We honor the Americans who serve us all in our military forces. And we deplore every loss of life or injury sustained in combat.
But there was one astounding, and especially saddening, news story about an American soldier who was killed a few days ago in Afghanistan — during his 14th deployment in a war zone!
The 14th deployment!
You surely can imagine the concerns of anyone, and his family, when a soldier serves in dangerous duty in a war zone. But can we really even imagine that anyone would serve voluntarily in such places through 14 deployments?
We sadly read the report of the death of Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer B. Domeij, who enlisted in the Army shortly before the terrorist attacks on New York, Washington and in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001. He just kept volunteering for more duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
“To volunteer that many times to deploy speaks volumes to Kris’ character and dedication to his country,” said a spokeswoman for the 75th Ranger Regiment, based in Fort Benning, Ga. “He was larger than life. The man everybody wanted to be around.”
Domeij had already been awarded two Bronze Stars for his courage in action. Now, posthumously, he will be awarded a third Bronze Star, along with a Purple Heart for his wounds. He was the Army Ranger with the most deployments who was killed in action, according to the spokeswoman.
Army Rangers usually are deployed on four-month-long tours of combat duty, then return to the United States for eight months before they head out into a war zone again. Tours can include 400 to 500 combat missions.
Just a few days ago, Domeij was killed, along with two other American soldiers, in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province.
Domeij, a 29-year-old native of Santa Ana, Calif., is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Who can fathom the love of country and of Army life, as well as the sheer courage, that Domeij exemplified?
We express humble gratitude to him and to the many others who have fallen in service to their country, both in recent years and stretching back to the earliest days of our nation’s founding.