LETTERS FROM BRENT'S FELLOW SOLDIERS FOLLOWING HIS DEATH

LETTERS WE RECEIVED FROM BRENT’S FELLOW SOLDIERS FOLLOWING HIS DEATH

Pam, recently saw a post you had made to a family that lost a soldier. I wanted to write you to let you know I had the pleasure and honor of knowing your son, as I served with him in Ramadi.. I know there are no words that I or any of us can give to ease your loss, but my Mother thought I should share the attached message with you: it is the email I sent out to my friends and family after I first learned your son was killed. Rest assured that those of us who served with your son will never forget him.

My deepest sympathy, Mark

Subject: A Fellow Soldier's Award

I don’t know how long it has been since my last update. I imagine quite a while. For about two months now I have been moving around the country almost continuously. Although I technically moved to Balad (LSA Anaconda) a month ago, I haven’t seen it in a month. Between that and the fact that I try to never write when I am depressed or angry, I know it has been quite a delay. I decided I should probably write now to tell you about one of our sergeants, who earned the Bronze Star yesterday. Sergeant First Class Adams, headquarters company of 2/28th Penn Guard, is close friends with our chief paralegal and has spent quite a bit of time around the legal offices. A great guy, a great soldier…. He has always joked that he was glad that he was my friend… in case he ever got in trouble, he already had a lawyer.... of course, not the type of soldier to actually ever need my help. He has volunteered to drop me off and pick me from the landing zone in Ramadi a number of times. He even volunteered to teach me how to drive a HUMVEE, a true sign of his bravery… one of those rare positive people you always are happy to see cause he always seems to be upbeat about life. Yesterday, Sergeant Adams was killed by an IED while doing a routine parts run to another base. Sorry to have share this with you rather than the positive holiday message I had hoped to send and will hopefully send next week. As the numbers of dead climb well past two thousand, I just want everyone to remember that there is still a name behind every number… the name of someone’s friend, someone’s parent, someone’s child. There is laughter silenced, a lifetime of potential sacrificed. Sometime this week you will hear on the news about number two thousand and something. That number belongs to hero that gave his life; he answered his country’s call to serve. That number belongs to Sergeant First Class Adams, and he will be missed.

Mark
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Hello, I want to tell you how truly sorry I am. Brent was a really great friend even though we did not know each other all that long. There is nothing that I wouldn't have done for him and nothing that I won't do for Marilyn and Daniel. I loved to tease Brent about his taste in music. I would never see him so happy as when he was listening to some symphony. I really will miss him a lot. Yesterday we had Brent's memorial service. I know he would have hated it because it was beautiful and many tears were shed. I had the entire ceremony video taped and will be bringing a copy with me when I visit Marilyn. Like I said, it was beautiful. 5 of us spoke about Brent. Normally only 2 are allowed. Another thing was that one of the soldiers, SGT Zyke, sang a song for Brent. I have never seen that before at a military memorial. The most amazing thing was the number of people who came. As part of my job I have gone to every memorial so
far and that was the most people I have ever seen attend. Even I never realized how popular he was around here. Everyone will miss him very much. After the ceremony we had a cookout in his honor. We all drank near beer and laughed about the fun times we had with Brent. It really was nice. I will start to send you some of the pictures I have. I will tell you what I remember about each one, but please
be patient as it takes about 30 minutes for each picture to be sent. The Internet here is painfully slow. If you have any questions at all, I will be more than happy to answer them. Once again I am truly sorry. My and my families prayers are with you and the rest of Brent's loved ones. If there is anything at all we can do, please ask.
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The memorial service for your son went well. I have been to a couple of these over here (unfortunately), and I can honestly say that this one had the largest crowd by far. You need to know that Brent was well liked by many people. He had the ability to influence soldiers in a very unique way.....a way that you rarely see in the military. He would "develop" his team by working side by side them. He was not
afraid to laugh and joke with his soldiers. The constant theme throughout the service (brought up by many) was his smile.....the Adams' "Smile." The mission that he went on that day could have been assigned to any one of his soldiers. Brent knew that his crew had been working very hard that week, so he decided to give them a break and take the mission himself....now that is leadership.....looking after your men and not giving them a task that you would not do yourself. We can all learn from his example. You should be receiving a CD of the ceremony shortly. Once a gain, I am terribly sorry for your loss.
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To all who care about Brent Adams, I want to share a story about my friend Brent Adams. You have to understand that even after 15 years of Catholic education that I am still not a very religious person. I never really believed in the afterlife, but an event happened on the night we said goodbye to Brent that has me re-thinking my stand on religion and the afterlife. When a Soldier is lost, the army sends
a helicopter to retrieve the remains from the base the same night. This flight is dubbed "The Angel Flight." What happens is all of the friends and fellow Soldiers of the fallen will gather at the helicopter landing pad to say their final goodbye. We did the same for Brent, but things did not go exactly as planned. The Angel flight took 3 attempts to finally get to our base. We all joked that this was Brent messing with all of us as he had done the entire tour. I laughed with everyone else but still did not believe that Brent had anything to do with it. After the Angel flight had finally arrived, Sgt. Dami and I headed towards our Hummer. I had parked it in a separate area so we kind of headed off in the opposite direction as everyone else. As we got about half way to the Hummer I noticed a 5-Ton truck (The same kind of truck that Brent was driving when he was lost) just kind of appear out of the darkness. The truck stopped as I looked. There was no reason for a truck that size to be in that area so I tugged Sgt. Dami on the shoulder and told her "Check that out." When she looked over the truck shut down and turned off its light. We both just stood and stared for a good minute or two before the truck started back up, made a right hand turn and drove away from us back into the darkness. You can argue that the driver was just lost or a number of other things but the whole event was just too coincidental. As I said I am not a very religious person but even to me that
was Brent saying goodbye and also letting both of us know that he was still around and watching out for us. I hope that anyone who reads this will take the same comfort in this experience that I do.
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Hello again, Here is another picture of Brent. In this one he was receiving an award. The title of the certificate reads "Hero of the Rotation." He got it for doing such an outstanding job during our time at NTC (National Training Center in California). Thanks to his efforts and the efforts of his team, not one training mission was delayed because of maintenance issues. I can tell you that this is an almost impossible
achievement. The conditions at NTC play real havoc with all of our equipment. He really did an outstanding job and we were all very happy that the command recognized how hard he and his crew worked. The award was presented here in Iraq by Captain Fisher during a meeting of all of the senior NCOs in the company. To be honest I think he was a little upset that the award had his name on it.
He told me just after that it should have been made to the maintenance section. I told him to be quiet and learn to take a compliment. :-) He really was very proud of his crew and could never stop talking about something that they had accomplished as a team.I will continue to send more pictures. I hope they are helping. I know it is helping me to remember some of the fun that Brent and I enjoyed so thank you all.
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I wanted to share this picture with you first. I am responsible for the memorial pictures for all of our lost soldiers. It is always hard and I never like doing it. Putting this one together was obviously the hardest on me and others offered to take care of it, but I wanted to make sure that it was done right. I think it is a great picture of Brent but there is a little secret about the picture. If you noticed on Brent's wrist there is his Pittsburgh Pride Bracelet. I can't tell you how many time he was told to take that bracelet off by the command here. To be honest, it really is against regulations to wear a non-religious bracelet. It was the one order he refused to follow so I made sure that it was in his final picture. I did it for Brent but also thought it would bring a smile to my face every time that I looked at it. It does and I hope it does the same for all of you. I will send more pictures tomorrow.
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It was both my pleasure and honor to be part of Brent’s service. Brent always liked to make things fun. I will treasure the memories of the fun times I had with Brent. Long into my retirement years I will be telling the stories of the goofy things we did. I will surely miss my friend.
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My thoughts and heart are with you and your family in this time of sorrow. I served with Brent while in Company A, 2/110th Infantry, Ford City. I joined the unit upon discharge from the USMC in 1992. Brent was a well-liked and respected soldier. I want to extend my gratitude to you and your family for Brent’s service and let it be known that he is not forgotten outside of your family circle. "Thank You" for his service. Our freedoms are founded and maintained through such dedicated service. God Bless Brent and your family.
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Here is another picture of Brent with another. I don't know what the conversation was about, but what I love about the picture is the concern you can see on Brent's face. When someone, anyone, had a problem it instantly became Brent's personal mission to help fix whatever was wrong. No matter how large or small the problem, Brent always had that same look of concern on his face when talking about the situation. If Brent had a selfish side at all, I think it was he never really wanted help from anyone. He would drive me crazy because he would help me get some things done but when I offered to help him out, he would tell me not to worry about it. I mean the guy could be trying to construct a skyscraper with nothing more than a hammer and he wouldn't willingly accept help. :-)
Eventually I learned to stop offering help and just jump in and lend a hand. When he realized I was helping he would always stop, put his hands on his him and give me that look of his when he was trying not to smile. I would look at him and give some sort of remark like... Are you going to just stand there?One day he was loading a truck full of equipment. He was loading the truck for a mission that
was leaving in a convoy early in the morning. It was starting to get late and I was just getting done work. He knew I was also going on a mission early the next morning and got seriously mad at me when I started to help him.He kept telling me that he could get it done and that I needed to get some sleep. I told him that I already had a mother and if he wanted the job he would have to go call her. I said but
before you do, I wish you would help me get this truck loaded. :-)His argument was that he could sleep in so it was no big deal. Brent never slept in. He was out of the room by 8am no matter what was going on that day. I didn't say anything else and continued to load the truck. Brent gave me a dirty look and than we loaded a few more things. He said that was everything and we both headed towards the room. The next morning I went by the truck and there had to be twice the amount of stuff on it as when he said "That's Everything."
The sneak waited for me to fall asleep and than went back down to finish loading the truck himself. I was so mad at him that I wanted to unload the truck just to get back at him for tricking me like that. :-)When I finally saw him later that day he just started walking in the opposite direction laughing like a clown. He got me good that day. :-) I will be sending more tomorrow. I hope everyone is sleeping well. Take care.
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I am very much aware of the events that happened yesterday. I wanted so very much to give you a warning, but we are limited in our ability to share details before families are notified. Yesterday, SGT Adams was driving a truck on a very dangerous road. I had traveled on this very road (past the very same spot) less than an hour earlier. He volunteered for the mission to go out and help with an Iraqi army camp that was being developed. The mission went well until the drive back. His convoy was attacked by a rocket...in fact, his very truck was struck. The truck flipped over after impact. SGT Adams survived the attack. Medics rushed to the scene and tried very hard to stabilize him. His upper pelvis was shattered, and he was bleeding extensively. Unfortunately, he died of wounds on the way to the aid station. We were all stunned. He was very well liked by all here. I had personally talked with him on numerous occasions about Sally...and you. Everytime I passed hi m, I called him "cousin" because of the special relationship you two had. Last night, as his body was being carried out to the helicopter (we call it the "Angel" flight...flight of the dead back to the States), we all formed a line of respect and saluted with tears running down our faces as he was being carried to the helicopter. All of us were a mess. I want to let
you know that I am terribly sorry for what happened. I told you that I would look after him, and I feel as if I did not do a good enough job. The company is having a memorial service on Monday for him. I will be there, and I will be sure to get a program for Sally. I feel terrible....and wish I could have told you sooner. Please tell Sally that he died doing a very important job in a very dangerous place. He volunteered for the mission, and his brave duty as a soldier was performed with the utmost sacrifice. A number of the soldiers here are taking it very hard...including myself. We will continue to d o our jobs in his honor.
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I first want to tell you how very sorry I am. I can't begin to imagine what you and Daniel are going through right now. Brent was such a great guy. really don't know what to say. I still really can't believe that he is gone.As you know Brent and I have become very close friends in a short period of time. We worked in separate parts of the base but roommates and we got together for lunch and dinner just about every day. After dinner we would usually watch a movie or sit around listening to music and talk about different things.I would always get on his case about his choice in music. It was just a few days ago that he told me he had season tickets to the symphony. I asked him if he was kidding and he told me no. He said he loved to go drink beer at intermission. He said that everyone else was drinking some sophisticated drink and would look at him sort of strange because he was drinking beer. :-)What I loved most about Brent was how simple things would make him so happy.A package from you was enough to put a huge smile on his face for days no matter how tired or overworked he was. He loved to share the Tastykakes with me because he knew that I loved them almost as much as he did. And the stuff you would send from Daniel... I am just surprised that they held up by the time everyone was done looking at them. He was so proud of the artwork and other things that you would send.A funny story... A couple of days ago one of the other guys around here gave me a ton of music for my computer. Brent called me on the radio a dozen times and stopped by my office twice just to see if I had finished transferring all of the music so he could look through it. After it was done he stopped by and spent about 3 hours picking out different songs. You would have thought that every song was his all time favorite by his reaction. He would look and go
"oh... Oh... this song is great!" and than he would play it. This lasted about 3 nights. :-)I did not see much of Brent the last 2 nights. He spent most of the time after chow down in his office. He wanted to get his Christmas shopping done. I have the newsletter due so I was busy in my office. The night before he was lost, I got back to the room around 11. He was not there so I headed over to his office to check on him. He was sitting in his chair and had music blasting as loud as it could be played. I just had to laugh. Did he always love music so much? He was kind of celebrating getting all of his shopping done. :-)His last morning he came into my office around 10am. He wanted to yell at me "Guess what my dad and mom saw on the web-site today?" He was "mad" about some pictures that I put on the web-site of him from Thanksgiving. This was after the whole Newsletter picture that you saw. :-)He yelled at me for a few minutes than I told him it was his fault that he didn't look good in pictures. He told me that he knows he doesn't look good in pictures but that was no reason for me to use them. Most of our conversations were like that. We spent a lot of time poking fun at each other.I didn't go to lunch with him that day. I was busy and needed to get some things done. I did see him just after he got into the truck before he left. I
asked him where he was going and he told me. I asked him why he was going and he said that he needed to give his guys a break.
There have been a lot of missions lately and his section was working a lot harder than normal to help get the missions done.He than asked me to make sure a key got to SGT Jones that he had forgotten to give her. So I took the key and shook his hand. I told him to be careful and watched him drive off. He spoke about you and Daniel every day. I know he couldn't wait to get home and be with the both of you. I asked him one time if he was going to do a tour in Afghanistan with me when this was done. He told me "not on your life." He wanted to get home to his family and would never leave them again.I have some things that Brent wanted you and Daniel to have. If it is alright with you I would like to deliver them in person when I am home on leave during the week of Christmas. I know it will be a very rough time you and understand completely if you would rather I didn't. I just want to do what I know Brent would have done for me.
Once again I am very sorry. I wish there was something I could say that would help. Please convey my condolences to his parents and the rest of his family. If you would like to talk some more or if there is anything I can do, please, please let me know.