Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
January 24, 2007
Pg. 11
By Christian Davenport and Leef Smith, Washington Post Staff Writers
An Army colonel from Stafford and a top enlisted man from the Maryland National Guard were among the 12 soldiers killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Baghdad last weekend.
Col. Paul M. Kelly, 45, one of the most senior Army officers who has died in Iraq, was nicknamed "the Senator" because he was always shaking soldiers' hands, no matter their rank, colleagues said. Another Virginia man, Staff Sgt. Darryl D. Booker, 37, of Amelia, Va., 35 miles southwest of Richmond, died in the crash Saturday northeast of Baghdad, troops in Iraq said.
Also on board was Command Sgt. Maj. Roger W. Haller, 49, of Annapolis, a master plumber who became commandant of the Maryland Guard's noncommissioned officers' academy and who begged to be sent overseas, his family said.
"Like any other American out there, he wanted to go over there," said Morgan Haller, his 21-year-old daughter. "You sign up for the military because it's your job. You're fighting for freedom. He wanted to be a part of it."
The Department of Defense has not released the names of the deceased, but the Haller and Kelly families said they had received calls about the deaths. Booker's family said officials had yet to identify his remains at the crash site.
Yesterday in Al Asad, Iraq, nearly 200 members of the Virginia National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment, gathered in a chapel at this base west of Baghdad to mourn Kelly and Booker, who served for years with the Guard before moving on to work for the Reserve Component Division of the Multi-National Corps Iraq.
They were "as much a part of our unit family as anyone in this room," Lt. Col. Robert E. McMillin II said during the memorial service. "I can't help but imagine they are viewing this ceremony, watching over us and praying for our safe return," he said.
Booker, who was married, had a 16-year-old daughter and four step-children, said his father, Earnest R. Hardy Sr. Kelly leaves behind a wife and two sons, 6 and 9.
Booker was active in his church, the Mount Gilead Full Gospel International Ministries in Richmond, and had a faith that gave him a sense of ease, his family and fellow soldiers remembered.
"Over the holiday, he let me know that he had a couple close calls," Hardy recalled. "He said: 'Don't worry about me. I'm all right. I'm covered.' If he was secure in his assurance of where he was with Christ, then I had assurances."
"You felt it just by being in his presence," echoed Sgt. Derrick Argo, 38, of Richmond.
And what a presence it was. At about 6 feet 5 inches, with hands as big as waffles, he was known in the unit as "Big Daddy."
Kelly was a mentor to many soldiers coming up through the ranks, soldiers said. Sgt. 1st Class Arturo Robinson remembered how years ago, when he was getting into disciplinary trouble, Kelly called him into his office and told him to take a hard look at the way he was acting.
It was the sort of command that officers give their soldiers all the time -- and often go ignored. But something about the way Kelly said it -- firmly but with respect -- got through to him. "He saved my career," Robinson said. "I would walk behind him in any war, in any place."
Kelly's brother, John, yesterday recalled a man who cherished the soldiers he worked with.
"Every time we communicated with him, he'd ask us to pray for all the soldiers doing a great job out there," John Kelly said. "He was extremely caring and dedicated both to the profession and his family and friends. He loved what he did, and he loved his country."
Morgan Haller said serving in the military was a tradition in her family: Both her grandfathers were in the military, and her 22-year-old brother Daniel served as an Army sergeant in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Roger Haller was a teenager when he moved to Cambridge, Md., where he and his wife raised three children, including 17-year-old Kathryn. He was a typical suburban father who liked to travel with his family, going backpacking, camping and hunting. "He was our swim coach for eight years," Morgan Haller said. "And he was our Little League coach of T-ball."
After a divorce, he moved this past year to the Annapolis area, his daughter said, to be closer to the Guard offices there. As much as he wanted to go to war, he made sure to pick a tour that would get him back home by May -- in time for his younger daughter's graduation.
Staff writer Raymond McCaffrey and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report. Christian Davenport reported from Al Asad, Iraq, where he is a fellow at the Alicia Patterson Foundation.
January 24, 2007
Pg. 11
By Christian Davenport and Leef Smith, Washington Post Staff Writers
An Army colonel from Stafford and a top enlisted man from the Maryland National Guard were among the 12 soldiers killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Baghdad last weekend.
Col. Paul M. Kelly, 45, one of the most senior Army officers who has died in Iraq, was nicknamed "the Senator" because he was always shaking soldiers' hands, no matter their rank, colleagues said. Another Virginia man, Staff Sgt. Darryl D. Booker, 37, of Amelia, Va., 35 miles southwest of Richmond, died in the crash Saturday northeast of Baghdad, troops in Iraq said.
Also on board was Command Sgt. Maj. Roger W. Haller, 49, of Annapolis, a master plumber who became commandant of the Maryland Guard's noncommissioned officers' academy and who begged to be sent overseas, his family said.
"Like any other American out there, he wanted to go over there," said Morgan Haller, his 21-year-old daughter. "You sign up for the military because it's your job. You're fighting for freedom. He wanted to be a part of it."
The Department of Defense has not released the names of the deceased, but the Haller and Kelly families said they had received calls about the deaths. Booker's family said officials had yet to identify his remains at the crash site.
Yesterday in Al Asad, Iraq, nearly 200 members of the Virginia National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment, gathered in a chapel at this base west of Baghdad to mourn Kelly and Booker, who served for years with the Guard before moving on to work for the Reserve Component Division of the Multi-National Corps Iraq.
They were "as much a part of our unit family as anyone in this room," Lt. Col. Robert E. McMillin II said during the memorial service. "I can't help but imagine they are viewing this ceremony, watching over us and praying for our safe return," he said.
Booker, who was married, had a 16-year-old daughter and four step-children, said his father, Earnest R. Hardy Sr. Kelly leaves behind a wife and two sons, 6 and 9.
Booker was active in his church, the Mount Gilead Full Gospel International Ministries in Richmond, and had a faith that gave him a sense of ease, his family and fellow soldiers remembered.
"Over the holiday, he let me know that he had a couple close calls," Hardy recalled. "He said: 'Don't worry about me. I'm all right. I'm covered.' If he was secure in his assurance of where he was with Christ, then I had assurances."
"You felt it just by being in his presence," echoed Sgt. Derrick Argo, 38, of Richmond.
And what a presence it was. At about 6 feet 5 inches, with hands as big as waffles, he was known in the unit as "Big Daddy."
Kelly was a mentor to many soldiers coming up through the ranks, soldiers said. Sgt. 1st Class Arturo Robinson remembered how years ago, when he was getting into disciplinary trouble, Kelly called him into his office and told him to take a hard look at the way he was acting.
It was the sort of command that officers give their soldiers all the time -- and often go ignored. But something about the way Kelly said it -- firmly but with respect -- got through to him. "He saved my career," Robinson said. "I would walk behind him in any war, in any place."
Kelly's brother, John, yesterday recalled a man who cherished the soldiers he worked with.
"Every time we communicated with him, he'd ask us to pray for all the soldiers doing a great job out there," John Kelly said. "He was extremely caring and dedicated both to the profession and his family and friends. He loved what he did, and he loved his country."
Morgan Haller said serving in the military was a tradition in her family: Both her grandfathers were in the military, and her 22-year-old brother Daniel served as an Army sergeant in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Roger Haller was a teenager when he moved to Cambridge, Md., where he and his wife raised three children, including 17-year-old Kathryn. He was a typical suburban father who liked to travel with his family, going backpacking, camping and hunting. "He was our swim coach for eight years," Morgan Haller said. "And he was our Little League coach of T-ball."
After a divorce, he moved this past year to the Annapolis area, his daughter said, to be closer to the Guard offices there. As much as he wanted to go to war, he made sure to pick a tour that would get him back home by May -- in time for his younger daughter's graduation.
Staff writer Raymond McCaffrey and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report. Christian Davenport reported from Al Asad, Iraq, where he is a fellow at the Alicia Patterson Foundation.