'I'm going to keep moving forward'
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- “Today, we are halfway through our deployment,” Maj. Geoff Vallee tells the group gathered in a maintenance hangar here.
It’s the start of a combat badge ceremony and rank promotion for Charlie Company, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation, a Medevac unit from Salem, Ore. Also in attendance is Delta Company, a maintenance unit, and Echo Company, a fueler unit, both part of Charlie Company.
Delta Company’s Pvt. Steven Robinson, 20, of Turner, Ore., is promoted to Pfc.; Echo Company’s Pfc. Justin Wetherald, 27, of Tigard, Ore., and Delta Company’s Pfc. Darren Bradley 22, of Salem, Ore., are promoted to Spc.
“I’m going to keep my head up and keep moving forward,” says Spc. Angela Altabef, 21, of Salem, Ore., from Charlie Company as she is promoted to Sgt. “Thanks for helping me to take the steps to becoming a leader and an NCO [Non-Commissioned Officer].”
Platoon sergeants and leaders turn to their platoons and attach badges to the soldiers’ arms with a hearty pat followed by a handshake and a salute. “The number of people actively serving in the military [in the US] is less than 2 percent,” Vallee says as the badge ceremony begins. “You are the percent of the population willing to stand up and support countries in need.”
“This is for your service for Iraq Freedom 2009-2010. This is your combat patch,” says Sgt. Robertah Somics, 25, of Salem, Ore., as she prepares to give a soldier the I Corps badge.
“This is my first combat patch,” says Spc. Curtis Perry, 21, of Canby, Ore, after receiving the bull skull badge. “The toast with the near beer was a memorable thing.”
Platoon Sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Jim Brown, 46, of Salem, Ore., called for a ceremonial toast with non-alcoholic beer – deemed “near beers” by the troops. “I wanted to honor the patches they were receiving,” Brown said. “Honor those fallen with those patches with honor and distinction.”
Badges hold bits of history in their designs. One of the most popular badges today is in the shape of an olla, a Mexican water flask symbolic of the 34th Division’s origin, formation and intensive training site at Camp Cody, New Mexico in 1917. The patch also bears a bull skull to symbolize the area’s desert. The other popular badge today is a black circle with a white border. The I Corps used the white circle as a corps badge during the Civil War. The badge was approved in 1922. Other soldiers have chosen to keep patches from prior deployments.
As the ceremony comes to a close 1st Sgt. Travis Powell tells the soldiers, “I personally appreciate everyone and the mission at hand.”
Cali Bagby is embedded with the Oregon Army National Guard from Charlie Company, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation, a Medevac Unit based out of Salem, Ore., for KVAL.com. Her work has been published in the Washington Post and the Eugene Weekly. More stories | Visit her Web site
