Stryker accident victims honored

FORT LEWIS — His voice shaking with grief, Eric Blickenstaff remembered a brother who looked out for the helpless as families and comrades mourned Tuesday for Spc. Joseph Blickenstaff and two other soldiers who died in an accident in Iraq.

"He would have been very proud that that big bully was captured the other day, because he didn’t like bullies," Blickenstaff said, referring to the long-awaited capture of fallen Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "I’m so proud that even though he was scared, he went over there and did his job."

Blickenstaff, 23, of Corvallis, Ore.; Staff Sgt. Steven Bridges, 33, of Tracy, Calif.; and Spc. Christopher Wesley, 26, of Portland, Ore., died Dec. 8 when an embankment collapsed under their Stryker combat vehicles, plunging them into an Iraqi irrigation canal. Their deaths were the first involving the new medium-weight vehicles, which entered service about a year and a half ago.

Bridges’ stepdaughter, Nicole Smith, was on the verge of tears as she remembered a father figure who reassured her as she feared she might fail a history class.

"We know that he is with us still," Smith said.

The packed memorial service in the sparse main chapel of Fort Lewis was a mixture of civilian grief and grim military ritual. Flowers and portraits of the three men rested below three pairs of boots, three rifles and three helmets.

Behind a few rows of family and friends sat rank after rank of camouflage-clad soldiers — members of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team who haven’t yet been sent into combat.

Among the prayers and reminders of the obligations and sacrifices of a soldier’s life were sprinkled reminders of the men beneath the uniforms.

"Are we gathered here today because three soldiers died?" Chaplain Jonathan Leach asked. "No, we’re gathered here today because … they were our soldiers, our husbands, fathers, sons and friends."

Sgt. Jarrett Lewis remembered Bridges’ "sly smile beneath a dust-encrusted mustache," and described his fallen comrade as a man who "took a special pride in being the go-to guy."

Cpl. Joshua Schuyleman remembered Wesley as a man who embraced the food and culture of his native Guam, but felt compelled to leave it and rejoin the service.

"He loved the challenge and he loved the Army," Schuyleman said.

But as babies cried in the wings of the chapel and sisters, wives and mothers sobbed softly in the pews, the brigade’s officers reminded the audience of a soldier’s harsh and sometimes brief life.

"Soldiering has always been about service, not about fame and fortune," said Maj. Shawn Phelps. "They were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, not just for their friends, but for people they didn’t even know in a foreign country."

Before the harsh crack of a rifle salute and the mournful waver of "Taps," Capt. Raffie Yeremian read from Psalm 144, also called the Soldier’s Psalm: "Man is like a mere breath, his life is like a passing shadow."