STATESBORO, GA (WTOC) -
If we ever needed a reminder about the “harm’s way” our service members are in everyday their tours keep them in Afghanistan, we got it Monday near Bagram Airbase.
One year after President Obama declared an end to the U.S. combat mission there, a Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest killing six Americans, just four days before Christmas.
One of those killed, a local who made an impact on hundreds in our community. A rare gem who dedicated his young life to the good fight, never to self-grandeur.
"He represented Statesboro High at the finest height,” said Coach Steve Pennington, Statesboro High football head coach.
Pennington never wants to be a coach defined by wins and losses, but by the relationships created. His cornerback in the 2001 state championship game, number one, Chester McBride was everything Pennington could have wanted in a player.
"The players respected him because he worked to meet the best of his capabilities. He valued work ethic. He valued teamwork. And he appreciated this program,” said Coach Pennington.
And McBride appreciated the world as an observer, not the attention-getter so many with his talents become.
"In his quietness, I believe he was a person who observed life itself. He had great compassion for others, and he wanted to do well,” said Coach Pennington.
On Monday, McBride and several others in his unit were on their way to speak with local Afghan leaders near Bagram Airbase when a motorcycle drove into the group, its rider detonating an explosive vest.
McBride and five other Americans died. The deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in more than two years.
It was just two months ago, McBride spent his last day before this deployment speaking to the players on the Statesboro football team about living an honorable life. An emotional Coach Pennington remembers every point McBride made to his boys.
"First of all he made the point to make sure than you make the most of every opportunity. Teenagers need to hear that today. The second thing is he really challenger them to make good choices in life. Be careful of who you choose as friends and who you associate with,” said Coach Pennington. “The third thing was that he challenged our player to respect authority. And the fourth thing is that he re-emphasized about doing right. And those are four lessons in life that really characterize him."
McBride will be remembered as a great defensive back, yes, but also the guy who had your back, who made sure failure was just another tool to use in the pursuit of success.
"One of Chester's attributes is that he dug deeper and fought harder to overcome his mistakes and I think that certainly a quality that will be everlasting here at Statesboro High School,” said Coach Pennington.
WTOC.COM∼Chester McBride, Jr.
STATESBORO
Special Agent Chester McBride, Jr., 30, entered into eternal rest on Monday, December 21, 2015 from injuries sustained while fighting for our country near Bagram Airfield in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.
A. L. Spaulding-Barnes Funeral Home
Savannah Morning News
December 24, 2015, Thursday,
Section A, Page 9, Column 3∼Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride was remembered Wednesday as a man who died a hero’s death.
He died to save another.
That is the legacy McBride, 30, of Statesboro, Georgia, left for those who knew him best at Maxwell Air Force Base and Montgomery’s law enforcement community. Military and local police officers joined McBride’s friends and family at a memorial service held in his honor Wednesday at Maxwell.
McBride was among six service members killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan on Dec. 21. He was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 405, at Maxwell before he deployed to Bagram Airfield in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel.
A solitary helmet rested atop an overturned rifle at the base on the stage in Polifka auditorium; a pair of combat boots stood empty in front, representing McBride’s ultimate sacrifice. Several hundred men and women who came to pay their respects waited in line after the ceremony to salute their fallen brother in arms.
His parents, sister and brother-in-law were among family members who were honored guests at the ceremony
He was trained as a federal combat agent to identify, exploit and neutralize criminal, terrorist and intelligence threats to the nation. McBride and five others who were part of the Expeditionary Detachment 2405 were on a routine foot patrol outside of Bagram when they were struck by an ambush attack and killed.
During the attack, McBride sustained the brunt of the blast, shielding his linguist and saving her life. He was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor, the Purple Heart and the Air Force Combat Action Medal for his bravery and heroism.
His actions come as no surprise to the commander of the 405th, Maj. Helen Stewart.
“He was the ideal special agent, the ideal non-commissioned officer. He was selfless and the embodiment of our core values of service before self,” Stewart said. “He showed that up until the very last moment.”
Known for his big personality and even bigger smile, McBride was a favorite among his commanders, fellow airmen and local law enforcement. He was an active member of the local FBI force and the state Joint Terrorism Task Force
“He always had a big smile, he was known across the base, across the community for his big smile, his positive attitude and his caring demeanor,” Stewart added. “He was the guy you knew you could turn to … he taught me how to be a wingman.”
Several of his fellow agents provided encouraging remarks to the family, including Crystal Johnson.
“We all spent more time with each than with our own family,” Johnson said. “He was the extra brother I never knew I needed … we laughed with each other, laughed at each other and even got mad each other, but at the end of the day we were always there for each other.
“Rest peacefully, but stay alive in our hearts forever and continue to give us one more reason to keep trying to make this world a better and safer place in and out of uniform,” Johnson added.
Sammy Vuckovich, a retired detachment commander at OSI, and his family were close friends with McBride since they met him in 2012 and learned that they shared the same Christian faith. Vuckovich attended his funeral in Georgia and prepared the eulogy at Wednesday’s event.
“Special agent Chester McBride immediately stuck out to me as this shining star destined to do great things. Little did I know just how great,” Vuckovich said. “… He was taken far too soon.”
McBride graduated from Statesboro High School before attending Savannah State University and Valdosta State University, where he earned his master’s degree. In 2008, he enlisted in the Air Force and served as a ground combat specialist and Fire Team leader with the 822nd Security Forces Squadron at Moody Air Force Base.
Source: Montgomery Advertiser
*******
The Last Homecoming, Again
Sgt. McBride Wasn’t Supposed to Come Home Like This
Six distraught American families will spend this Christmas in misery thanks to a war that was supposed to be over.
NEW CASTLE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Delaware — The six U.S. troops killed this week first appeared amid bright lights and a dusky sky. Their bodies rested in a C-17 aircraft that transported them here, illuminated in the sunset by the lights of the plane, its ramp open for the country to see. It was dark, and rain coated the tarmac—a fitting scene for the somber military ceremony known as the “dignified transfer,” marking a fallen service member’s return home.
The transfer of fallen troops back onto home soil is a solemn moment that has been repeated for decades. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 2,400 transfers happened between 2009 and 2014.
Air Force National Guard carry the transfer case of Air Force Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride from a C-17 aircraft during a dignified transfer at New Castle National Guard Base in New Castle, DE. U.S. Six airmen were killed on Monday in Afghanistan.
And yet Wednesday’s transfer was somehow different. This many fallen troops were supposed to stop arriving in one week, let alone in one day. The war in Afghanistan was supposed to be winding down, and service members were to be largely confined to their bases. Yet six troops were killed Monday when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked them as they were on patrol just outside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. It was the deadliest day for U.S. troops this year.
Before Monday, a total of 14 troops had died in Afghanistan in 2015.
The flag-draped “transfer cases” carried by comrades off cargo planes make for a searing image of the ultimate cost of war. They have, at times, been mired in politics. During George W. Bush’s presidency, such photos were never seen outside the military. In March 2009, the Obama administration allowed Americans to start witnessing the return of troops killed in combat if their families approved.
This week, five of the six families requested that the media not cover the return of their loved ones. But one family—of Air Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride, 30, of Statesboro, Georgia—was open to press coverage. The moment, which usually happens at Dover Air Base, was moved to a location one hour north because of the inclement weather, defense officials said.
I came to New Castle to witness Sgt. McBride’s arrival home.
In addition to McBride, who was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigation’s Detachment 405, out of Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, the five troops killed were:
Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen, 36, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 9th Field Investigations Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; Staff Sgt. Michael A. Cinco, 28, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 11th Field Investigations Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas; Staff Sgt. Peter W. Taub, 30, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 816, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota; Tech Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm, 45, with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York; Staff Sgt. Louis M. Bonacasa, 31, with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York.
Dignified transfers are all of 15 minutes long, but they hardly seem short when one knows that they happened six times Wednesday. I have been a war correspondent since the war in Iraq began and watched such remembrances from the war field, when hundreds of comrades—the troop’s military family—would salute a killed troop at the start of their journey home.
But I had never seen how they were honored at home.
On Wednesday, the Air Force released photos of their comrades holding the first of several moments of reflection and gratitude, from a tent at Bagram Air Base, just north of Kabul, before the fallen began their journey home. More than 200 saluted the six helmets, boots, and rifles placed for each of the fallen.
This many fallen troops were supposed to stop arriving in one week, let alone in one day. The war in Afghanistan was supposed to be winding down, and service members were to be largely confined to their bases.
Often after that, troops carry the flag-draped transfer cases onto planes like the C-17 bound for the United States, becoming the fallen troop’s first pallbearers as they march off the plane.
At such moments of reflection on the battlefield, one can only imagine who the fallen are leaving behind. Service members sometimes exchange any details they can remember about the fallen troops’ family and interests. Whatever the story, the fallen always sound too young to die; most are in their twenties or thirties. Chaplains will speak after the soldier is carried into the plane. And, in those eulogies, they describe young men and women with passions like video games, family, and their small children.
At home the transfer is notably silent.
McBride was a football star in high school and at Savannah State University. Just last fall, he visited his high school to speak to the athletes there, the local paper reported. His principal still worked at the high school and remembered his onetime student.
Once they arrive back in the United States, one no longer has to imagine the families. The media cannot see them but we know that mothers, fathers, and young children are among them. My own father passed away last year, and as the bodies arrived Wednesday, I thought about how the children, like me, had become a part of this horrific club, forever wearing the pained scar of a lost parent. But of course, such comparisons are hardly apt. I got to watch my father’s hair turn gray, to watch him experience the kind of contentment that only comes with years of life, to hold his hand as he took his last breath. These children did not.
Slowly, six members of the Air Force Honor Guard, based out of Washington, D.C., marched in two rows of three up the ramp to the transfer case. The Air Force has sustained the majority of U.S. deaths this year and yet, one senses that they, like those tasked with making the dreadful knock at the door, are out of practice. Was it easier to do such a job when you have the regular experience of steeling your heart, I wondered, as many did during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? The troops, as they moved out of the plane, this time holding McBride’s transfer case, didn’t have the luxury of indulging in such questions. Their job was to be stoic and strong so the rest of us could be weak.
More than 200 friends and associates were present, including 63 members of the New York Police Department, as Lemm had also served as a detective for the department.
In addition, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh, and Chief of the National Guard Gen. Frank Grass, watched as McBride’s transfer case came down the ramp.
The totality of it all for me, and I imagine for some of those who serve, is like reliving a nightmare you thought was done. There is no heartbreak like watching one begin for six American families, all for a war that was supposed to be all but over.
By Nancy Yousef of The Daily Beast
If we ever needed a reminder about the “harm’s way” our service members are in everyday their tours keep them in Afghanistan, we got it Monday near Bagram Airbase.
One year after President Obama declared an end to the U.S. combat mission there, a Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest killing six Americans, just four days before Christmas.
One of those killed, a local who made an impact on hundreds in our community. A rare gem who dedicated his young life to the good fight, never to self-grandeur.
"He represented Statesboro High at the finest height,” said Coach Steve Pennington, Statesboro High football head coach.
Pennington never wants to be a coach defined by wins and losses, but by the relationships created. His cornerback in the 2001 state championship game, number one, Chester McBride was everything Pennington could have wanted in a player.
"The players respected him because he worked to meet the best of his capabilities. He valued work ethic. He valued teamwork. And he appreciated this program,” said Coach Pennington.
And McBride appreciated the world as an observer, not the attention-getter so many with his talents become.
"In his quietness, I believe he was a person who observed life itself. He had great compassion for others, and he wanted to do well,” said Coach Pennington.
On Monday, McBride and several others in his unit were on their way to speak with local Afghan leaders near Bagram Airbase when a motorcycle drove into the group, its rider detonating an explosive vest.
McBride and five other Americans died. The deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in more than two years.
It was just two months ago, McBride spent his last day before this deployment speaking to the players on the Statesboro football team about living an honorable life. An emotional Coach Pennington remembers every point McBride made to his boys.
"First of all he made the point to make sure than you make the most of every opportunity. Teenagers need to hear that today. The second thing is he really challenger them to make good choices in life. Be careful of who you choose as friends and who you associate with,” said Coach Pennington. “The third thing was that he challenged our player to respect authority. And the fourth thing is that he re-emphasized about doing right. And those are four lessons in life that really characterize him."
McBride will be remembered as a great defensive back, yes, but also the guy who had your back, who made sure failure was just another tool to use in the pursuit of success.
"One of Chester's attributes is that he dug deeper and fought harder to overcome his mistakes and I think that certainly a quality that will be everlasting here at Statesboro High School,” said Coach Pennington.
WTOC.COM∼Chester McBride, Jr.
STATESBORO
Special Agent Chester McBride, Jr., 30, entered into eternal rest on Monday, December 21, 2015 from injuries sustained while fighting for our country near Bagram Airfield in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.
A. L. Spaulding-Barnes Funeral Home
Savannah Morning News
December 24, 2015, Thursday,
Section A, Page 9, Column 3∼Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride was remembered Wednesday as a man who died a hero’s death.
He died to save another.
That is the legacy McBride, 30, of Statesboro, Georgia, left for those who knew him best at Maxwell Air Force Base and Montgomery’s law enforcement community. Military and local police officers joined McBride’s friends and family at a memorial service held in his honor Wednesday at Maxwell.
McBride was among six service members killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan on Dec. 21. He was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 405, at Maxwell before he deployed to Bagram Airfield in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel.
A solitary helmet rested atop an overturned rifle at the base on the stage in Polifka auditorium; a pair of combat boots stood empty in front, representing McBride’s ultimate sacrifice. Several hundred men and women who came to pay their respects waited in line after the ceremony to salute their fallen brother in arms.
His parents, sister and brother-in-law were among family members who were honored guests at the ceremony
He was trained as a federal combat agent to identify, exploit and neutralize criminal, terrorist and intelligence threats to the nation. McBride and five others who were part of the Expeditionary Detachment 2405 were on a routine foot patrol outside of Bagram when they were struck by an ambush attack and killed.
During the attack, McBride sustained the brunt of the blast, shielding his linguist and saving her life. He was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor, the Purple Heart and the Air Force Combat Action Medal for his bravery and heroism.
His actions come as no surprise to the commander of the 405th, Maj. Helen Stewart.
“He was the ideal special agent, the ideal non-commissioned officer. He was selfless and the embodiment of our core values of service before self,” Stewart said. “He showed that up until the very last moment.”
Known for his big personality and even bigger smile, McBride was a favorite among his commanders, fellow airmen and local law enforcement. He was an active member of the local FBI force and the state Joint Terrorism Task Force
“He always had a big smile, he was known across the base, across the community for his big smile, his positive attitude and his caring demeanor,” Stewart added. “He was the guy you knew you could turn to … he taught me how to be a wingman.”
Several of his fellow agents provided encouraging remarks to the family, including Crystal Johnson.
“We all spent more time with each than with our own family,” Johnson said. “He was the extra brother I never knew I needed … we laughed with each other, laughed at each other and even got mad each other, but at the end of the day we were always there for each other.
“Rest peacefully, but stay alive in our hearts forever and continue to give us one more reason to keep trying to make this world a better and safer place in and out of uniform,” Johnson added.
Sammy Vuckovich, a retired detachment commander at OSI, and his family were close friends with McBride since they met him in 2012 and learned that they shared the same Christian faith. Vuckovich attended his funeral in Georgia and prepared the eulogy at Wednesday’s event.
“Special agent Chester McBride immediately stuck out to me as this shining star destined to do great things. Little did I know just how great,” Vuckovich said. “… He was taken far too soon.”
McBride graduated from Statesboro High School before attending Savannah State University and Valdosta State University, where he earned his master’s degree. In 2008, he enlisted in the Air Force and served as a ground combat specialist and Fire Team leader with the 822nd Security Forces Squadron at Moody Air Force Base.
Source: Montgomery Advertiser
*******
The Last Homecoming, Again
Sgt. McBride Wasn’t Supposed to Come Home Like This
Six distraught American families will spend this Christmas in misery thanks to a war that was supposed to be over.
NEW CASTLE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Delaware — The six U.S. troops killed this week first appeared amid bright lights and a dusky sky. Their bodies rested in a C-17 aircraft that transported them here, illuminated in the sunset by the lights of the plane, its ramp open for the country to see. It was dark, and rain coated the tarmac—a fitting scene for the somber military ceremony known as the “dignified transfer,” marking a fallen service member’s return home.
The transfer of fallen troops back onto home soil is a solemn moment that has been repeated for decades. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 2,400 transfers happened between 2009 and 2014.
Air Force National Guard carry the transfer case of Air Force Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride from a C-17 aircraft during a dignified transfer at New Castle National Guard Base in New Castle, DE. U.S. Six airmen were killed on Monday in Afghanistan.
And yet Wednesday’s transfer was somehow different. This many fallen troops were supposed to stop arriving in one week, let alone in one day. The war in Afghanistan was supposed to be winding down, and service members were to be largely confined to their bases. Yet six troops were killed Monday when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked them as they were on patrol just outside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. It was the deadliest day for U.S. troops this year.
Before Monday, a total of 14 troops had died in Afghanistan in 2015.
The flag-draped “transfer cases” carried by comrades off cargo planes make for a searing image of the ultimate cost of war. They have, at times, been mired in politics. During George W. Bush’s presidency, such photos were never seen outside the military. In March 2009, the Obama administration allowed Americans to start witnessing the return of troops killed in combat if their families approved.
This week, five of the six families requested that the media not cover the return of their loved ones. But one family—of Air Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride, 30, of Statesboro, Georgia—was open to press coverage. The moment, which usually happens at Dover Air Base, was moved to a location one hour north because of the inclement weather, defense officials said.
I came to New Castle to witness Sgt. McBride’s arrival home.
In addition to McBride, who was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigation’s Detachment 405, out of Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, the five troops killed were:
Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen, 36, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 9th Field Investigations Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; Staff Sgt. Michael A. Cinco, 28, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 11th Field Investigations Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas; Staff Sgt. Peter W. Taub, 30, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 816, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota; Tech Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm, 45, with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York; Staff Sgt. Louis M. Bonacasa, 31, with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York.
Dignified transfers are all of 15 minutes long, but they hardly seem short when one knows that they happened six times Wednesday. I have been a war correspondent since the war in Iraq began and watched such remembrances from the war field, when hundreds of comrades—the troop’s military family—would salute a killed troop at the start of their journey home.
But I had never seen how they were honored at home.
On Wednesday, the Air Force released photos of their comrades holding the first of several moments of reflection and gratitude, from a tent at Bagram Air Base, just north of Kabul, before the fallen began their journey home. More than 200 saluted the six helmets, boots, and rifles placed for each of the fallen.
This many fallen troops were supposed to stop arriving in one week, let alone in one day. The war in Afghanistan was supposed to be winding down, and service members were to be largely confined to their bases.
Often after that, troops carry the flag-draped transfer cases onto planes like the C-17 bound for the United States, becoming the fallen troop’s first pallbearers as they march off the plane.
At such moments of reflection on the battlefield, one can only imagine who the fallen are leaving behind. Service members sometimes exchange any details they can remember about the fallen troops’ family and interests. Whatever the story, the fallen always sound too young to die; most are in their twenties or thirties. Chaplains will speak after the soldier is carried into the plane. And, in those eulogies, they describe young men and women with passions like video games, family, and their small children.
At home the transfer is notably silent.
McBride was a football star in high school and at Savannah State University. Just last fall, he visited his high school to speak to the athletes there, the local paper reported. His principal still worked at the high school and remembered his onetime student.
Once they arrive back in the United States, one no longer has to imagine the families. The media cannot see them but we know that mothers, fathers, and young children are among them. My own father passed away last year, and as the bodies arrived Wednesday, I thought about how the children, like me, had become a part of this horrific club, forever wearing the pained scar of a lost parent. But of course, such comparisons are hardly apt. I got to watch my father’s hair turn gray, to watch him experience the kind of contentment that only comes with years of life, to hold his hand as he took his last breath. These children did not.
Slowly, six members of the Air Force Honor Guard, based out of Washington, D.C., marched in two rows of three up the ramp to the transfer case. The Air Force has sustained the majority of U.S. deaths this year and yet, one senses that they, like those tasked with making the dreadful knock at the door, are out of practice. Was it easier to do such a job when you have the regular experience of steeling your heart, I wondered, as many did during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? The troops, as they moved out of the plane, this time holding McBride’s transfer case, didn’t have the luxury of indulging in such questions. Their job was to be stoic and strong so the rest of us could be weak.
More than 200 friends and associates were present, including 63 members of the New York Police Department, as Lemm had also served as a detective for the department.
In addition, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh, and Chief of the National Guard Gen. Frank Grass, watched as McBride’s transfer case came down the ramp.
The totality of it all for me, and I imagine for some of those who serve, is like reliving a nightmare you thought was done. There is no heartbreak like watching one begin for six American families, all for a war that was supposed to be all but over.
By Nancy Yousef of The Daily Beast
STATESBORO, GA (WTOC) -
If we ever needed a reminder about the “harm’s way” our service members are in everyday their tours keep them in Afghanistan, we got it Monday near Bagram Airbase.
One year after President Obama declared an end to the U.S. combat mission there, a Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest killing six Americans, just four days before Christmas.
One of those killed, a local who made an impact on hundreds in our community. A rare gem who dedicated his young life to the good fight, never to self-grandeur.
"He represented Statesboro High at the finest height,” said Coach Steve Pennington, Statesboro High football head coach.
Pennington never wants to be a coach defined by wins and losses, but by the relationships created. His cornerback in the 2001 state championship game, number one, Chester McBride was everything Pennington could have wanted in a player.
"The players respected him because he worked to meet the best of his capabilities. He valued work ethic. He valued teamwork. And he appreciated this program,” said Coach Pennington.
And McBride appreciated the world as an observer, not the attention-getter so many with his talents become.
"In his quietness, I believe he was a person who observed life itself. He had great compassion for others, and he wanted to do well,” said Coach Pennington.
On Monday, McBride and several others in his unit were on their way to speak with local Afghan leaders near Bagram Airbase when a motorcycle drove into the group, its rider detonating an explosive vest.
McBride and five other Americans died. The deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in more than two years.
It was just two months ago, McBride spent his last day before this deployment speaking to the players on the Statesboro football team about living an honorable life. An emotional Coach Pennington remembers every point McBride made to his boys.
"First of all he made the point to make sure than you make the most of every opportunity. Teenagers need to hear that today. The second thing is he really challenger them to make good choices in life. Be careful of who you choose as friends and who you associate with,” said Coach Pennington. “The third thing was that he challenged our player to respect authority. And the fourth thing is that he re-emphasized about doing right. And those are four lessons in life that really characterize him."
McBride will be remembered as a great defensive back, yes, but also the guy who had your back, who made sure failure was just another tool to use in the pursuit of success.
"One of Chester's attributes is that he dug deeper and fought harder to overcome his mistakes and I think that certainly a quality that will be everlasting here at Statesboro High School,” said Coach Pennington.
WTOC.COM∼Chester McBride, Jr.
STATESBORO
Special Agent Chester McBride, Jr., 30, entered into eternal rest on Monday, December 21, 2015 from injuries sustained while fighting for our country near Bagram Airfield in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.
A. L. Spaulding-Barnes Funeral Home
Savannah Morning News
December 24, 2015, Thursday,
Section A, Page 9, Column 3∼Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride was remembered Wednesday as a man who died a hero’s death.
He died to save another.
That is the legacy McBride, 30, of Statesboro, Georgia, left for those who knew him best at Maxwell Air Force Base and Montgomery’s law enforcement community. Military and local police officers joined McBride’s friends and family at a memorial service held in his honor Wednesday at Maxwell.
McBride was among six service members killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan on Dec. 21. He was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 405, at Maxwell before he deployed to Bagram Airfield in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel.
A solitary helmet rested atop an overturned rifle at the base on the stage in Polifka auditorium; a pair of combat boots stood empty in front, representing McBride’s ultimate sacrifice. Several hundred men and women who came to pay their respects waited in line after the ceremony to salute their fallen brother in arms.
His parents, sister and brother-in-law were among family members who were honored guests at the ceremony
He was trained as a federal combat agent to identify, exploit and neutralize criminal, terrorist and intelligence threats to the nation. McBride and five others who were part of the Expeditionary Detachment 2405 were on a routine foot patrol outside of Bagram when they were struck by an ambush attack and killed.
During the attack, McBride sustained the brunt of the blast, shielding his linguist and saving her life. He was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor, the Purple Heart and the Air Force Combat Action Medal for his bravery and heroism.
His actions come as no surprise to the commander of the 405th, Maj. Helen Stewart.
“He was the ideal special agent, the ideal non-commissioned officer. He was selfless and the embodiment of our core values of service before self,” Stewart said. “He showed that up until the very last moment.”
Known for his big personality and even bigger smile, McBride was a favorite among his commanders, fellow airmen and local law enforcement. He was an active member of the local FBI force and the state Joint Terrorism Task Force
“He always had a big smile, he was known across the base, across the community for his big smile, his positive attitude and his caring demeanor,” Stewart added. “He was the guy you knew you could turn to … he taught me how to be a wingman.”
Several of his fellow agents provided encouraging remarks to the family, including Crystal Johnson.
“We all spent more time with each than with our own family,” Johnson said. “He was the extra brother I never knew I needed … we laughed with each other, laughed at each other and even got mad each other, but at the end of the day we were always there for each other.
“Rest peacefully, but stay alive in our hearts forever and continue to give us one more reason to keep trying to make this world a better and safer place in and out of uniform,” Johnson added.
Sammy Vuckovich, a retired detachment commander at OSI, and his family were close friends with McBride since they met him in 2012 and learned that they shared the same Christian faith. Vuckovich attended his funeral in Georgia and prepared the eulogy at Wednesday’s event.
“Special agent Chester McBride immediately stuck out to me as this shining star destined to do great things. Little did I know just how great,” Vuckovich said. “… He was taken far too soon.”
McBride graduated from Statesboro High School before attending Savannah State University and Valdosta State University, where he earned his master’s degree. In 2008, he enlisted in the Air Force and served as a ground combat specialist and Fire Team leader with the 822nd Security Forces Squadron at Moody Air Force Base.
Source: Montgomery Advertiser
*******
The Last Homecoming, Again
Sgt. McBride Wasn’t Supposed to Come Home Like This
Six distraught American families will spend this Christmas in misery thanks to a war that was supposed to be over.
NEW CASTLE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Delaware — The six U.S. troops killed this week first appeared amid bright lights and a dusky sky. Their bodies rested in a C-17 aircraft that transported them here, illuminated in the sunset by the lights of the plane, its ramp open for the country to see. It was dark, and rain coated the tarmac—a fitting scene for the somber military ceremony known as the “dignified transfer,” marking a fallen service member’s return home.
The transfer of fallen troops back onto home soil is a solemn moment that has been repeated for decades. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 2,400 transfers happened between 2009 and 2014.
Air Force National Guard carry the transfer case of Air Force Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride from a C-17 aircraft during a dignified transfer at New Castle National Guard Base in New Castle, DE. U.S. Six airmen were killed on Monday in Afghanistan.
And yet Wednesday’s transfer was somehow different. This many fallen troops were supposed to stop arriving in one week, let alone in one day. The war in Afghanistan was supposed to be winding down, and service members were to be largely confined to their bases. Yet six troops were killed Monday when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked them as they were on patrol just outside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. It was the deadliest day for U.S. troops this year.
Before Monday, a total of 14 troops had died in Afghanistan in 2015.
The flag-draped “transfer cases” carried by comrades off cargo planes make for a searing image of the ultimate cost of war. They have, at times, been mired in politics. During George W. Bush’s presidency, such photos were never seen outside the military. In March 2009, the Obama administration allowed Americans to start witnessing the return of troops killed in combat if their families approved.
This week, five of the six families requested that the media not cover the return of their loved ones. But one family—of Air Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride, 30, of Statesboro, Georgia—was open to press coverage. The moment, which usually happens at Dover Air Base, was moved to a location one hour north because of the inclement weather, defense officials said.
I came to New Castle to witness Sgt. McBride’s arrival home.
In addition to McBride, who was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigation’s Detachment 405, out of Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, the five troops killed were:
Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen, 36, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 9th Field Investigations Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; Staff Sgt. Michael A. Cinco, 28, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 11th Field Investigations Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas; Staff Sgt. Peter W. Taub, 30, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 816, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota; Tech Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm, 45, with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York; Staff Sgt. Louis M. Bonacasa, 31, with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York.
Dignified transfers are all of 15 minutes long, but they hardly seem short when one knows that they happened six times Wednesday. I have been a war correspondent since the war in Iraq began and watched such remembrances from the war field, when hundreds of comrades—the troop’s military family—would salute a killed troop at the start of their journey home.
But I had never seen how they were honored at home.
On Wednesday, the Air Force released photos of their comrades holding the first of several moments of reflection and gratitude, from a tent at Bagram Air Base, just north of Kabul, before the fallen began their journey home. More than 200 saluted the six helmets, boots, and rifles placed for each of the fallen.
This many fallen troops were supposed to stop arriving in one week, let alone in one day. The war in Afghanistan was supposed to be winding down, and service members were to be largely confined to their bases.
Often after that, troops carry the flag-draped transfer cases onto planes like the C-17 bound for the United States, becoming the fallen troop’s first pallbearers as they march off the plane.
At such moments of reflection on the battlefield, one can only imagine who the fallen are leaving behind. Service members sometimes exchange any details they can remember about the fallen troops’ family and interests. Whatever the story, the fallen always sound too young to die; most are in their twenties or thirties. Chaplains will speak after the soldier is carried into the plane. And, in those eulogies, they describe young men and women with passions like video games, family, and their small children.
At home the transfer is notably silent.
McBride was a football star in high school and at Savannah State University. Just last fall, he visited his high school to speak to the athletes there, the local paper reported. His principal still worked at the high school and remembered his onetime student.
Once they arrive back in the United States, one no longer has to imagine the families. The media cannot see them but we know that mothers, fathers, and young children are among them. My own father passed away last year, and as the bodies arrived Wednesday, I thought about how the children, like me, had become a part of this horrific club, forever wearing the pained scar of a lost parent. But of course, such comparisons are hardly apt. I got to watch my father’s hair turn gray, to watch him experience the kind of contentment that only comes with years of life, to hold his hand as he took his last breath. These children did not.
Slowly, six members of the Air Force Honor Guard, based out of Washington, D.C., marched in two rows of three up the ramp to the transfer case. The Air Force has sustained the majority of U.S. deaths this year and yet, one senses that they, like those tasked with making the dreadful knock at the door, are out of practice. Was it easier to do such a job when you have the regular experience of steeling your heart, I wondered, as many did during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? The troops, as they moved out of the plane, this time holding McBride’s transfer case, didn’t have the luxury of indulging in such questions. Their job was to be stoic and strong so the rest of us could be weak.
More than 200 friends and associates were present, including 63 members of the New York Police Department, as Lemm had also served as a detective for the department.
In addition, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh, and Chief of the National Guard Gen. Frank Grass, watched as McBride’s transfer case came down the ramp.
The totality of it all for me, and I imagine for some of those who serve, is like reliving a nightmare you thought was done. There is no heartbreak like watching one begin for six American families, all for a war that was supposed to be all but over.
By Nancy Yousef of The Daily Beast
If we ever needed a reminder about the “harm’s way” our service members are in everyday their tours keep them in Afghanistan, we got it Monday near Bagram Airbase.
One year after President Obama declared an end to the U.S. combat mission there, a Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest killing six Americans, just four days before Christmas.
One of those killed, a local who made an impact on hundreds in our community. A rare gem who dedicated his young life to the good fight, never to self-grandeur.
"He represented Statesboro High at the finest height,” said Coach Steve Pennington, Statesboro High football head coach.
Pennington never wants to be a coach defined by wins and losses, but by the relationships created. His cornerback in the 2001 state championship game, number one, Chester McBride was everything Pennington could have wanted in a player.
"The players respected him because he worked to meet the best of his capabilities. He valued work ethic. He valued teamwork. And he appreciated this program,” said Coach Pennington.
And McBride appreciated the world as an observer, not the attention-getter so many with his talents become.
"In his quietness, I believe he was a person who observed life itself. He had great compassion for others, and he wanted to do well,” said Coach Pennington.
On Monday, McBride and several others in his unit were on their way to speak with local Afghan leaders near Bagram Airbase when a motorcycle drove into the group, its rider detonating an explosive vest.
McBride and five other Americans died. The deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in more than two years.
It was just two months ago, McBride spent his last day before this deployment speaking to the players on the Statesboro football team about living an honorable life. An emotional Coach Pennington remembers every point McBride made to his boys.
"First of all he made the point to make sure than you make the most of every opportunity. Teenagers need to hear that today. The second thing is he really challenger them to make good choices in life. Be careful of who you choose as friends and who you associate with,” said Coach Pennington. “The third thing was that he challenged our player to respect authority. And the fourth thing is that he re-emphasized about doing right. And those are four lessons in life that really characterize him."
McBride will be remembered as a great defensive back, yes, but also the guy who had your back, who made sure failure was just another tool to use in the pursuit of success.
"One of Chester's attributes is that he dug deeper and fought harder to overcome his mistakes and I think that certainly a quality that will be everlasting here at Statesboro High School,” said Coach Pennington.
WTOC.COM∼Chester McBride, Jr.
STATESBORO
Special Agent Chester McBride, Jr., 30, entered into eternal rest on Monday, December 21, 2015 from injuries sustained while fighting for our country near Bagram Airfield in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.
A. L. Spaulding-Barnes Funeral Home
Savannah Morning News
December 24, 2015, Thursday,
Section A, Page 9, Column 3∼Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride was remembered Wednesday as a man who died a hero’s death.
He died to save another.
That is the legacy McBride, 30, of Statesboro, Georgia, left for those who knew him best at Maxwell Air Force Base and Montgomery’s law enforcement community. Military and local police officers joined McBride’s friends and family at a memorial service held in his honor Wednesday at Maxwell.
McBride was among six service members killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan on Dec. 21. He was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 405, at Maxwell before he deployed to Bagram Airfield in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel.
A solitary helmet rested atop an overturned rifle at the base on the stage in Polifka auditorium; a pair of combat boots stood empty in front, representing McBride’s ultimate sacrifice. Several hundred men and women who came to pay their respects waited in line after the ceremony to salute their fallen brother in arms.
His parents, sister and brother-in-law were among family members who were honored guests at the ceremony
He was trained as a federal combat agent to identify, exploit and neutralize criminal, terrorist and intelligence threats to the nation. McBride and five others who were part of the Expeditionary Detachment 2405 were on a routine foot patrol outside of Bagram when they were struck by an ambush attack and killed.
During the attack, McBride sustained the brunt of the blast, shielding his linguist and saving her life. He was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor, the Purple Heart and the Air Force Combat Action Medal for his bravery and heroism.
His actions come as no surprise to the commander of the 405th, Maj. Helen Stewart.
“He was the ideal special agent, the ideal non-commissioned officer. He was selfless and the embodiment of our core values of service before self,” Stewart said. “He showed that up until the very last moment.”
Known for his big personality and even bigger smile, McBride was a favorite among his commanders, fellow airmen and local law enforcement. He was an active member of the local FBI force and the state Joint Terrorism Task Force
“He always had a big smile, he was known across the base, across the community for his big smile, his positive attitude and his caring demeanor,” Stewart added. “He was the guy you knew you could turn to … he taught me how to be a wingman.”
Several of his fellow agents provided encouraging remarks to the family, including Crystal Johnson.
“We all spent more time with each than with our own family,” Johnson said. “He was the extra brother I never knew I needed … we laughed with each other, laughed at each other and even got mad each other, but at the end of the day we were always there for each other.
“Rest peacefully, but stay alive in our hearts forever and continue to give us one more reason to keep trying to make this world a better and safer place in and out of uniform,” Johnson added.
Sammy Vuckovich, a retired detachment commander at OSI, and his family were close friends with McBride since they met him in 2012 and learned that they shared the same Christian faith. Vuckovich attended his funeral in Georgia and prepared the eulogy at Wednesday’s event.
“Special agent Chester McBride immediately stuck out to me as this shining star destined to do great things. Little did I know just how great,” Vuckovich said. “… He was taken far too soon.”
McBride graduated from Statesboro High School before attending Savannah State University and Valdosta State University, where he earned his master’s degree. In 2008, he enlisted in the Air Force and served as a ground combat specialist and Fire Team leader with the 822nd Security Forces Squadron at Moody Air Force Base.
Source: Montgomery Advertiser
*******
The Last Homecoming, Again
Sgt. McBride Wasn’t Supposed to Come Home Like This
Six distraught American families will spend this Christmas in misery thanks to a war that was supposed to be over.
NEW CASTLE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Delaware — The six U.S. troops killed this week first appeared amid bright lights and a dusky sky. Their bodies rested in a C-17 aircraft that transported them here, illuminated in the sunset by the lights of the plane, its ramp open for the country to see. It was dark, and rain coated the tarmac—a fitting scene for the somber military ceremony known as the “dignified transfer,” marking a fallen service member’s return home.
The transfer of fallen troops back onto home soil is a solemn moment that has been repeated for decades. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 2,400 transfers happened between 2009 and 2014.
Air Force National Guard carry the transfer case of Air Force Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride from a C-17 aircraft during a dignified transfer at New Castle National Guard Base in New Castle, DE. U.S. Six airmen were killed on Monday in Afghanistan.
And yet Wednesday’s transfer was somehow different. This many fallen troops were supposed to stop arriving in one week, let alone in one day. The war in Afghanistan was supposed to be winding down, and service members were to be largely confined to their bases. Yet six troops were killed Monday when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked them as they were on patrol just outside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. It was the deadliest day for U.S. troops this year.
Before Monday, a total of 14 troops had died in Afghanistan in 2015.
The flag-draped “transfer cases” carried by comrades off cargo planes make for a searing image of the ultimate cost of war. They have, at times, been mired in politics. During George W. Bush’s presidency, such photos were never seen outside the military. In March 2009, the Obama administration allowed Americans to start witnessing the return of troops killed in combat if their families approved.
This week, five of the six families requested that the media not cover the return of their loved ones. But one family—of Air Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride, 30, of Statesboro, Georgia—was open to press coverage. The moment, which usually happens at Dover Air Base, was moved to a location one hour north because of the inclement weather, defense officials said.
I came to New Castle to witness Sgt. McBride’s arrival home.
In addition to McBride, who was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigation’s Detachment 405, out of Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, the five troops killed were:
Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen, 36, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 9th Field Investigations Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; Staff Sgt. Michael A. Cinco, 28, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 11th Field Investigations Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas; Staff Sgt. Peter W. Taub, 30, with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 816, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota; Tech Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm, 45, with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York; Staff Sgt. Louis M. Bonacasa, 31, with the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York.
Dignified transfers are all of 15 minutes long, but they hardly seem short when one knows that they happened six times Wednesday. I have been a war correspondent since the war in Iraq began and watched such remembrances from the war field, when hundreds of comrades—the troop’s military family—would salute a killed troop at the start of their journey home.
But I had never seen how they were honored at home.
On Wednesday, the Air Force released photos of their comrades holding the first of several moments of reflection and gratitude, from a tent at Bagram Air Base, just north of Kabul, before the fallen began their journey home. More than 200 saluted the six helmets, boots, and rifles placed for each of the fallen.
This many fallen troops were supposed to stop arriving in one week, let alone in one day. The war in Afghanistan was supposed to be winding down, and service members were to be largely confined to their bases.
Often after that, troops carry the flag-draped transfer cases onto planes like the C-17 bound for the United States, becoming the fallen troop’s first pallbearers as they march off the plane.
At such moments of reflection on the battlefield, one can only imagine who the fallen are leaving behind. Service members sometimes exchange any details they can remember about the fallen troops’ family and interests. Whatever the story, the fallen always sound too young to die; most are in their twenties or thirties. Chaplains will speak after the soldier is carried into the plane. And, in those eulogies, they describe young men and women with passions like video games, family, and their small children.
At home the transfer is notably silent.
McBride was a football star in high school and at Savannah State University. Just last fall, he visited his high school to speak to the athletes there, the local paper reported. His principal still worked at the high school and remembered his onetime student.
Once they arrive back in the United States, one no longer has to imagine the families. The media cannot see them but we know that mothers, fathers, and young children are among them. My own father passed away last year, and as the bodies arrived Wednesday, I thought about how the children, like me, had become a part of this horrific club, forever wearing the pained scar of a lost parent. But of course, such comparisons are hardly apt. I got to watch my father’s hair turn gray, to watch him experience the kind of contentment that only comes with years of life, to hold his hand as he took his last breath. These children did not.
Slowly, six members of the Air Force Honor Guard, based out of Washington, D.C., marched in two rows of three up the ramp to the transfer case. The Air Force has sustained the majority of U.S. deaths this year and yet, one senses that they, like those tasked with making the dreadful knock at the door, are out of practice. Was it easier to do such a job when you have the regular experience of steeling your heart, I wondered, as many did during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? The troops, as they moved out of the plane, this time holding McBride’s transfer case, didn’t have the luxury of indulging in such questions. Their job was to be stoic and strong so the rest of us could be weak.
More than 200 friends and associates were present, including 63 members of the New York Police Department, as Lemm had also served as a detective for the department.
In addition, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh, and Chief of the National Guard Gen. Frank Grass, watched as McBride’s transfer case came down the ramp.
The totality of it all for me, and I imagine for some of those who serve, is like reliving a nightmare you thought was done. There is no heartbreak like watching one begin for six American families, all for a war that was supposed to be all but over.
By Nancy Yousef of The Daily Beast
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