SEAL of Honor
Page 25
Military Awards and Decorations
• Bronze Star Medal with “V” device
• Purple Heart
• Afghanistan Campaign Medal
Burial and Memorials
James E. Suh was buried with full military honors in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, California, on July 30, 2005. His funeral was attended by fifty of his SDVT-1 teammates. James’ father, Solomon, was presented the burial flag by Rear Admiral Joseph Maguire, Commander, Naval Special Warfare.
Stephen C. Reich, Major, U.S. Army
Stephen C. Reich was born on May 22, 1971, in Cleveland, Ohio, His family moved to Washington, Connecticut, when he was four years old. His father was a teacher and coach and his mother a nurse at the local community hospital. At Shepaug Valley Regional High School, he was a triple-sport standout in wrestling, basketball, and baseball. After high school, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, receiving his commission in 1993. While at West Point, he set numerous pitching records for the baseball team, several of which stand today. Reich graduated with dual degrees in Arabic and Spanish.
Following his commissioning, he received permission to play baseball for Team USA during the summer of 1993, receiving the honor of carrying the American flag in the opening ceremonies of the World University Games at Buffalo New York’s Rich Stadium. After initial flight qualification school, he was assigned to the University of Kentucky’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and played professional baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization, having received a waiver from the Army. Reich entered the Army’s World Class Athlete Program in 1995 to train for the 1996 U.S. Olympic team trials.
In 1996, after receiving UH-60 Blackhawk transition training, he was ordered to Germany, where he served as platoon leader in Company A, 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment. While in Germany he became fluent in German, his third foreign language. During his subsequent tour with the 12th Aviation Brigade, he served in Operation Allied Force, deploying to Hungary, Bosnia, Albania, and Kosovo.
Returning from Germany in 2000, Reich attended the Infantry Captains Career Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, followed by the Combined Arms and Services Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Upon arrival at the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) in 2001, he deployed with the 2nd Battalion to Operation Enduring Freedom as a battle captain in support of Task Force Dagger, a special operations unit seeking the capture or death of Osama bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountain cave network of Afghanistan.
In December 2001 he served as operations officer for the 2nd Battalion’s detachment of MH-47E aircraft in Afghanistan. He commanded Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion from February 2002 through May 2003. Having been promoted to major, Reich then completed a one-year deployment to Daegu, Republic of Korea, as the operations officer for E Company, 160th SOAR. Other specialized military training consisted of the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) Level-C course, the Army Airborne School, and the Air Assault School.
Two weeks after his marriage to his wife, Jill, on March 19, 2005, he deployed to Bagram Airfield for his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Military Awards and Decorations
• Bronze Star Medal with “V” device, two oak leaf clusters
• Meritorious Service Medal, oak leaf cluster
• Purple Heart
• Air Medal with “V” device
• Army Commendation Medal
• Army Achievement Medal
• Afghanistan Campaign Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Overseas Service Medal
• Korean Defense Service Medal
• Meritorious Service Medal
• Joint Meritorious Unit Award
• Humanitarian Service Medal
• Senior Aviator Badge
• Airborne Badge
• Air Assault Badge
• Combat Action Badge
Burial and Memorials
A private military ceremony was conducted at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia on July 7, and a memorial service was also held in Washington, Connecticut, at the Bryan Memorial Town Hall on July 10, which was attended by more than a thousand family members, friends, and town residents.
Although he was extremely confident, he was soft-spoken and never arrogant. In fact, his parents and bride did not know the actions for which he had received his first two Bronze Stars until after his death. Unfortunately, all are acutely aware of the actions that resulted in his third.
Each year on July 4, the Steve Reich Memorial Freedom Run is conducted in Washington, Connecticut, with proceeds going to the Steve Reich Memorial Scholarship Program benefiting students at his high school alma mater.
Chris J. Scherkenbach, Chief Warrant Officer 4, U.S. Army
The youngest of eight children of Elmer and Marjorie Scherkenbach, Chris was born on November 3, 1964, in Des Plaines, Illinois. He graduated from Prospect High School in 1982, then moved with his parents to Palm Harbor, Florida, following his father’s retirement from Ford Motor Company. The elder Scherkenbach had previously served as a decorated B-17 bomber pilot in World War II.
Chris graduated from the St. Petersburg Junior College and immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army as a communications specialist. He completed basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in April 1987 and his training as an automatic data telecommunications center operator at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in July 1987. He then transferred to his first duty station in Germany.
Upon his return he was accepted into the Warrant Officer Program at Fort Rucker, Alabama, in 1990. After graduating that same year, he was immediately sent to the Aviation Warrant Officer Basic Course and Initial Entry Rotary Wing (helicopter) training. After completing his CH-47D aircraft qualifications at Fort Rucker, he was assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. He was then assigned to Camp Humphreys in South Korea as an MH-47D Chinook pilot. After completing his tour there, he returned to the 159th Aviation Regiment.
While on a fitness run in a local Savannah, Georgia, park, he met his future wife, Michelle, a physician’s assistant at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. They were married on September 20, 1997.
Chris was selected for the Army’s Degree Completion Program, graduating magna cum laude with a B.S. in aeronautics from the prestigious Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, the world’s largest aerospace university in March 2005.
His final assignment was Company B, 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. On Friday, May 27, 2005, he deployed to Afghanistan. He was the pilot of the MH-47D shot down while attempting the midday rescue in Operation Red Wings.
Chris and Michelle were in the final stages of adopting an infant from China. On the day he was killed, Michelle had sent him an e-mail message confirming travel arrangements to China. That e-mail was found in the pocket of his flight suit after his body was recovered.
Military Awards and Decorations
• Bronze Star Medal with “V” device
• Purple Heart
• Air Medal with “V” device, 1 oak leaf cluster
• Army Commendation Medal
• Army Achievement Medal
• Army Good Conduct Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
• Afghanistan Campaign Medal
• Iraq Campaign Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Humanitarian Service Medal
• Army Service Ribbon
• Senior Army Aviator Badge
• Meritorious Service Medal
• Combat Action Badge
• Master Army Aviator Badge
Burial and Memorials
Chief Warrant Officer Chris Scherkenbach was buried with full military honors in Section 60, site 8200, in Arlington National Cemetery, next to a teammate, Sergeant First Class Marcus Muralles. Approximately thirty days after Chris’s death, Michelle traveled to China and brought home their daughter, Sarah Grace Xiaomei Scherkenbach.
Sadly, Chris Scherkenbach never had the opportunity to meet his daughter. Nevertheless, if he had known in advance what the outcome of his mission that fateful day would be, he still would have gone, epitomizing the inscription on the Night Stalker Memorial Wall at Fort Campbell, Kentucky: “I serve with the memory and pride of those who have gone before me, for they love to fight, fought to win and would rather die than quit.” Sarah may not understand now why her father died, but the example of his courage will light her path for a lifetime.
Cory J. Goodnature, Chief Warrant Officer 3, U.S. Army
Born February 13, 1970, in Clarks Grove, Minnesota, to Donald and Deborah Goodnature, Cory was driven to become a military pilot and changed his plans more than once as a young man to realize his goal. After graduating from Albert Lea High School, where he participated in wrestling and track, he enrolled in the University of Minnesota and its Air Force ROTC program. Due to funding problems, the program was cut. He then transferred to the Marine Corps and had a pilot’s slot in the ROTC, but that program was also cut. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with an associate’s degree in aerospace engineering in 1991 and enlisted in the Army in October 1991.
Though his earlier efforts to become a pilot had been derailed, he was undeterred and worked his way up in the Army to achieve his goal. He served as a parachute rigger at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the Warrant Officer Basic Course at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Upon graduation from flight school in 1995, his first assignment was flying UH-1s (Hueys) in Korea, and in 1996 was assigned to Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii. He tested for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment in 1998 and was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 160th SOAR at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, as an MH-47D Chinook pilot. Having served one tour in Iraq, he was on his fourth deployment in Afghanistan when he died. He leaves a wife, Lori, and two teenage boys, Shea and Brennan.
Military Awards and Decorations
• Bronze Star Medal with “V” device
• Purple Heart
• Air Medal with “V” device, 1 oak leaf cluster
• Army Commendation Medal
• Army Achievement Medal
• Good Conduct Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Meritorious Service Medal
• Iraq Campaign Medal
• Afghanistan Campaign Medal
• Korean Defense Service Medal
• Overseas Service Ribbon
• Senior Army Aviator Badge
• Airborne Badge
• Air Assault Badge
• Rigger Badge
• Combat Action Badge
Burial and Memorials
A memorial service for Cory Goodnature was held on Friday, July 8, 2005, at the Isle of Hope Methodist Church in Savannah, Georgia. His funeral service was conducted at the Albert Lea United Methodist Church in Albert Lea, Minnesota, on July 16, 2005. With full military honors, he was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Albert Lea, where he remains on permanent station.
Each year the Isle of Hope Methodist Church hosts more than two hundred runners in the Cory Goodnature Run for Missions. The Cory Goodnature Memorial Scholarship Program is funded by an annual Golf Classic in Albert Lea.
James W. “Tre” Ponder III, Master Sergeant, U.S. Army
James “Tre” Ponder was born June 24, 1969, in Alabama, and was a resident of Clarksville, Tennessee. He joined the Army in March 1990 as a Chinook helicopter repairer. After graduating from basic training at Camp Eustis, Virginia, he was assigned to Camp Humphreys, Korea. He arrived at the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment in December 1992 and served in a variety of positions in the 2nd Battalion, including flight engineer instructor, standardization instructor, and regiment standardization instructor. He was on his fourth deployment to Afghanistan in June 2005.
His military education consisted of the Primary Leadership Development, Combat Lifesaver, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE), Basic Noncommissioned Officer, Equal Opportunity Representatives, Air Assault, Airborne, and Army Advanced Noncommissioned Officers courses and schools.
Military Awards and Decorations
• Bronze Star Medal with “V” device
• Purple Heart
• Air Medal with “V” device, 2 oak leaf clusters
• Army Commendation Medal
• Joint Service Achievement Medal
• Valorous Unit Award
• Army Superior Unit Award
• Good Conduct Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Korean Defense Service Medal
• Humanitarian Service Medal
• Overseas Service Ribbon
Burial and Memorials
Following a funeral service on July 7, 2005, at the First Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, Master Sergeant Ponder was laid to rest with full military honors at the nearby Greenwood Cemetery. Tre is survived by his wife, Leslie, and his daughters, Samantha and Elizabeth.
Michael L. Russell, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army
A resident of Rincon, Georgia, he was born on September 28, 1973, in Virginia. Russell joined the Army in October 1991 as a Chinook helicopter repairer. After completing basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, his first duty station was Barbers Point, Hawaii, where he remained until April 1995.
In May 1996 he departed to the 158th Aviation Regiment located at Fort Carson, Colorado. In August 1996 he was assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, in which he served as a flight engineer with the 3rd Battalion at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.
His military education included the Primary Leadership Development, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE), and Basic Noncommissioned Officers courses.
Military Awards and Decorations
• Bronze Star Medal with “V” device, 1 oak leaf cluster
• Purple Heart
• Air Medal with “V” device, 1 oak leaf cluster
• Air Medal, oak leaf cluster
• Army Commendation Medal
• Army Achievement Medal
• Good Conduct Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
• Afghanistan Campaign Medal
• Iraq Campaign Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Overseas Service Ribbon
• Army Superior Unit Award
• Senior Army Crew Member Badge
• Meritorious Service Medal
• Master Army Crew Member Badge
• Combat Action Badge
Burial and Memorials
Sergeant First Class Michael Russell is survived by his wife, Annette, of Savannah, Georgia, and two daughters, Lauren and Megan. He was buried with full military honors in Stafford, Virginia.
Marcus V. Muralles, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army
Marcus V. Muralles was born October 5, 1971, in Louisiana, and was raised in Shelbyville, Indiana. He joined the Army in December 1988 as an infantryman. After completing Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training, he was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Georgi
a. After completing his initial enlistment obligation, he was assigned to the inactive ready reserve in 1993.
In August 1998 he returned to active duty and graduated One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning in the summer of 1998. His first duty station was Company B, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment as a medical administrator, platoon medic, and company senior medic. In August 2003, Muralles was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment as an aerial flight medic.
His military education and training included the Emergency Medical Technician, Basic Airborne, and Ranger schools, as well as the Primary Leadership Development, Jumpmaster, Special Operations Medic, Basic Noncommissioned Officer, and Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Development courses.