Staff Sgt. VanKomen of Bluefield, West Virginia grew up in Lewiston, Idaho, and enlisted in the military in 1991, a few years after graduating from Culdesac High School in Idaho. He was stationed in West Virginia and Colorado before coming to Fort Lewis for a second time. Twice, he left the army, to explore life as a civilian. Twice he returned, after missing the structure and purpose of the military. When Darren was in his late teens, he invented the word "zerbert" to mean "hugs and kisses." It was a word he never outgrew. Years later, when he became a military man, he would blurt out "Zerbert to you!" to his mother and sister and they would smile. He doted on his large family of six brothers and two sisters and was the uncle who played basketball and blind man's bluff with the kids. He was tall and funny, liked to draw pictures of cartoon characters and Conan the Barbarian, and he loved the military. He also doted on his wife, Stephaine, and 12-year-old stepdaughter, Chelsea, with gifts of perfume and video games. He was a very loving father and husband. A half-hour before Stephaine learned of his death, she opened the door to a package of Christmas presents he had sent home. A Stryker Brigade unit supply specialist, he had been planning to take his wife to Italy for their 10-year anniversary, but first, he had a tour of duty in Iraq. He died when a suicide bomber entered his dining facility and detonated an improvised explosive device at age 33.
Army
2nd Squadron,
14th Cavalry Regiment,
1st Brigade,
25th Infantry Division
(Stryker Brigade Combat Team),
Fort Lewis, Washington.
Army
2nd Squadron,
14th Cavalry Regiment,
1st Brigade,
25th Infantry Division
(Stryker Brigade Combat Team),
Fort Lewis, Washington.
Staff Sgt. VanKomen of Bluefield, West Virginia grew up in Lewiston, Idaho, and enlisted in the military in 1991, a few years after graduating from Culdesac High School in Idaho. He was stationed in West Virginia and Colorado before coming to Fort Lewis for a second time. Twice, he left the army, to explore life as a civilian. Twice he returned, after missing the structure and purpose of the military. When Darren was in his late teens, he invented the word "zerbert" to mean "hugs and kisses." It was a word he never outgrew. Years later, when he became a military man, he would blurt out "Zerbert to you!" to his mother and sister and they would smile. He doted on his large family of six brothers and two sisters and was the uncle who played basketball and blind man's bluff with the kids. He was tall and funny, liked to draw pictures of cartoon characters and Conan the Barbarian, and he loved the military. He also doted on his wife, Stephaine, and 12-year-old stepdaughter, Chelsea, with gifts of perfume and video games. He was a very loving father and husband. A half-hour before Stephaine learned of his death, she opened the door to a package of Christmas presents he had sent home. A Stryker Brigade unit supply specialist, he had been planning to take his wife to Italy for their 10-year anniversary, but first, he had a tour of duty in Iraq. He died when a suicide bomber entered his dining facility and detonated an improvised explosive device at age 33.
Army
2nd Squadron,
14th Cavalry Regiment,
1st Brigade,
25th Infantry Division
(Stryker Brigade Combat Team),
Fort Lewis, Washington.
Army
2nd Squadron,
14th Cavalry Regiment,
1st Brigade,
25th Infantry Division
(Stryker Brigade Combat Team),
Fort Lewis, Washington.
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