(Above) More than 300 people fill Panzer Kaserne Chapel in Boeblingen, Germany, on Thursday, to pay respects. More than 100 more filled a nearby gymnasium to watch a live broadcast of the ceremony.
STUTTGART, Germany — Mourners packed the Panzer Kaserne chapel Thursday to pay their respects to three U.S. soldiers killed in last week’s Black Hawk helicopter crash near Mannheim.
Warrant Officer 3 Gary M. Farwell, 39; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Clayton M. Hickman, 32; and Cpl. Matthew E. Clark, 25, died Feb. 3 when their UH-60 helicopter went down in a wooded area while on a training mission.
Despite heavy snow, more than 300 people attended the chapel service for the Stuttgart-based soldiers from Company G, 52nd Regiment, 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. An additional 100 people watched a broadcast of the ceremony in a nearby gymnasium.
“They were three of our finest soldiers,” Lt. Col. Richard G. Watson, their battalion commander, said during the ceremony. “Gary, the consummate instructor pilot whose skills were proven and respected all across Army aviation; Clayton, the smart, determined pilot, eager to learn and be the best; Matthew, an experienced helicopter mechanic and crew chief with whom everyone wanted to fly.”
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Tobin, Farwell’s friend and co-worker, spoke about the Redding, Calif., native.
“There was — there is — no greater, stronger, manlier man, than that of Gary Farwell,” Tobin said. “Gary had something in his genetic makeup that can never be cloned. He excelled at everything he did.”
Tobin described how Farwell would have arranged the ceremony in a much different fashion than Thursday’s somber, yet sometimes laugh-inspiring service: Elton John would have been sitting at a piano, singing a variation of “Candle in the Wind” that focused on Farwell. Each seat would have had a $100 gift certificate to Cabela’s, a sporting goods retailer, placed under it. And the ceremony would have wrapped up with “cooking off” a few .50-caliber rounds at the nearest range.
“That’s what made Gary happy,” Tobin said, “free ammo.”
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Frank Jenkins spoke about his close friend Hickman, a Columbia, Tenn., native, with whom he had gone through flight school.
“I had never met anyone quite like Clayton,” Jenkins said of the former Marine. “He had what I would call a true Marine Corps sense of humor. He was able to find something humorous during any situation he was in.”
Jenkins said his friend was an honest, outspoken man who could raise anyone’s spirit with his jokes and his smile.
He described Hickman as the man who would always “one-up” him with his stories and accomplishments.
“He was a great soldier and a damn good friend, and he will be missed,” Jenkins said before leaving the podium in tears.
Sgt. James Hills spoke about Clark.
Clark, a Shirley, Ark., native, impressed him with his ability to always achieve extremely high standards on everything from physical fitness to marksmanship, Hills said. He was a joker as well.
Hills recalled a time when Clark and he met the U.S. president and his entourage. Clark walked up to a Secret Service agent and asked, “So tell me just one thing: Do President Barack Obama’s friends call him Barry?”
“They just about died laughing,” Hills said.
Hills summed up Clark by saying “Like anything else, he was just a little bit better than anyone else. I would like to thank Matt’s family for bringing up such a great American soldier.”
Judging from the turnout and the stories told, Maj. Chris Mariani, commander of Company G, known as the “Gargoyles,” might have enveloped the feeling of the company best.
“CW3 Gary Farwell, CW2 Clayton Hickman and Cpl. Matthew Clark: You will always be Gargoyles. You will not be forgotten. Be at peace and God bless.”
Cpl. Matthew E. Clark and other victims honored at memorial Stuttgart, Germany
February 11, 2010 by
(Above) More than 300 people fill Panzer Kaserne Chapel in Boeblingen, Germany, on Thursday, to pay respects. More than 100 more filled a nearby gymnasium to watch a live broadcast of the ceremony.
STUTTGART, Germany — Mourners packed the Panzer Kaserne chapel Thursday to pay their respects to three U.S. soldiers killed in last week’s Black Hawk helicopter crash near Mannheim.
Warrant Officer 3 Gary M. Farwell, 39; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Clayton M. Hickman, 32; and Cpl. Matthew E. Clark, 25, died Feb. 3 when their UH-60 helicopter went down in a wooded area while on a training mission.
Despite heavy snow, more than 300 people attended the chapel service for the Stuttgart-based soldiers from Company G, 52nd Regiment, 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. An additional 100 people watched a broadcast of the ceremony in a nearby gymnasium.
“They were three of our finest soldiers,” Lt. Col. Richard G. Watson, their battalion commander, said during the ceremony. “Gary, the consummate instructor pilot whose skills were proven and respected all across Army aviation; Clayton, the smart, determined pilot, eager to learn and be the best; Matthew, an experienced helicopter mechanic and crew chief with whom everyone wanted to fly.”
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Tobin, Farwell’s friend and co-worker, spoke about the Redding, Calif., native.
“There was — there is — no greater, stronger, manlier man, than that of Gary Farwell,” Tobin said. “Gary had something in his genetic makeup that can never be cloned. He excelled at everything he did.”
Tobin described how Farwell would have arranged the ceremony in a much different fashion than Thursday’s somber, yet sometimes laugh-inspiring service: Elton John would have been sitting at a piano, singing a variation of “Candle in the Wind” that focused on Farwell. Each seat would have had a $100 gift certificate to Cabela’s, a sporting goods retailer, placed under it. And the ceremony would have wrapped up with “cooking off” a few .50-caliber rounds at the nearest range.
“That’s what made Gary happy,” Tobin said, “free ammo.”
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Frank Jenkins spoke about his close friend Hickman, a Columbia, Tenn., native, with whom he had gone through flight school.
“I had never met anyone quite like Clayton,” Jenkins said of the former Marine. “He had what I would call a true Marine Corps sense of humor. He was able to find something humorous during any situation he was in.”
Jenkins said his friend was an honest, outspoken man who could raise anyone’s spirit with his jokes and his smile.
He described Hickman as the man who would always “one-up” him with his stories and accomplishments.
“He was a great soldier and a damn good friend, and he will be missed,” Jenkins said before leaving the podium in tears.
Sgt. James Hills spoke about Clark.
Clark, a Shirley, Ark., native, impressed him with his ability to always achieve extremely high standards on everything from physical fitness to marksmanship, Hills said. He was a joker as well.
Hills recalled a time when Clark and he met the U.S. president and his entourage. Clark walked up to a Secret Service agent and asked, “So tell me just one thing: Do President Barack Obama’s friends call him Barry?”
“They just about died laughing,” Hills said.
Hills summed up Clark by saying “Like anything else, he was just a little bit better than anyone else. I would like to thank Matt’s family for bringing up such a great American soldier.”
Judging from the turnout and the stories told, Maj. Chris Mariani, commander of Company G, known as the “Gargoyles,” might have enveloped the feeling of the company best.
“CW3 Gary Farwell, CW2 Clayton Hickman and Cpl. Matthew Clark: You will always be Gargoyles. You will not be forgotten. Be at peace and God bless.”
