Hard-hit Ft. Lewis mourns 3 of its own

FORT LEWIS — Aaron Moore and his buddy Sgt. Adam Plumondore saw plenty of combat as they patrolled the streets of Mosul, which now rank among the most violent in Iraq. But they shied away from talking about death. Only once, Moore recalled, did they touch on it. They pledged that if either one should perish, the survivor would not cry or join in a sad memorial.

"I'm sorry, Adam. I broke that promise," Moore said yesterday in a tear-choked tribute to the 22-year-old Plumondore, who died Feb. 16 in a car-bomb explosion.

Plumondore was one of three soldiers from the Army's 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division who fell last week to enemy fire:

• Sgt. Frank Hernandez, 21, of Phoenix, who gave up a university golf scholarship to enlist in the Army and died on a Feb. 17 patrol.

• Spc. Clinton Gertson, a 6-foot-4 Texan known as "Big Country," who survived wounds suffered in a Dec. 22 mess-hall bombing only to fall to enemy fire on Feb. 19. He was 26.

MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES Sgt. Aaron Moore pauses while giving an emotional tribute to Sgt. Adam Plumondore during a Fort Lewis service yesterday for three fallen members of the 1st Brigade.

Plumondore, Hernandez and Gertson were remembered yesterday in tributes, prayers, a rifle salute and taps. For this brigade, these memorials now unfold with wrenching frequency.

Since being deployed last October with the heavily armored Stryker vehicles, the brigade of some 4,000 soldiers has lost 19 of its own and one Air Force officer assigned to the group. The five-month death toll already exceeds the yearlong loss of another Fort-Lewis Stryker brigade, which returned to Fort Lewis last fall from Iraq.

The 1st Brigade's fatalities reflect the increased perils of Mosul, a northern Iraqi city of narrow, hilly streets, which has emerged as an insurgency stronghold. The brigade, which patrols in the eight-wheeled Stryker vehicles, has been hit by suicide bombers, roadside bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortar and small-arms fire.

The brigade has suffered scores of wounded, including some who came to yesterday's service. One was Moore, who had suffered a shrapnel wound to his face, and then had been rescued by Plumondore, who served as an Army scout and sniper.

"Adam pulled me out of the hatch," Moore said. "He never worried about himself, and just knew what needed to be done. He was the greatest man I have ever known."

Sgt. Adam Plumondore

Plumondore was raised in Gresham, Ore., a Portland suburb. From an early age, he loved to hunt deer, elk and other game with his father, Daniel Plumondore, a Vietnam veteran who works at a heating-and-air-conditioning business.

Plumondore had been scheduled to leave the Army last fall, and pursue a career as a police officer, but instead he was deployed under the stop-loss policy that freezes discharges from units bound for combat zones.

Lt. Michael Kurilla, an officer in Plumondore's unit, described the Oregonian as a "walking uniform violation," a guy who constantly needed to be reminded to trim his mustache, roll down his sleeves and buckle his chin strap.

Spc. Clinton Gertson

But Plumondore's courage was unquestioned. Kurilla — in written remarks — recalled how Plumondore on Dec. 11 wielded a fire extinguisher to put out the flames that seared a stricken Stryker vehicle; how he helped rescue six wounded soldiers and then engaged the enemy in "precision fire."

On his last Stryker vehicle mission, Plumondore volunteered to go in place of another solider and then took one of the most dangerous positions that exposed him to enemy fire — behind a mounted gun.

The Texan, Gertson, was another sniper, who Kurilla said performed heroically in a Nov. 11 firefight with 60 insurgents, which left 25 of them confirmed dead. "He always had a cool, calm Texas manner about him — he wasn't cocky — but crisp and clean," said 1st Lt. Daniel Kearney.

Sgt. Frank Hernandez

Hernandez, who left behind a wife and young son, had already done one tour of duty in Iraq with another unit that was engaged in the 2003 invasion of the country. The combat experience he gained made him a valued and respected comrade as the 1st Brigade arrived in Mosul last fall — full of soldiers who had yet to face enemy fire.

Hernandez accepted the hardships of a second tour of duty. But he did dream of life after the Army, hoping one day to join the FBI.

Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com