No new names were added to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) memorial wall this year for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Thursday morning’s annual Gold Star Memorial Ceremony at USASOC’s Fort Bragg, North Carolina, headquarters was a notable one, with no new names added to the wall at Memorial Plaza for the first time since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, according to a report from Task & Purpose, an online defense news publication.
The wall bears the names of 1,242 soldiers from USASOC who have died in combat since the command was established, 377 of whom were added since 2001. But nobody from the command died since the last time a name was added, a relieving moment for those who have experienced the call that a loved one was lost.
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Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), salutes in memory of fallen USASOC soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on May 25, 2023. (U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office)
“We’ve gotten good enough in certain areas of what we do that lives have been protected and lives have been saved, and another family doesn’t have to get a call at 4:37 on a Friday afternoon, ‘Honey, why are there two guys on my front porch in dress blue uniforms,’” said Wendall Pelham, a Gold Star father in attendance for the ceremony, said, according to Task & Purpose.
“That call, as you can imagine, literally changed our lives forever. And to know that in the last year, nobody’s family got that call – that is heaven sent.”
Pelham lost his son, Spc. John Pelham, at just 22 years old in 2014. Pelham was serving with Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, when he died in Afghanistan from wounds sustained from taking small-arms fire.
The elder Pelham reflected on how his family was promised that their son’s sacrifice would never be forgotten, a pledge he said USASOC continues to honor nearly a decade later.
A Marine pays respect to a service member during Memorial Day in honor of those lost in war at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. (Reuters)
“Nine years later, the special operations community has never let me down,” Pelham said. “They have always stayed true to us and to their word that they would always remember.”
The ceremony came just days before Memorial Day weekend, which is a holiday that typically includes trips to the beach, family barbecues, etc., across the country. While Pelham believes Americans should enjoy the weekend, he urged them to take time to reflect on why the holiday exists.
American flags are seen at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on National POW/MIA Recognition Day in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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“Memorial Day is for those who gave their full measure, those who gave their last and final sacrifice to this country,” Pelham said. “Americans need to know that there are people in this country willing to do that.”
