmed the death was during a training accident, she said.
Officials learned about another paratrooper earlier this year because a deployment yearbook is dedicated in his memory. He died during a deployment training exercise, Hackbarth said.
'We definitely want to acknowledge those individuals who were training in preparation to give their lives for their country,' she said. 'They're still part of the division, and they're a big part of the success of the 82nd and their missions during active times.'
Work said that everyone on the division's memorial "paid the levies of liberty with their blood.'
'They risked it all doing their duty in distant lands, from North Africa to Berlin. They spilled their blood in Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, Grenada and Panama. They made the last full measure of devotion in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria,' he said.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: 82nd Airborne Division adds more names to memorials
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