Dozens gathered around the Clark County Veterans War Memorial on Saturday to honor the lives of two members of the Army who died on the same day in different conflicts two years apart.
The “Never to be Forgotten” ceremony on Aug. 28 honored Army National Guard Sgt. Earl Werner and Army Sgt. Bryce Howard, who died after similar explosives attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively. The families and loved ones of the two, along with members of the Patriot Guard Riders and the Community Military Appreciation Committee, gathered for the ceremony, part of a regular event at the memorial to remember Clark County soldiers who died while serving.
“Their loved ones, their sacrifice is not ever going to be forgotten,” said Patriot Guard Rider Southwest Washington District Captain Lynn Vaughn.
With the backdrop of more than a dozen service members killed in Afghanistan days before, both Vaughn and Community Military Appreciation Committee Co-chair Larry Smith stressed the importance of remembering those who fought and died in war.
“You cannot forget the individuals that gave their life for this country,” Smith said.
Patriot Guard Rider Nick Kinler presented the families of Werner and Howard with tracings of their names from the Middle East Conflicts Memorial in Marseilles, Illinois. The ceremony is one of many that began in 2018 to honor the 15 Clark County military members who died since Sept. 11, 2001.
Both soldiers fell on the same day of the year, two years apart and in different parts of the world, but under similar circumstances, Vaughn said.
Werner, a member of the Army National Guard, was born in 1970 in Idaho, and moved to La Center and then Amboy. He joined the Oregon National Guard the day after the events of Sept. 11. On Aug. 28, 2009, while serving a third tour in Iraq, Werner died of injuries sustained in an explosives attack by insurgents in Rashid, Vaughn said.
Fighting back emotions, Werner’s son, Justin, thanked those who gathered to memorialize his father, who he said was a busy person who put other people first.
Born in 1982, Howard, a 2001 Battle Ground High School graduate, entered the army the year after his graduation. He died of injuries sustained in an improvised explosive device blast in 2007 in Jaji, Afghanistan, along with two others who were attempting to build a bridge in the area, Vaughn said.
Both Howard’s widow, Amber, and his father in law, Steven Tendler, eulogized the fallen soldier. Tendler recounted fondly when Howard asked him to marry his daughter.
“He loved my daughter and he loved his kids. And I can’t ask more than that,” Tendler said. “I still miss him to this day.”
