LTC
KIM S. ORLANDO
716th Military Police Battalion
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
Army Lt. Col.
Kim S. Orlando, 43, of Tennessee; commanding officer of the 716th
Military Police Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based
in Fort Campbell, was killed October 16, 2003 while attempting to
negotiate with armed men who were congregating on a road near a mosque
after curfew in Karbala, Iraq.
101st
AIRBORNE REMEMBERS LIEUTENANT COLONEL KILLED IN IRAQ
(AP) FORT
CAMPBELL, Ky. — The highest-ranking Army officer killed in hostile fire
in Iraq never hesitated to lead his soldiers personally, whether on a
three-mile run in below-freezing temperatures or on patrol in the
streets of Karbala.
That was how
comrades from the 101st Airborne Division remembered Lt. Col. Kim S.
Orlando during an Oct. 24 funeral service.
Six pallbearers,
decked in the dark-green ceremonial uniforms bearing the “Screaming
Eagle” patch of the 101st, waited patiently to bring Orlando’s casket
into the brick-and-glass chapel. They stood at attention for nearly an
hour as hundreds of family, friends and soldiers filed in.
Maj. Darryl
Johnson, of the 716th Military Police Battalion, said Orlando, the
battalion commander, was “constantly moving to the front and
disregarding his own safety.”
Orlando’s funeral
was held the same day the Army announced that another soldier from the
division was killed by small arms fire in Mosul, Iraq. That soldier was
not immediately identified.
Orlando’s death
shocked soldiers and friends.
Terry Moreau, a
retired colonel and former commander of the 716th, said he has received
numerous messages of condolence, some angry, since Orlando was killed.
“Expletives were
not deleted,” he said. “I got to tell you, there’s a lot of frustration
there” among Orlando’s men.
Orlando, 43, was
posthumously award the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He was among
three Fort Campbell soldiers killed Oct. 16 in a clash with gunmen
guarding the headquarters of a Shiite cleric in southern Iraq.
The two other
soldiers killed were Staff Sgt. Joseph P. Bellavia, 28, of Wakefield,
Mass.; and Cpl. Sean R. Grilley, 24, of San Bernardino, Calif. Services
for Bellavia and Grilley were pending, according to a statement from
Fort Campbell.
The battalion
comprised no fewer than 400 soldiers, and Orlando made it a point to
learn the name of each one, said Sgt. Maj. Rodney Smith, a battalion
member.
“For a battalion
commander to know your name, that touches anybody,” Smith said.
His soldiers and
his family were paramount to Orlando. When not on duty, he spent as
much time as possible with his wife, Sherry, and his two sons, Gregory,
16, and Jason, 10.
He enlisted in the
Army as a military policeman in 1982 and was commissioned at Fort
Benning, Ga., in 1986. He served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and
thereafter rose quickly to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was
picked to study at the FBI’s National Academy in Quantico, Va. — an
exclusive honor for military policemen.
Friends and
comrades said Orlando excelled in everything he expected from his
soldiers, including physical fitness.
Chaplain Maj. Steve
Turner recalled participating in a particular run Orlando led his
soldiers on one frigid January morning. Shorts only — no warm-up pants;
jackets were optional.
“We got to the
line; the whistle blew. And Col. Orlando led the pack,” Turner said.
“He led by example.”
When the service
ended, soldiers emerged from the chapel, adjusting their black berets.
A funeral procession left Fort Campbell for a private burial at
Nashville National Cemetery in Tennessee, where Orlando grew up.
Two other Army
lieutenant colonels have died in the war, one in a traffic accident and
one of non-combat injuries.
A NOTE FROM COL. REX FORNEY ON KIM
ORLANDO'S CEREMONY
LTC Kim
Orlando was laid to rest Friday where he had told his wife he always
wanted to be buried...among the rows and rows of soldiers interred at
the Veterans National Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. In typical
101st Airborne Division fashion, the "Screaming Eagles" pulled out all
the plugs to honor a great soldier, leader, husband and 43 year old
father of two. As a military Police Battalion Commander, he understood
the dangers of Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT). He knew
where the most danger potentially would be on the night of 16 October,
and that was where he was. As ground forces often have to do, he was
eyeball-to-eyeball with bad people, displaying the unrelenting
determination and absolute resolve of the American Soldier and this
countries' commitment to the Global War on Terrorism. The firefight was
brutal and intense. The results are now history. The 716th MP Battalion
recovered their dead, evacuated the wounded, accounted for sensitive
items of equipment, redistributed ammo and continue with the mission.
Friday,
I was present for this outstanding American's memorial ceremony at Fort
Campbell Kentucky and burial in Nashville, Tennessee. What happened on
the approximately fifty-mile funeral procession from Ft Campbell to the
Cemetery is something I want to share with everyone, and something I'll
never forget. I wish everyone who wears a uniform, or has ever worn a
uniform, could have seen this.
Thanks
to the Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs Association several law
enforcement agencies quickly volunteered to assist with the funeral as
it would proceed down I-24 South to metropolitan Nashville. Two other
great MP noncommissioned officers, SSG Bellavia and SGT Grilley died in
the firefight with their commander. SSG Bellavia has a brother on the
Hendersonville, KY police department. In an effort to alert motorists
and share the information with more local law enforcement, the plan was
apparently announced via the NCIC computer system for general knowledge
of police and emergency responders.
I
haven't seen as many Fire Department, Police, Sheriff, State Trooper
cars and motorcycles since the Watts riots. The show of support for our
fallen soldiers was overwhelming. And it was a good thing, since the
procession was at least two miles long.
But the story doesn't end here.
Kay
and I were in the back of the procession on I-24 watching the myriad
light show disappear forward over the horizon southbound. A news
helicopter was paralleling the convoy. Then we noticed the first
exit/on ramp was blocked with a law enforcement vehicle, driver
standing outside and saluting as the vehicles passed. What a class act
and great show of support. But then, the next ramp had a similar
sight...and the next, and the next. And there were fire, EMT vehicles
and emergency responders of all sorts. Lights flashing, people standing
outside, lined up, with headgear removed or saluting. The Kentucky
troopers and law enforcement stopped at the state line, and Tennessee
showed how much their native son's sacrifice meant to them. More
vehicles on the overpasses, waiving American Flags, displaying the
POW/MIA Flag. These were units from small towns along the route, coming
out to the interstate to show their support to a fallen soldier who was
at the tip of the spear in the GWOT. To them, he and his troops had
gone after the people who had inflicted such tremendous losses on our
police, firemen, EMTs and civilians in Pennsylvania, the Pentagon and
the World Trade Center. It went on and on...it was about an hour drive.
Then, we saw a sight that knocked our socks off. In the distance we
could see two large hook and ladder type firetrucks on an overpass,
literally spanning the south-bound lanes. One had the ladder extended
straight up...and waiving in the wind from it as the hearse and
procession went under was an American flag that had to measure at least
30 feet by 50 feet. Enough said....that message was loud and clear. A
big "thank you" to each and every one of them for their show of support
to our soldiers and the armed forces of this nation. One Team, One
Fight.
In
loving memory, respect and eternal gratitude for their devotion to duty
and ultimate sacrifice to their country: LTC Kim S. Orlando, SSG Joseph
P. Bellavia, SGT Sean R. Grilley. National treasure of the United
States; soldiers that saw their duty and did it.
Very
Respectfully,
Col. Rex Forney
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