4 soldiers, 3 separate deadly battles
All fought hard, 2nd BCT remembers
By TOM ROEDER THE GAZETTE
Three of the soldiers mourned at a Fort Carson memorial service Wednesday fought bravely in Iraq before they fell in combat. The fourth fought bravely at a Colorado Springs hospital in a losing battle to beat cancer and join his comrades in Baghdad. All four were members of the post’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which has been in Iraq since October, locked in fierce fighting in Ramadi and
Baghdad. Pfc. Albert M. Nelson, 32, of Philadelphia; Pfc. Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez, 21, of Miami; and Sgt. Yevgeniy Ryndych, 24, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died during a weeklong offensive against insurgents in Ramadi. Sgt. Michael Hamel, 42, of Colorado Springs died back home the same week. Nelson and Suarez-Gonzalez had vastly different upbringings, but they wound up fighting side-by-side in a Dec. 4 firefight outside a suspected al-Qaida safe house in Ramadi. At 32, Nelson was one of the oldest privates in the brigade. He was known for wearing Philadelphia Eagles professional football regalia with his uniform. It wasn’t a surprise that he was looked up to by his younger comrades. The oldest of six children growing up, Nelson distinguished himself as the family leader. “Nelson was the sibling his younger brothers and sisters looked up to,” Maj. Nicholas Palarino said during a eulogy in Soldiers Memorial Chapel. Suarez-Gonzalez was an immigrant from Nicaragua who grew up in Miami. “Suarez-Gonzalez came from Nicaragua in hope of a better life,” Palarino said. Lt. Col. Charles Ferry wrote in a letter from Iraq that was read during the service that the two soldiers were on patrol with their company when the enemy attacked. They were locked in battle for hours on the streets of Ramadi, the two men looking out for each other as the incoming fire grew heavier. “These two men stood their ground as a buddy team facing rocket, rifle and mortar fire until they were killed,” Ferry wrote. Ryndych was with his unit in Ramadi two days later when he had his last battle. An immigrant from Ukraine, Ryndych was trying out for the elite Green Berets when he volunteered for a second tour in Iraq with the 2nd Brigade. To the soldiers around him, Ryndych seemed like the most serious guy in the brigade. Packing an M-14 rifle and barking orders in Russian-accented English, Ryndych came across as “hard core,” Ferry wrote. He was also learning Arabic as a third language. But there was the softer side of Ryndych, too. He was newly engaged to a woman named Kimberly. He had sent her a ring to seal the deal. He was on foot patrol Dec. 6 when a roadside bomb detonated, killing him. While the brigade was at war, Hamel was fighting his own battle in a hospital room against pancreatic cancer. Hamel had quit his job with a Massachusetts police department to join the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. One eulogist recalled Hamel talking about his fight with cancer. “I will beat this, my friend,” Hamel had promised. “I will be joining you and the battalion in Iraq.” Palarino said the battles faced by each of the four show their comrades what bravery means. “When we think of what soldiers are, we will think of them,” he said. CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com
Pfc. Albert Nelson, 32
Pfc. Roger Suarez-Gonzalez, 21
Sgt. Yevgeniy Ryndych, 24
Sgt. Michael Hamel, 42
CAROL LAWRENCE, THE GAZETTE - Members of an honor guard spaced themselves properly before a memorial service for four Fort Carson soldiers outside Soldiers Memorial Chapel on Wednesday. The four were all members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team. All but one died in Iraq; the fourth died of cancer in the Springs while waiting to be well enough to be deployed.
